Tag Archives: writing

Every single day

Some days it’s really hard to start writing. Today I stared at a blank page long enough that I realized I’d get nowhere stating longer, and so I did my meditation first. Then I thought, ‘I’m the only one that cares about my streak of writing every day, so what if I skip a day?’ And that was the right question to ask myself.

“So what if I skip a day?”

Well, it’s not just about breaking this streak, it’s the permission I give myself to be a streak breaker. It’s the identity that I’ve created that gets broken, not just the pattern. I’m a daily writer, I commit to writing, to putting something creative out into the world. Some days it won’t be great. Some days it will feel like a chore. Some days I’ll stare at a blank page for too long. But every day I’ll write.

“So what if I skip a day?”

If I do it intentionally, I’m opening a door to not being a daily writer. I’m giving myself permission to make exceptions every time it feels tough. Some days you just have to show up. It doesn’t matter if it’s going to the gym, dragging yourself to work on a day when you just want to stay under the covers, heading to a practice you don’t want to go to, or writing every day.

The blank page can be daunting, but it’s not scary, it’s just hard to look at. It’s not a beast, it’s a gremlin. And it’s not blank if you get one sentence down with a commitment not to erase that sentence until you are ready to replace it.

Daily writing is an identity based habit not a calendar based habit. I am a writer, and I can only say that if I’m writing. I live an active lifestyle, and I can only say that if I’m consistently staying active. It’s not about the act as much as it is about the identity. This is who I am. I show up, I get it done, and I know that I’ll do the same tomorrow. Skip a day? That’s a choice somebody else gets to make, not me.

Next level artificial intelligence

Most of the images I use to accompany my blog are created by artificial intelligence (AI). For yesterday’s post on Childhood memories I wrote about a memory of being frozen from the walk home from school on a cold day. I put the following into DALL•E, “A boy walking on a sidewalk in a snowstorm, in an abstract watercolour ” and chose one of the 4 images this AI created:

Impressive to think that this artwork was created by a computer.

Well now there is a new AI called Chat GPT.

Chat GPT is language based… and when I say language based I mean just about any language, including code. Apparently it can write the code to create an APP if you tell it what features you want the APP to have. You can share code in any computer language and ask this AI to find errors. Or you can input an error message you got in your code and it will find the problem.

That’s great for coding, but it’s also very articulate and creative in most languages. I was interested in what it could write and so my first attempt was to have it write a blog post for me. So, this is what I asked, “Read a few posts at https://daily-ink.davidtruss.com/ and write a post that the author would write”. It didn’t do exactly what I asked. Instead it created a promotional advertisement for my blog. Even though I didn’t get what I was asking for read this and see how well it is written:

As a writer, I am constantly on the lookout for inspiration and new ideas. One of my favorite sources of inspiration is reading the work of other writers. Recently, I came across the website https://daily-ink.davidtruss.com/, and I was blown away by the quality of the writing I found there.

The posts on this website cover a wide range of topics, from personal reflections on life and love to thought-provoking discussions of current events. Each post is beautifully written, with clear and concise language that is a joy to read.

One of the things that really stood out to me about this website is the author’s ability to convey complex ideas in a way that is accessible to a wide audience. Whether you are a seasoned writer or someone who is just starting out, you will find something to love on this website.

In addition to the high-quality writing, I also appreciated the website’s clean and simple design. The layout is easy to navigate, and the posts are organized in a way that makes it easy to find what you are looking for.

If you are looking for a new source of inspiration, I highly recommend checking out https://daily-ink.davidtruss.com/. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Not a person, an artificial intelligence wrote that!

Here was my second attempt: “Write a short news story about the coming of age of artificial intelligence.”

And this is what Chat GPT came up with in just a few seconds after my query:

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the capabilities of artificial intelligence. This technology, which was once only found in science fiction novels, is now becoming a reality.

One of the key developments in the field of AI has been the advancement of machine learning algorithms. These algorithms allow computers to learn from data and improve their performance on a variety of tasks. This has led to the creation of intelligent systems that can perform a wide range of tasks, from recognizing images and speech, to playing games and even driving cars.

As AI technology continues to improve, it is being used in an increasingly wide range of applications. It is being used in healthcare to help diagnose diseases, in finance to make better investment decisions, and even in the criminal justice system to help predict the likelihood of recidivism.

Despite the many benefits of AI, there are also concerns about the potential negative impacts it could have. Some worry about the potential loss of jobs as more tasks are automated, and there are also concerns about the ethical implications of creating machines that can make decisions without human input.

