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My drug of choice is writing––writing, art, reading, inspiration, books, creativity, process, craft, blogging, grammar, linguistics, and did I mention writing?

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Course Adjustment: Year Three

Hoping for a SLIGHTLY bigger special effects budget this year.

Captain Krik: Mr. Sooloo, turn to heading seven-eight-nine-seven-six-six-nine-six-nine-three-six-nine-four-three-eight-seven mark four-two-zero-eight-six-nine-zero-three-four-eight-three-two point four-three-seven-five-four-two-zero-six-nine.

Mr. Sooloo: Turning left sir.  

So the blog is about to celebrate its second birthday (TOMORROW!) and I'm kind of getting the hang of blogging.

One thing I don't do well is the cruise control of life.

Just about at any point that I start to feel like I'm getting the hang of life, I immediately run out and find another thing at which I can get in over my head. In what may be some great twist of cosmic irony, I have found the most miserable times in my life were those I coasted through.

This has never been about backpacking in the Himalayas or skydiving or learning to tango, and it has certainly never been about finding a better job, making more money, or advancing my career--well not the one other people think is "real" anyway. I don't want to impugn people who push their boundaries and envelopes in these ways--being human is about finding one's own meaning in life.

For me, it has always been about writing.

So Writing About Writing will be making a few course adjustments as it kicks off its third year. As a reader you can look forward to less bullshit and more awesome.

And let me take a moment to emphasize that this is because of all of YOU! I would not have the increased time to focus on writing if I couldn't have dropped one of the classes I teach. I could not have dropped that class if I weren't making about $100 a month from your generous donations (and some ad revenue). So it is all of you who have made this possible. It's not enough to pay the bills, but it is enough to give the writing a little more time and energy.

So all that more awesome is because YOU'RE awesome. And I found a macro of a dog who looks like he's pointing at the camera to emphasize that point.

So what does this course correction mean for me and the actual writing? I mean besides something vague like "less bullshit"?

  • There will be a huge round up of finishing up many of the loose threads I have hanging. Last week's penultimate offering of the You Really Don't Have to Write series. That wasn't the last time I'll be going back to things I started months (and sometimes years) ago and haven't finished. The glossary posts, the Skyrim article, the last of You Don't Really Have to Write and more will be on the block to be finished up.
  • More entries! Though weekends may be link dumps and things like menu clean ups, I expect to be doing more entries.
  • I'll be starting two new "segments." (Below)
  • One new segment will be the Pointer Sisters link pimpage that I started a while back but never did anything with. I kept finding good links and then thinking "Wait...maybe I'd want to write about that! I can't share this! People will think I'm a total fraud!" I have since realized two things. I am never ever ever ever ever ever going to run out of ideas. If the idea lobe in my brain shut down RIGHT NOW I would still have years worth of backlogged posts to write. Also, I can write about the same thing and it will be totally different because I use phrases like "drippy anal sphincter" and "totes magotes" in my writing in petulant defiance of every language controlling doucherocket out there. (Also "doucherocket".)
  • The other new segment will be the very, very basics. I'm sometimes diving pretty deeply into the artistry of writing without hitting the basics. An article about the difference in capabilities between close third limited and first person narration is awesome, but sometimes people don't know what a first person narration even is.
  • A slightly higher quality of post. I don't have the money to hire a copy editor, but with the extra time I've got, I can at least run articles past Supportive Girlfriend for a second set of English major eyes.
  • More of our popular guest bloggers from the first year, now that it has been discovered that their articles were being intercepted before submission by a virus implanted in the W.A.W. mainframe by our Evil Mystery Blogger. It has nothing to do with the fact that those posts were time and energy intensive and very hard to keep up with this last year. Nope. (Dude, I'm serious. It has nothing to do with that!)
  • Oh yeah, we're totally going to find out who that a-hole is. Oh yes!
  • More product reviews, craft of fiction articles, and generally USEFUL articles. 
  • And the biggest change: MOAR FICTION. I will be offering up more of that "(and occasionally some writing)" stuff. Look forward to at least one fiction offering each month, and possibly more. Or dread with a mortal terror--that's cool too.

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