Hi there! You probably found this blog via my Twitch channel, X/Twitter, Instagram, or similar. Welcome, and I’m happy to have you here!
For those who know me from another context (which will be almost everyone, initially), the tone of this blog might seem different from how I sound elsewhere. I firmly believe (based solely on my own personal experience!) that writing uses a different part of the brain than speaking, and I have always felt myself to be a much better writer than a speaker, even though I’ve had a lot of fun on Twitch since I started streaming in March 2021.
This blog might also sound different from the more typical blog format that became standardized by the 2010’s at the latest, and there is a very good reason for that. Blogs nowadays are primarily used as marketing and promotional devices rather than mediums for authentic creative self expression (I should know; I’ve done a lot of SEO-driven blog creation for businesses and organizations). That wasn’t always the case, however.
I made a Livejournal for the first time in the late winter/early spring of 2000, and it was within the first 5,000-something accounts made (sadly, my account is long deleted now). Back then, blogs weren’t about marketing; they were basically a public journal/diary. At that time, a lot of the civilized population still didn’t spend very much time on the internet, if any. For some of you youths, I’m sure this sounds like I’m describing the Bronze Age or ancient history. But if you were around for it, then you know what I’m talking about.
The tone of this blog is more old-school. The long and the short of it is that I don’t want to write some phony, forced-sounding “informative” blog posts ultimately geared towards selling a product or service. That doesn’t interest me. During college (when I started my Livejournal), my blog served as a way for me to express my thoughts and feelings, which then helped me to figure out the complications and contradictions of my psyche. It also helped me to hone my writing craft, sense of verbal humor, and creative phrasing through regular daily practice. I will admit that in my initial blog, I got a little too personal and “over-shared” because I didn’t think that anyone was really reading it. I learned my lesson the hard way, and I now take a more balanced approach in terms of what I share on the internet in general. It can be tough to find the right balance between insightful authenticity and navel gazing, but this isn’t a virtual confessional booth, even if I might choose to explore complicated or difficult topics at times. The human experience is a messy and confusing one, but my fascination with it is what drew me to study literature and mythology in the first place. I will do my best to find such a balance.
Why am I doing this now? Towards the end of this past July, I had a major psychological breakthrough after a couple of weeks trying to sort through some really tough feelings of depression and purposelessness. In a moment of sudden clarity, I realized that I needed to finally write the novel that I’ve had on the back burner for around 20 years now. I have never written a novel before, so this is a major undertaking for me. I’m both excited and terrified.
I have quite a bit more to say about the initial process involved, but I don’t want this first post to get too lengthy. I’m mostly just seeking to explain the purpose of this blog and its intended scope. I will be writing about the writing process itself, but I will also sometimes share my thoughts and impressions on various topics occupying my sphere of consciousness at any given point. There won’t be any hyper-organized argumentative dissertations here; my posts will tend to be more stream-of-consciousness style, so please take that into account and don’t take it all too seriously.
Anyway, if you’ve stuck around this long, I appreciate it! This blog represents an important cornerstone in the metaphorical creative temple I’m ultimately building, and I hope that what I have to say here will have value for some of you. And if not, even if all it does is help me with the novel-writing process, then it will have accomplished its true purpose.
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