Resolutions

I guess I should talk about what I’ll be doing instead of this blog, you know, since it’s the last of these regular posts. I’ve got a few different interests, actually, which aren’t quite writing the same way as just typing into a word processor. I feel like I want to be dabbling a bit more, you know, while I’m trying to figure out what I’m doing.

The one I’ve been interested in for the longest is a program called Twine, which is built to make text-based games, the sorts where you read a passage and move on to the next by clicking a hyperlink or one’s choice of hyperlinks. So it’s kind of like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, but there have been some very creative uses. I’m not saying I’m getting too creative with something I’ve only dabbled in so far, but this is the first time I’ve had a concrete idea for what story I’m telling, so I want to give it a try.

I also had a comic idea. It isn’t much and it’s definitely borrowing too much inspiration from someplace else, but that’s part of the point, I think. At least, that’s what I’ve got written down in my outline. I admit, I never really got into drawing, but that’s also accounted for, actually, so I’m excited to try.

And this is all on top of a few other writing projects -- the normal kind, I mean. But when I say I’m keeping myself busy, it’s mostly with stuff like those first two. Honestly, I’m pretty excited to get to work. I’ll miss this blog, and I’ll definitely come back to it when I have something to say (especially if that is “I finished this thing and other people are seeing it!”), but this blog was always about helping me finish thoughts, and this seems like a good place to end this one.

See you out there,

-F

The Beginning of the End

A phrase that comes up a lot when I’m scrambling to put a blog post together is “something I still probably need to interrogate”, a shorthand I’ve been using to mean “I can’t really go into this right now, but this post is about something I’ve noticed.” Sometimes the phrase stays to completion, sometimes it gets erased and replaced with something else, but what I want to do today is examine exactly why I’ve been using it. A meta-interrogation, if you will.

Some of it, I think, is that I’m torn. Some of this stuff I do legitimately want to go back and think about more, but while I recognize that blogs can be useful for long-form content, it’s not what I really think of them as. Maybe it’s a mental block I still need to get over, but that is certainly part of what stops me. This is especially true as I start wanting to be a writer in ways other than just this blog. “Is this a good blog topic or is this something I should save?” is always at the back of my mind.

The other part is a bit more personal. That is to say, I’ve interrogated it and it’s not something I’m willing to put here.

As time has gone on, then, I feel like I’ve lost sight of where exactly I want this blog to be. Originally, it was a project meant to make sure I actually finished something, tired as I was of starting a writing project and then losing steam immediately. And on that front, things have happened! I try not to keep a definite word count of things but my writing outside of this blog has extended into the high five-, maybe even six-digit range, taking up more of my time. Meanwhile, this blog has become more “something I sputter out every Tuesday evening or so.”

I think you can see where I’m going with this. I’d rather continue to focus my energies elsewhere, so when this year ends, so will the regular updates to this blog. There’s some careful wording there -- I won’t be taking this blog down, nor am I vowing to never post in here again, but I won’t be posting weekly anymore. This still feels like the place to drop media criticism every now and again, for example, especially when I’ve promised at least a few more of those.

This also means I’m going to make sure these final few regular posts go out with a bang. I’d dare not just limp along, say I’m stopping, and then limp a little bit more. This is more like that final burst of speed when the finish line is in sight.

Talk to you next week,

-F

Introduction (Part Three)

So.

I said in my last blog post that I had a resolution in mind for this coming year and now, a week later, I guess I have to actually put it in action.

NSS Reviews

It’s no secret that I’ve been trying to enjoy films where I can this past year, but this year I want to make a more concerted effort at it. I’ve also found myself wanting to talk more about the movies I’ve been seeing and sometimes that can be difficult days or weeks or months after my initial viewing, so I also wanted to try my hand at formally reviewing them.

I should note here that I’m not saying “formally” like I’ll be trying to wade through academia to try and produce a reading. The style will probably be similar to my Raindrops and Roses posts, maybe mixed with some sort of outline I’ll crib from somewhere else. “Formally” is just a single word for “Instead of talking everybody’s ears off about them, I’ll just write about them here and then talk everybody’s ears off about them.”

I don’t expect posts there to go at the same weekly rate that posts here do. Like, they’ll probably start that way just to get myself into the rhythm doing them, but if something goes south in other parts of my life, watching movies is probably going to get cut from a list of activities, and after that, well, so would the blog. So maybe this is less a “dare” like I alluded to before and more that classic resolution style where you make it to the end of January and never do it again. But I did want to give it a try. 

I’ve scheduled the first post to appear on Friday. After that, who knows?

-F

Introduction (Part Two)

If I had another go at introducing myself, I probably would have talked more about the experiences of being an introvert. As a writer, or at least an aspiring one, I’m of two minds about this sort of disposition. On one hand, it is wonderful to drift off between a pair of headphones and a computer screen, not interacting with anybody or anything more than I have to while typing away at a new story or an old story or whatever else I’m working on at the moment. On the other hand, I’ve become increasingly more aware of the “off” time that still goes into the creation process. Specifically, I mean interacting with readers.

Horror stories have been written about this. Harlan Ellison wrote a particularly vivid one involving a cup of someone’s vomit. Hell, Stephen King’s Misery is a case study in poor reader interaction. But those are obviously extremes. I’m more worried about lines upon lines of people all wanting to speak with me on a one-on-one fashion.

I remember all the author signings I’ve been to, and all the different ways artists have interacted with me. Most of them just signed the book and waved me on, but that’s a little too spartan for me. Others spoke individually with each and every person who came up. And that has to be exhausting for them too, right? Ignoring the physical strain of sitting one moment then getting up for a picture, or even injuring your wrist from the strain, isn’t that tiresome to ask the same questions over and over to each and every person that comes up?

I don’t know. These aren’t questions you’re supposed to ask until you have something to show for it. But it’s still something I think about, right before I plug back in and go back to sculpting my own little world.

-F

Introduction

I've never been good at introductions. I'm an introvert already, so that rules out the public kind -- the kind where you shake hands and/or hug and say how nice it is to meet someone. And, for perhaps the same reason, I've never been good at the online kind either. So, um, hi!

So, first things first, this is a Tuesday blog, or at least it hopes to be. That isn't to say that there won't be delays, but the reason I created this blog in the first place was to challenge myself. There are those out there who manage to update some website or another three times a week, or sometimes even more, but I wasn't sure I would be able to handle that sort of commitment given my anticipated work schedule. One a week, though, should be easy enough.

I don't really have a theme as of yet, and I don't really have any sort of plan. This was kind of a spontaneous New Year's Resolution between Secret Asian Man and I to keep each other motivated. He, obviously, has his travel life going for him. I, unfortunately, do not share that luxury. What I'm left with, then, is an insatiable desire to create, and this blog will hopefully serve as that outlet.

I hope you all enjoy!

-F