writing – Tiana Feng

Some things don’t stay the same

December 1, 2019LifeLeave a Comment

Recently, I announced my decision to end Ride the Tempo after 9 years of music blogging. You can read the full entry here.

When I first started blogging, there or in any capacity in general, I was HOOKED on the internet attention writing gave me. I needed the audience to validate my every passion, purchase or daily life happenings. I loved recording everything even the mundane things and having everyone read about it. I lived half my life online in front of a computer.

Somewhere in the past few years, I grew up. I wanted to be less online, out of exhaustion from recording everything all the time and that I started to want to appreciate the moments more as they happened. I think getting a dog had a little bit to do with that. I wanted to pay attention more to someone who was giving me his undivided attention. Not to mention I got married and I wanted to be more present with my family too.

I began to feel that the value of time as something that you can never get back and I want to spend less of it in front of a computer.

That being said, this blog isn’t going anywhere any time soon. I still love having it to document how I’ve grown and perhaps it will occasionally feature some music blogging when I miss writing about it. I think 2020 is a great chance to start something new.

Writing At Coffee Shops

July 11, 2016Life1 Comment

View this post on Instagram

Cold brew type of day

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Jul 8, 2016 at 10:30am PDT

I love writing at coffee shops. I have Fridays off so I’ve been taking some alone time to go to local spots and spend a few hours writing. I wish I could do it more. I’m often less motivated to go out after work to go sit and write (do more work).

Weirdly, the past two days I’ve had a strange motivator: Pokemon Go. I’ve been hearing countless stories on how it’s been making people leave their houses more and I believe it. I’ve been looking for more and more coffee shops to go hit up, especially ones inside the city where Pokestops are everywhere.

I’m currently writing you this post from an Aroma Espresso. What are your favourite spots to write?

The Most Dangerous Writing App

March 12, 2016Inspiration, TechnologyLeave a Comment

Screen Shot 2016-03-12 at 2.11.07 PM

Can you free write for a full 5 minutes? The Most Dangerous Writing App aims to help you do just that!

The concept of this app is that if you stop typing for more than five seconds, the entire thing will delete itself. If you erase stuff, it counts as you are wasting 5 seconds. So use the delete key sparingly.

It’s a frightening way to write. You can set it for 5, 10 minutes or even an hour. But who would torture themselves like that?

We all get writer’s block and this would be a useful tool to get everyone writing with less thinking. Often when we have unlimited amounts of time, we also have unlimited amounts of thoughts that lead self-editing, and less words on paper.

When I tried this app, 5 minutes seem like the longest amount of time ever. Every second is being counted down in the top right corner as you type. It’s legitimately insane. As five seconds near, the words become transparent, so it does have some warning that there has been some idleness in the production of words. Sometimes you just need to stop for a second.

I am currently taking the test by writing this article. This is scary. Will I make it to the end? If you ever see this published as a blog post than that is a confirmation that I have successfully made it to the end of 5 minutes. Oh my god I have 51 seconds to go. There are over 1330 words now in this document. The crazy part is that I actually can type 90 words per minute and am typing slower than normal just so I don’t run out of ideas. I type them faster than I can think of them and that is making this countdown clock even harder than it should be. I win. Yes. 5 Minutes have passed. Will you make it to the end of this writing test?

Static Zine Love Issue!

March 5, 2016ArtLeave a Comment

I totally forgot to tell you the newest issue of Static Zine is out. The theme for this issue is Love.

I submitted an edited version of my story about buying my boyfriends watches.

You can find the zine in Toronto at independent cafés or pick up a copy at Static Cloud’s Etsy store! Connect with real people on their stories and art on different topics or you can follow Static Zine on Twitter and find out how to submit your stories for the next issue.

Thank You For 500+ Subscribers!

January 8, 2016Life1 Comment

I don’t know what kind of crazy people follow this blog where I do nothing but talk about myself and other random subjects, but thank you all for your support!

I love everyone and all your comments and encouraging feedback. Blogging has changed my life in so many ways: socially, professionally, personally, mentally. I couldn’t even fathom what my life would be like if I didn’t blog.

Passed Halfway

July 3, 2015July 3, 2015Inspiration, LifeLeave a Comment

Cheers! This is my 184th blog post in a row this year. That means I’ve more than passed blogging every day for the entire year. The most incredible part is my best friend has also achieved this goal.

It hasn’t been easy. The last month and a half or so have been some of the craziest in terms of work and festivals. There were a couple of times where I became super close to forgetting (like seriously I was blogging at 11pm) but I managed to get in a post every day. Having a smartphone really helps when you are in a bind. The WordPress app for iOS isn’t perfect, but it’s sufficient enough to at least upload a photo and type some words.

Though sometimes the quality isn’t the greatest, I am super happy with all my posts. I have become less critical about publishing my work and find it a lot easier to speak my mind. I like to write down ideas (or even entire posts) as soon as they come to mind, so a lot of my writing has been happening on the go on my phone. I contemplate carrying around a notebook (and you know I love Moleskines) but having a digital notebook in my pocket is just so convenient.

The summer business stretch isn’t over yet! But I’m not quitting. Besides the busier I am, the more ideas and photos I have to blog about! It’s a win win.

Life is a continuous adventure and I love sharing it with all you here.