Overall, the coming of age of AI is a significant development that has the potential to change our world in many ways. As the technology continues to evolve, it will be important to carefully consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of this powerful technology.

Impressive! You literally can not tell that a human didn’t write that article. Wow. AI is going to change the world as we know it… this is absolutely a new level of intelligence.

Repeat performance

I just spent 25 minutes writing a post that I titled ‘Student Ambassadors’, then realized it seemed familiar. I went to my blog and did a search for the term ‘ambassador’ and found ‘Student led tours‘ which I wrote about 5-6 weeks ago. The approach was different but the examples and key message was identical.

If I’d written it 2 years ago I probably would have re-shared the idea, but the last post was too soon and so now I write about the similarity of the posts rather than writing the post itself. I know I’ve also shared something similar to this before but sometimes writing daily is really hard. Coming up with novel ideas to write about is challenging. Not repeating some of those ideas is even more challenging.

Do you ever realize that you have specific ‘go to’ stories that you share? Certain memories that come up again and again, that you share with equal enthusiasm every time you share them? We have a model of who we are and we have stories that represent that model for us. We don’t try to be novel all the time, we are consistent, and we tell the same stories consistently.

So, I’ll repeat myself sometimes. Like today, if I recognize that I’m doing so, I will pivot and pick a new topic, or I’ll try to give a new idea on top of an old one… but sometimes I will not realize I’ve shared something before, and in those cases I apologize for the repeat performance.

Not the right headspace

I’ve started three posts before settling on this topic. One has been tucked into my drafts, the other two I just deleted. The one in my drafts is related to an issue I’m dealing with and I realize it’s too sensitive to mention right now… I’m still sorting out a sensitive challenge and a public blog is not where I should be hashing our my thoughts on the topic. The other two ideas are both things I’ve addressed in the past, and I’m not sure I’d add any value bringing them up again.

It bugs me when the main creative thought going through my head is one that I don’t feel comfortable writing about. It’s hard to turn off those thoughts and come up with some other line of thinking to share. When my thoughts are so focused on the things I can’t write about, I get stuck. I’m writing this 49 minutes later than planned and I’m going to miss my morning workout.

This doesn’t happen often, and so when it does it bothers me. I think it’s part of getting back to work and having a more disciplined routine than I had to have in the summer. In the summer, if I was stuck, if I wasn’t in the right headspace, I’d delay my write. But now I’m back to a more focused time crunch, and being overly thoughtful about a topic I can’t write about is enough to put me in a rut.

It’s pretty darn hard to write something every single day. To hit that publish button on days when you don’t feel like it. To write something less thoughtful or expressive than hoped and still decide to share it. But that’s part of the art. Nobody writes their best every day. Nobody finds the right headspace day in and day out.

Sometimes the art of showing up is how you ensure you are practicing your art. Today I was in the wrong headspace, and yet here I am finishing my post. I believe tomorrow, and in the future, I will be a better writer because I chose to write anyway… To write despite my headspace, rather than skipping a day because the muse wasn’t there.

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” – Madeleine L’Engle

Sneaking it in

It’s 11pm and I just realized that I haven’t written my Daily Ink yet. I blame the holidays. I sat to write this and my wife asked if we could go for a walk. So I gladly went for a walk with her and then I forgot! I don’t think that I’ve missed a day since I started writing daily in July 2019, but maybe there was a day like this that I just don’t remember? I’ll probably never know because I’m not going to count, and I have (occasional) posts on here dating back to 2009, so total posts won’t help me, I’d have to count one-by-one or month-by-month.

But my point here is that I can’t let a day slip by when I am aware and still have time to write. I don’t have to write every day, I want to write every day! I want to make the commitment and I want to follow through. How upset will I be if I do miss a day? Not terribly… I’ll just write the next day and keep going. On the other hand, thinking ‘it’s too late’, when there is still time in the day is a cop-out.

All that said, some days are really tough. I sit with a blank page and nothing comes to mind. I start a post, then something sounds/seems familiar, so I do a search and see that I’ve already written something similar. Or I start something and just don’t like it. Days like these, I remind myself that it’s hard to be truly original. I remind myself that not everything I write will be good, much less great. But I will write, and I will publish, and I’ll do it daily. My blog description says it all:

Writing is my artistic expression. My keyboard is my brush. Words are my medium. My blog is my canvas. And committing to writing daily makes me feel like an artist.

