Hey, if you’re new here, don’t worry about it — so am I!
I’ve never put myself out here before, either. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.
This is the story of why I’m doing this anyway — hopefully you can learn something.
P.S. I realised after publishing this that “Putting Yourself Out There” is a social concept. Although I love that concept, and I’ll definitely have stories here about that, too, this story is about something else. Here, by “put yourself out here” I mean putting your work out on the internet, or sharing it with the world in whatever other way.
The Idea Comes to Me (I Must be a Genius, I Know)
It’s the summer of 2023. The sun sparkles on the turquoise water. But inside me, the first rays are breaking through the murky clouds that had been clogging my mind for the past few months.
Electrical signals are whizzing through my brain as I move gently through the cool water. Not just zooming around randomly, though. No, they’re forming a shape. A prism of electric connections between the neurons in my brain. An idea.
Storytelling doesn’t have to be a boring hobby, where I produce something once a year, and only publish after ten years of dull, lonely poverty.
No — I can tell shorter stories. I can post them on the internet. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
Something (Ahem — Me) Holds Me Back
It’s a month or so later. I’m standing in the studio me and my brother built in our shed. Google Docs is opened before me. The keys are sticky under my fingertips. But the writing doesn’t flow. The electric signals in my mind are stuck. I have ideas — but I can’t transmit them well enough to the page.
What should I do?
With a sigh, I check the time. 7:03 AM. Time to start getting ready for school.
I shut my MacBook Air, switch off the blue LEDs that line the wall, and shut the wooden door behind me as I leave the studio back to the house.
Maybe this won’t work after all. Maybe I should just get back to my novels …
I Stop Stopping
It’s yesterday, a hot Friday afternoon, my entire family haphazardly getting ready for Shabbat. My brother uploaded his third video to YouTube a week ago, and the beautiful networks of electricity that are his ideas are reaching the minds of others, forming in their brains, too.
He’s putting himself out here. And people appreciate it. People are inspired.
I scroll through my old, uncompleted tasks when I come across one that reads:
Try Writing (and Finishing) One Story For the Website and Medium
Huh. I should try that again. I want to form my ideas inside others’ minds, too. I want to inspire people. But I failed so badly last time …
I click to Safari and open YouTube. There’s a book I want to hear the main concepts in. Something that had been bugging me ever since I gave up on the online stories …
There — Show Your Work Animated Book Summary. Exactly what I wanted.
Five minutes and twenty two seconds later, I had made up my mind. I’m going to put myself out here, no matter how garbage my stories will be. What could possibly go wrong?
I (Sort of) Make a Plan
It’s today. Right now. 7:25 PM, November 18th. The truth is I haven’t got a plan. Not yet. But I know what I want to do. I’m going to keep writing these stories — no matter how short, no matter how bad — and posting them on my Website. Every day. One story. Every day.
I’m going to show my work. I’m going to put myself out here.
You Read This, and Think “Huh, He’s Addressing Me?”
Yes, now I’m addressing you.
It’s today, right now. Whatever time you’re reading this. The web of electricity that formed in my mind as I wrote this had just been formed in your brain, too. You keep reading. And you realise this:
You can do this, too. Anyone can. Whatever you’re working on in life, you can document it, and post it somewhere. Anywhere.
Tell your story. Put yourself out here, too.
There are millions of people out here who can benefit from hearing about your experiences. Even about your failures. So don’t be afraid to just put anything out here for people to see.
I, for one, can’t wait to see what you can do!
The End (But Keep Reading Please!)
The stories on this website will be about everything I do. So, mostly, they’ll be about my struggles with storytelling and creativity, my attempts at productivity, and my (literally) terrifying quest of making amazing friendships in my life.
I’ll probably also have some random philosophical rambles.
But the most important thing is this — I’m going to be honest. I won’t hide any part. Every day, I’ll share what I learnt. I hope that will give you some value.
If all this sounds fun to you, please consider subscribing to the newsletter (that is, if I’ve set it up by now).
And, if you want to, I’d love for you to say hello, share thoughts, or just show up for a chat with me on gmail — joelyperets@gmail.com.
Cheers, have a good one!
See you tomorrow, I s’pose.
P.S. Here’s the video I saw on YouTube that made me decide to do this: