Things are going to change around here
A few months I ago, I wrote about creativity and blogging, and the fact that I was struggling to know which direction to take Bambi Jane.
Since 2011, this little space on the internet has been a book blog, a beauty blog and most recently, a travel blog. It grew out of a simple love of writing, and the subject matter was often secondary to the pure joy of having somewhere to publish my writing.
However, I feel like I’ve come to a tipping point. I’m by no means the world’s most organised or frequent blogger, but maintaining a site and its respective social channel takes inspiration, time and yes, money. For a while now, I’ve felt a bit stagnant, directionless and half-hearted, pouring in random batches of effort with neither vision nor clear end goal. There’s something to be said for honouring your creative effort – about respecting it enough to put real though into it, and to let it go somewhere – and I haven’t been doing that. But I think it’s time to.
It’s go big or go home. Big changes are coming.
I’ve decided that, while I’ll still be focusing on travel, this site is also going to develop much more of a creative edge. As a writer trying to get my first novel published, I’m going to start using it as more of a portfolio of my creative fiction work (in other words, yes, I’m going to be brave and start sharing my stories). It may be scraps of inspiration I scribbled down on the back of a receipt on the bus, or excerpts from longer pieces I’ve been working on for months. I’ll be writing fiction inspired by the destinations I’m visiting, as well as exploring the nuances of relationships and human connection, a theme I love writing about.
I also want to write about the writing process itself; about being a freelancer, being a copywriter, the struggle of an aspiring author, how to be inspired and some more general lifestyle posts about what it means to be a digital creative right now. The books and authors I’m loving. Little snippets of joy and happiness from everyday life. Hopefully it will be interesting or inspiring to others on similar paths.
Of course, travel will remain a big component. Our travel plans over the next year are taking us to Yellowknife to see the Northern Lights, back home, the Highlands, Cornwall, Scandinavia, Iceland, and Canada’s east coast – how could I not share all of that?
Mostly, I want this site to have more of a creative feel – a kind of journal meets magazine. Eventually, I would love to have other writers contribute their fiction to it, too.
So, along with these big changes, comes a new design. I’m working on something super exciting right now – a fresh new look and a new platform (sorry, Blogger, you’ve served me well but six years is long enough!) Expect to see it in late February.
So that’s that. Times are a-changing. If there’s anything you’d like to see here on Bambi Jane, please let me know.