Shifting Paradigms

TLDR: I’m not publishing any more posts on my Pair-a-Dimes blog (where this post is being cross-posted)… I’d be honoured if my Pair-a-Dimes subscribers, (and/or you), subscribed here on Daily Ink. To do so, fill in your email on the subscription form on the right-side column on your computer, or under the comment box on your mobile device.

Well, if it isn’t obvious yet, I will make it clear now. After whimsically naming my blog ‘Pair-a-Dimes for Your Thoughts‘ on a blog service called Elgg, and publishing my first post on March 29th, 2006 (reposted on DavidTruss.com on March 26th, 2008), it is now evident to me that I’ve fully transitioned to my Daily-Ink blog. My last post on Pair-a-Dimes (Choice time for teacher Pro-D) before this one was over a year ago. The one before that (How do we get to ‘YES’?) was written almost two years ago. Meanwhile, on my Daily-Ink I’ve posted every day since July 6th, 2019 (It’s time…). That’s 3 days short of 3 years, or 1,093 daily blog posts.

To put that number in perspective, I had my Pair-a-Dimes blog for 16 years and I only blogged 356 times… less than what I did in my first year blogging daily. That said, Pair-a-Dimes was much longer in format, and much more focussed on education. And although I still write about education and learning on Daily-Ink, I will miss the educational focus of Pair-a-Dimes with the tagline, “Reflections on Education, Technology and Learning“. But committing to blogging daily, and adding more to another blog is too much for me… especially as I think about reviving my podcasts this summer, after an almost 2 year hiatus.

I absolutely loved the community I built around Pair-a-Dimes. This blog is the reason I got to present both for Alan November, and with his team. This blog got me connected to Connected Principals, a now defunct site where principals shared their learning (these are the posts I also shared there). This blog became a learning space for me.


This blog is where I learned to do html, it’s where I learned about wikis, it’s what inspired me to blog with students. It helped me become a better educator and a more reflective leader.

I may come back here to post again, but it’s unlikely. However, because I host both blogs on DavidTruss.com, this blog will stay up for as long as I choose to keep blogging or keep my personal website, so it’s not going anywhere… it’s also not going to be updated.

I realize that I have a significant number of email subscribers to Pair-a-Dimes who might enjoy getting 1-3 minute daily reads via email. If that’s you, I’m truly honoured. On your computer you’ll find the subscribe button on the right hand side column, near the top of this page. If you are on mobile, scroll down below the comment section to find the subscribe button. I’m going to try to transfer over the WordPress subscribers, (whom I don’t have an email address for), but I won’t send an email to the 450 people still subscribed to Pair-a-Dimes on Feedburner after all these years. Instead, I’ll post this and hopefully anyone reading via email will subscribe to Daily-Ink. Whether you choose to transfer or not, I want to thank you as a reader of my Pair-a-Dimes. Whether you read posts dating back to 2006, or if you found one post that made you subscribe, you helped inspire me to keep writing. Thank you for being one of over 370,000 Pair-a-Dimes visitors since I moved to DavidTruss.com, I’m honoured that you joined me, that you took the time to read, comment, inspire me, and contribute to my learning.

The blogging adventures continue here on my Daily-Ink.

Dialogue in fiction

I think the hardest thing to write is fictional conversation. I’m reading (listening to) a book right now that I won’t name. It’s a science fiction and it’s good but not great. The biggest issue is, this writer is a nerdy guy who thinks everyone talks like him and has the same sense of humour… The almost sarcasm that so trite that it needs to be ‘almost’ sarcasm because it just doesn’t have enough bite. It’s predictable, and bland, and every character delivers it in the same way.

It’s really hard to pull off good dialogue in text, and especially good humorous banter. There are certain TV shows that I think have done this well. ‘Suits’ is one of those shows. The two main characters go at each other and they take turns getting the better of each other. The book I’m reading now is so cliché… insert eye-roll here, insert hands on hips there, add a little finger wave, and even “Na-nuh-na-nuh-na-na” (and this last phrase was written by a previous version of the main character in a message to his future Android self). Seriously, the dialogue couldn’t get any more cliché!

That said, I recognize how tough this is. It’s hard to imagine being funny in a way that isn’t your own. I don’t think I’d be able to pull that off. Creating multiple characters that have depth would not be easy. And while it’s easy to read a book and know when characters and dialogue are written well versus poorly, I recognize how hard it is as a writer to be good at this.

I’ll finish the first book in the series, but I’m not sure I’ll make it to book two. Not because the story isn’t good enough, but because the dialogue is a bit too much for me to want to continue listening.

