Trying a new thing...

I've started lots of different personal and creative blogs lots of times. I've given up on all those blogs lots of times as well. It's not always super obvious why I feel the desire to write slip away. Most likely I fail to make it a force of habit and getting your reps in is really the only way to make something stick. Though I've definitely ragequit my share of these types of projects, so it can't be the only reason.

So why do I think leaflet might work for me? Truth be told, I don't particularly. It's late (okay, it's 8:35 pm but it feels late. I'm not old but I feel old you know?) and I'm just jotting some stuff down on a Thursday evening while my wife is on the phone in another room. Plus, I don't have room for more projects right now. We just moved house and still haven't really set it up fully. I've been working flat out on a complicated systems integration feature at Eyrus (10-12 hour days and plenty of weekend time), and the problem with programming is the mental load is overwhelming. I had to put a pause on my game project in no small part because it was literally too much cognitively to work a full day (even before the big integration project), turn around and program a video game.

And yet, here I am. So far, so good. There are a few things that appeal to this platform to me:

Minimal as hell, to the point where I actually can't customize it.

This is a good thing, my previous blogs I have spent forever changing themes and styles and not actually getting around to writing. No custom JavaScript or anything like that either, so I can't re-re-implement/copy outright Robert Nystrom's excellent footnotes like I did on my personal website.

Super low stakes.

I hardly use my Bluesky account (microblogging just really isn't my thing, I never know what to say and it's too easy to get sucked into the computer, something I'm trying harder and harder not to do these days). Leaflet is also in alpha so the only people around here are the folks who are interested in the vision behind the protocol, which is actually the thing I am most intrigued by when it comes to Bluesky--the AT Protocol's way of trying to bring back the the best parts of Web 1.0.

Built-in audience. Maybe. I'm still not totally clear on how this bit works.

I do know that if you have a Bluesky account you can interact/comment with these, much in the same way Substack does things.

In fact, leaflet has "make a better Substack" as one of its goals. I've been avoiding Substack because of its closed nature (and some of the less savory decisions its operators have made...), but I can't deny it's where the big content development energy is right now.

The audience piece isn't a reason for me to do this, but I'm hopeful it will help. Getting even a slight amount of traction always does wonders for my motivation and discipline. I'm a dilettante when it comes to my stuff, but if I think I need to do something for someone else, it's a whole different ballgame.

A smooth editing experience. I'm actually surprised about this, considering some parts of this app are a bit messy (is it at all possible to cancel a domain registration or is mine going to live in pending forever, taunting me). But the shortcuts are nice and don't do weird things I'm not expecting, writing in the actual visual mode is always a plus, and the spacing between list and regular paragraphs makes sense.

Headers

and following body text could use a little bit of work, but honestly it's not bad. So many default implementations over-index on spacing before and after headers (my assumption is that someone is just multiplying the padding/margins and the font sizes throughout and not thinking about the fact that the stuff around it will also have whitespace).

Limits are good, is the main point here. All I can do is write documents and publish them. I don't have to worry about a brand, or a target audience, or anything like that. No one has made money on their leaflet, so who cares if it's just my drivel? Getting into a habit is the main goal here. I'll write stuff down and share with my friends and randos alike. All that "niche market" and "brand identity" stuff can wait; if that is something that ends up interesting me I'm sure I will find something that appears somewhat organically out of my notes and what people respond to.

But in the meantime, it feels a bit like going back in time to an internet that existed before I did. The dynamic experiences of Web 2.0 are out there in their walled, algorithmic gardens. Web 1.0 is still there for anyone who cares to dust off the virtual surfboard once again . But here, in whatever this space is, I can just write documents that interest me and make them available to anyone who wants to read them.

It's like having a reset button for the internet. And so far, I'm digging it.