I have tried to start a journal several times and I can just never seem to get it to continue for more than a couple of weeks. After that time, I just stop. I don’t even try. My drive disappears or life gets in the way. I was really worried that writing this blog would turn into that. I’m not saying that because I have surpassed the historic one-week mark that all is safe and I am now convinced that my last dying action in about 147 years will be to make sure I write that last journal entry. What I am saying is that this is a hell of a lot easier than I thought it would be. I write novels too. I am currently working on my forth called “The Algonquin Well”, set mainly in, shockingly, Algonquin which for those of you who don’t know, is a gigantic region in the middle to northern area of Ontario. It is one of Ontario’s pride in that it is one massive area of cottages, lakes, and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of trees. The land is peppered with thousands of cottages and outdoor adventures that are absolutely breathtaking. So, in my novel, I thought about putting a group of six kids on an island in the middle of a lake, their intent to have a one last group getaway before school starts and maim, destroy, and generally terrorize them one by one by another, slightly different inhabitant on the island. Mwahahahahahahahaha.
What was I saying?
Oh ya, journal. My experiences writing novels has opened my mind to being much more creative when it comes to writing in general. I always wondered what the reason for my failed journal was. Was it that I just got bored writing every day? Did I run out of things to say? Who the hell is going to read my journal anyway? Its for me to read later and really doesn’t have to be that interesting. Although I’m sure that the answer is that I simply didn’t have the discipline to do it, I am now discovering by writing this blog, that it is NOT because I have nothing to say. And I am now writing in my journal every day, even if its to say “I have nothing to say!” Developing the habit of writing something, anything, is vital to maintaining journals and blogs. Blogs really aren’t that hard. You just have to understand that there really are no rules to writing blogs other than keep the blog relatively clean – no crazy swear words. (I love the word Blog! Doesn’t BLOG sound like a swear word anyway? That guy is such a BLOG! Hey buddy, BLOG off! BLOG!) There is no rule that says you can’t write about the same thing you wrote about last week or last month. Perhaps you have a new perspective on the same topic, and to me, that is what blogging is partly about; living through your ever evolving ideas and experiences and sharing them with the world (or in the case of this blog right now, about four people – ok two when you take Michelle and myself out of it).
I guess my underlining thought here is if you (as I first did!) think that writing a blog might be fun but are concerned about coming up with content, you may surprise yourself by coming up with more topics than you currently can think of. I have discovered that the very act of writing out one idea frees that idea from your mind and creates space for two or three more. With that first idea stuck in your mind and nowhere to go will make it very difficult to move on with other ideas. Or am I the only one who can’t think of two things at once?!
BTW after Michelle reads my novel, “The Algonquin Well”, I am guessing that our house in Shetland will NOT be allowed to have a well! BLOG!!
- Will
No comments:
Post a Comment