Bad script writing

I watched a movie last night. It could have been good, but it wasn’t. There were many tropes, predictable chases, gunfire, and dialogue that would never happen. The bad dialogue more than anything is the thing that drives me crazy when watching a movie.

Confessions are made to people that were strangers just hours before. People open doors to strangers and invite them in and then over share information. People obviously guilty say, “I didn’t do it”, and then the response is, “If I ever find out you were responsible…” as if this is some kind of clever foreshadowing. And people say things like, “You do know how dangerous this could be!” And then there is this agreeing nod as if to say, ‘Yes, this is so dangerous but we have to do it anyway!’

All this leading to the great final battle where all seems lost, then bad guy does a monologue or confession, then breaking all odds the hero saves the day. Then a somewhat happy finale where thanks and appreciation are given and/or family reconnects. The end.

I didn’t mention the name of the movie, but I bet you have seen one that fits this description. If you told me which one you were thinking about it wouldn’t be the same one I watched.

When I watch a poorly written movie I roll my eyes, I laugh at how bad it is, and unfortunately I ruin any chance for my wife to enjoy it because I make easy predictions of what’s next and I make fun of the dialogue. When I think of how much money is spent making a movie, I wonder how people can read a bad, predictable script and think, ‘We can make this good’. I guess people think if a formula works once, it can be done again. But then again when the formula is good… it can be repeated!

Lost for words

The past few days I’ve been really stuck on my daily ink. The ideas are not flowing, and when they do come they feel more like essays than short daily writes. But then I’ve wasted too long staring at the blank page to have time to write long, drawn out ideas. So first my writing feels rushed, and then my whole morning routine does too.

This exercise of writing daily has been very positive for me. It has helped me feel creative. It’s not just an outlet for my writing it’s a drive to produce, to create something every single day.

Every. Single. Day.

Well recently I have felt like I don’t have a lot to share. I feel like the things I want to share infringe on the lives of people close to me that may not want their story shared publicly. And most of all I question myself, wondering why anyone would bother reading my daily dribble?

I remember a while back some people were sharing a daily photo. I love photography and tried a couple times to do ‘A Photo a Day’, but my love for photography made me stop both times within a couple weeks. I would look at these forced photos that I had taken and think to myself, ‘That’s a photo I had to take, not one I wanted to take.’ Then I’d quit.

I feel that way about writing right now… but I don’t want to quit. I don’t want a period of not feeling creative to undermine a habit I’ve built for almost 3 years now. What I’m fighting isn’t just writer’s block, it’s self doubt that I’d have anything else to share after all this time. Mental menopause preventing me from creating any fruitful work.

I’ll push through. I’ll accept that what I’m producing now will not be my best work. I’ll tell myself that the muse will come back. But for now it’s more of a chore than an expression of my passion for writing. I said earlier that I struggle with sharing stories of others that aren’t mine to share, well the story I can tell is my own. And for now, that story is how I’m struggling to write daily. The story to tell is that I’ll muscle through, and while it’s not easy, it’s not a time to give up either.

Actions, not words – Derek Sivers

I’m a fan of Derek Sivers. He’s someone who seems to have really figured out how to live life meaningfully and I think he lives a joyful life. Other people I follow live good lives, but I’m not sure they are truly happy. I think Derek is a rare kind of person that finds joy wherever he looks. He does what he wants to do, when he wants to do it, and is brutally honest with himself about what he really wants to do. I don’t think he spends a lot of time thinking, I really want to do ‘this’. He just decides to do it.

I’ve written specifically about him a couple times:

And I’ve mentioned him a few more times.

I listened to him on a podcast and this really hit a chord with me (related to his idea about goals, shared above):

“I have a concept that says that your actions reveal your values better than your words. So no matter what you say you want to do, your actions show what your values really are.”

How often do we have goals or plans that we never get to?

‘I’m going to start this project after…’

And no matter what we say next, something else comes up to delay us.

Or, ‘I really want to do this but…’

And after the ‘but’ comes an excuse about not having time, money, resources.

Do you really want to do it, or is it just wishful thinking?

I wanted to do a daily blog for years. I started this ‘Daily-Ink’ in 2010, but I didn’t really decide to do it until 2019. For 9 years it was wishful thinking. Then I decided: it’s not that I want to be a writer, I am a writer… and the way to be a writer is to write every day. So, it’s not even 6am yet, and I’m done my daily write.

Actions, not words… Or in my case the action of consistently writing words. 😃