Hi all,
I don’t really expect anyone to be reading this blog after a 9 year hiatus, more or less, but I’m going to try and get started again.
When I originally started this blog, I was using it as a means of staying creative during the summer holiday of my MFA program. Left to my own devices, I was lackadaisical or even downright depressive in terms of my day-to-day energy level, and I challenged myself that if I had a goal and stuck to it, then I would probably generate more material.
Well, it worked. While doing the social media stuff (which I’m not going to do anymore) was exhausting, posting new material every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is one of my fondest memories from that time, and my efforts netted my only disinterested publishing to date (a CNFtweet included in an edition of Creative Nonfiction way back when), and the material went on to become part of the thesis I turned in to receive my MFA. So yay blog stuff. I loved doing this, even if it was totally draining.
Well, now I’ve had a few years to carve out my career, and Ashley and I recently moved to Florida, and while life goes on throwing its curve balls, my life has never been more stable or more comfortable than it is right now. So why aren’t I producing? I want to. I’m still just struggling with the same old shit, which is to say, myself. When left to my own devices, I will play Overwatch for 8 hours straight or more, or watch YouTube video essays I don’t care about, or just lay about with Ashley wasting precious evenings, which I’ll no doubt one day feel like I squandered when I thought time would never run out for me.
So, I have a new project.
No time frames (yet), but I intend to post sections of a novel I’ve been writing since perhaps October 2017. I’m trying to take it more seriously and spend more time on it, but as always, I am my own biggest hurdle.
Additionally, I am trying to define a new writing method for myself, which is writing by hand and paying more attention to what I write as it comes out. Therefore, I am defining a filing system that should allow me to work on multiple projects at once and even multiple sections of the same story at once. Unfortunately, that means I’ll be posting pictures of my handwriting, which I understand up front isn’t the most convenient method of reading my writing.
Deal with it. It’s my process. I can be as hipster as I wanna be, OK?
That said, without more ado, here are a few things I’ve written already, some as recently as just a few days ago, some as old as sometime late last year. I’ll try to keep new blog posts rolling out as I know I’ve finished the first draft of some contained thing.
My notation system and the pen and ink combinations I’m writing and editing with have already changed a few times since I began tinkering with the process, and I think we can expect them to change a few more times before I finish any project. That said, trying to define a process and sticking with it and iterating it are the best I can ask of myself, and at least I’m not just playing Overwatch all night.
(Non-fiction idea I thought of this morning: How Overwatch ruined PC gaming for me, or How Blizzard is primed to destroy my life.)
I look forward to hearing any thoughts from anyone who reads what follows, and if you still have this blog saved for any reason, thank you for your trust or laziness. Hello. I hope you enjoy.
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