100 Days of Blogging

April 10, 201530 Day Challenge, Inspiration, Life2 Comments

I can’t believe that I’ve been blogging for 100 consecutive days in 2015 so far! It’s a goal that my best friend and I have both achieved together. In past years, we tried blogging for a month but always failed. Now to reach 100 days is definitely an achievement. We’re not quitting either. Let’s see if we can hit 365 (or more)!

I’ve learned a lot in these 100 days. I’m now less critical about what I put out. Having to post things occasionally leads me to take a bit more risks, and not be so worried if others will think it’s dumb or stupid. I’ve also become quite efficient at writing. The written posts don’t take more than 10-15 minutes. That’s not to say they are hastily done or sloppy by any means. The words have just come easier. I second guess myself a lot less. This skill has also translated itself when I sit down to write album reviews on Ride the Tempo.

I love blogging and I don’t think I could ever stop. It’s a diary. A place to air my thoughts. A place to experiment. A world that has helped me through some hard times. To know that one person is reading means the world, let alone the fact I now have over 400 subscribers. Thank you all.

Now let’s continue exploring the world together.

2 Months of Blogging

February 28, 201530 Day Challenge, Inspiration, LifeLeave a Comment

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset — Celebratory pizza?

I can’t believe I’ve made it to two months of blogging every day. In the past, I’ve never made it to one month let alone 2. It’s been a lot easier doing this alongside my best friend, who has also achieved the same feat. I feel like if either one of us breaks the chain the other will too, thus we’re not letting that happen.

In making myself do this exercise I’ve become a little less self-conscious. A little braver. I tried a new idea which people loved. I became more open in sharing my personal stories, thoughts and dreams.

The need for more content also encouraged me to challenge myself and try new things.

To be honest, I think a contributing factor to why blogging seems easier for me this year is the financial stability. I know that writing doesn’t necessarily require spending money, but having the option and needs to definitely does simplify things. Having a full-time job has further roused me to have life and hobbies outside of the office.

I hope to keep these posts flowing and I thank you all for following my adventures.

One Month Of Blogging

January 31, 201530 Day Challenge, Inspiration, Life1 Comment

I did it. For the first time ever, I blogged every day for an entire month. I came close a few times (in previous Januarys) but it never happened, until now. Here’s what I accomplished so far:

To get out of my own head. A lot of the times, you are your own obstacle when blogging. Hitting publish or sitting down to write a post (because you convince yourself you are tired) is the hardest part. Thoughts like “This post isn’t perfect yet” or “This sounds dumb” frequent my mind. But this year, I decided to hit publish and leave no idea unpublished.

Write first, edit second. Typing the ideas out as they come is a priority. Sometimes I’m out in public, waiting for the train and not at a computer. However, I write whatever I’m thinking in OneNote and come back to them later. Other times, I’m at a computer and write an entire post in less than 10 minutes.

Everything is an idea. Especially on a personal blog, ideas are not a problem. Everything can be a post. The food I ate, the really random thing I bought or any art work to show off. There’s inspiration everywhere. Posts don’t have to be the same and I found that variety works with the followers.

Write for me, not anyone else. This is my journal. I stopped thinking about whether a certain post would be popular. I do this for my enjoyment first and it’s a bonus if everybody else enjoys the ride too.

I’ll continue blogging every single day and continue to learn from the experience. I’m not going to break the chain and see if I can make it to 365 posts this year!

Finding the Time to Blog When You Have a Full-Time Job

March 22, 2014Inspiration, Life, ThinkingLeave a Comment

For a while, I was just living the freelance life and underemployed. That meant hours were flexible and I had a lot of free time to do whatever I wanted when I was between projects. My blogs and sites were active and fruitful.

Recently, I have obtained work that is more time consuming and has unpredictable office hours. This made it more difficult to schedule time in advance to blog, because time seemed like a scarce luxury. Obviously since there are still posts churning out on all my content streams, I have found ways to adjust to this new transition. Here are some tips:

Find out what your internet policy is at work. This is an important first step if you want to blog at work (during downtimes/breaks of course). Some companies don’t allow you to use internet services outside of work purposes and you must abide by those rules. Personally, I don’t blog at work because I have way too many other things to be doing so the next few steps are more useful.

Schedule Content in Advance. To keep my music blog alive and active, I schedule a lot of content in advance. There’s always a period of time where I’m like OKAY LET’S SIT DOWN AND BLOG on weekends or evenings and I churn out a bunch of content and schedule them over the next few days. This works better for posts that aren’t particularly time sensitive.

Carry a notebook. I always have a notebook in the vicinity to brainstorm things I want to write about the moment they come up.

Find inspiration everywhere. This applies most when it’s a personal blog and therefore you can post whatever you want – food, photos, projects, inspiration, thoughts. The blog is about YOU after all. Life changes constantly, and there are tons of exciting and thought-provoking things to write about at every corner.

Take advantage of your Smartphone. By now, most people have a smartphone. Whether, it’s an Android or an iPhone, there is a wealth of apps that sync to the cloud. There’s even a WordPress app on both platforms. These can be great for long commutes. Personally, I use OneNote on my iPhone because it syncs with the version on my laptop. I draft a lot of posts while on the train. In fact, this one was partially written on a commute.

Don’t stop. The moment you stop actively blogging for a while, it becomes tough to start again as each day passes. It’s all about finding new ways to fit writing into a new schedule. Sometimes when you have a free half hour, you just have to make yourself sit down and write. It’s totally possible, you just have to stop giving yourself excuses and do it.

I originally published this post on Medium.