How I want this blog to work in 2025

The good thing about taking some time off over the winter holidays is that it gives me two weeks of “petri dish time”. I can look at myself and the things around me, and decide what I want to change for next year. Then, when it’s “real life time” again, I can get to work on things I want to change. This blog is one of them.

a black IBM Selectric keyboard. The typewriter itself is green.

Why do I feel like making changes to this blog?

There are a few good reasons. Mostly, I think I want to treat this place more seriously. This is a powerful resource, after all: it can do things for me as I write and publish the posts, and it can do things for you as you read and share them.

The second reason is this blog’s ease of use. I don’t think I want to move away from hosting my posts here: I like how easy it is to write and publish blog posts, and how bloat-free and readable the whole thing becomes. You may not see all of it when you read the published piece, but for me, the writing and editing experience is just what I wanted - I can type it all up in Notepad, and store it on a folder on my drive which pushes it all to GitHub when it’s time. Wonderful. So this setup’s a keeper, and I want to move some of my other initiatives to this blog over the course of 2025.

Which brings me to the last reason. 2025, for me, looks to be the year of joy and resourcefulness. There will be many things happening, some good things, and many challenging things. I hope to record these here, in a way which makes sense for you, and also for my future self.

Who will this blog be for?

There are two key characters I’ll be writing all of this for: me and you.

Me - that’s my current and future self. A guy whose curiosity and creativity sometimes overpowers any attempts at consistency or follow-through. A guy whose happy, productive and purposeful moments sometimes get overshadowed by anxiety, doomscrolling and bitterness. A guy who hopes to work, read, play, learn and blog his way through the obstacle course of 2025. This blog is for me: as an aide-mémoire, an ever-evolving manifesto, a travelogue, a missing instruction manual.

You - not going to be coy about this, I hope you’re someone I’ll be working with someday! This blog’s job is also to serve as my freelance portfolio / business card / cold call. My work involves words, ideas, learning and the digital domain - if you’re looking to hire someone like me, what better way to tell you what I’m about than this? And even if you’re not hiring - I am always grateful for new colleagues, friends, and conversation partners (check out the footer of each blog post if you want to get in touch).

What can I expect from this blog?

It’s not like I’ve got this year’s work and stories all planned out… but here’s what I really hope to publish on here in 2025.

Study and research updates: my degree is now in full swing, and I already know I’ll be working on some exciting projects as part of my university study. Writing about these is more than just a chance to brag. Revisiting and reviewing what happened, and trying to tell you about what that taught me - that’s another powerful learning strategy, right there!

Learning on the job: this one should be fun. I’m hoping to publish a series of short articles about past projects and jobs I’ve been involved in - from the professional to the slightly unhinged, from big to tiny ones. The goal is not malice or ridicule - instead, I’ll try to remember what each of these episodes gave me in terms of skills, and to wonder if I would do anything differently if I had the chance.

Reading notes and mini-reviews: ah, the joys of living next door to a good library! If there’s one thing I can definitely count on in 2025, it’s that I’ll be working my way through plenty of good old paper books. The intention is to keep studying, researching, and keep feeding my professional curiosity. I will be posting these abridged notes and reviews to this blog - if my library had the book, I hope yours will, too.

Learning from games: if you told me a few decades ago that a huge chunk of my working life will revolve around video games, I would shake my head in delight and disbelief. Here we are, in 2025 - games are slowly becoming more than a hobby horse for me. I still get a kick out of playing them, though - and I know I’m keen to continue writing about the ways in which learning and gaming converge.

Happy writing (to future me) and reading (to you) in 2025!


Photo credit: steve lodefink - https://www.flickr.com/photos/lodefink/4317923430/


a mini avatar of the author

Hi, my name is Vic. I am a Learning Designer, Digital Producer and Translator (PL-ENG-PL) currently based in Wales. My professional interests include instructional design for lifelong learning, serious games, low-tech digital learning solutions, and translation/transcreation for the video game industry. I’m always happy to discuss new projects. To get in touch, you can email me or set up a video call.

Written on January 5, 2025