As a content creator who wants to achieve success, you have a responsibility to do a little bit every day. I was writing an article for Caribbean Content Creators when my four-year-old daughter walked in and picked up a novella I wrote in 2007. Her name is Anna. She’s a little taller than the table, with plump cheeks and two ponytails. Flipping through the pages, Anna remarked that the book had no pictures. Then she asked me if I wrote all “these words”. I stopped typing and looked at Anna. Smiled. Said yes. Her next sentence stunned me.
“Did you get tired?”
“No, I didn’t get tired.”
She wasn’t satisfied. “But how did you write all these words?”
I thought about it for a moment then said, “I did a little bit every day.”
She wasn’t done. “Why is your name at the top of every page?”
“Because that’s the way books are usually formatted.” It felt like a dumb uninspiring answer.
She left the book on the table and disappeared.
Since 2008, I’ve published 12 books and published almost 700 YouTube videos. How did I do it? By doing a little bit every single day. It took about 6 months to write Boy Days: Short Stories about Trini Men; and another two years to edit the book.
Later, in the cool of the afternoon, Anna appeared with a plush journal. On the cover is a rainbow-coloured unicorn.
“I’m working on a story called The Explosion,” she said.
I was editing a video. I stopped, turned my chair, and looked at her.
“What’s it about?”
“It’s a story about a girl walking on the beach and a bomb falls right next to her.”
“What if the bomb falls on top of her?”
Anna laughed tee-hee. “She’ll die. I don’t want her to die.”
“Can I help you write the story?” I asked.
“Yes.” Anna is precise with her words. “You can help spell words. But,” she warned, “there aren’t any pictures.”
Anna knows what she wants. We went outside. Surrounded by mountains we sat under the clear blue sky. She dictated the story, I wrote the words. It wasn’t smooth sailing. There was scratching, and some crying, I wasn’t doing it the way she wanted it. We had to start over. But we did it. After the last sentence, she pointed and told me to write “The End”. Then she signed her name at the top of the page; because that’s how books are formatted.
“We’ll write another story tomorrow,” she said.
A little bit every day. It goes a long way.
As a content creator, what does your daily schedule look like? Let me know in the comments.