Initial Thoughts

I am not a writer. I am not a poet or anything either. So, for now, I'll be a blogger.

The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing encourages its readers to create a blog. I bought this book, among others, as is my custom, in order to enhance my understanding of this business of writing books. Buying books on my obsession du jour has been a long-time habit of mine. Whenever I decide I'm going to learn about something or do something, I buy a few books on it. This happened to me when I undertook to understand the nature of symbolism. Suddenly, a dozen symbol dictionaries appeared in the clutter of my bookshelves, and my passion of symbolism took a back seat to my passion for buy reference books on symbolism. I booked tickets to Paris, and my fingers itched to buy travel books. I co-founded an acting troupe, and tons of tomes on Shakespeare found their way into my home.

Obsession begets obsession.

So, now I am writing a blog because my book on novel-writing told me to. It's good advice. And I'm not doing much with the time I set aside to write at the moment, because I am giving myself some breathing room from the freshly finished outline of my novel (another helpful suggestion from the novel-writing book). Apparently, this will give me some perspective on the plot and character decisions my past self thought were good, and not only allow me to see that everything I'd written thus far was utter nonsense but also give me the wisdom to improve the drivel I had thought was the trappings of a worthy piece of fiction not two days ago. Sounds good.

I am, as I have said, not a writer. But, I am writing a book. A series actually. It's been coming on slowly, and now it refuses to leave me alone. This is my retaliation. I will vent my frustrations here, and maybe that'll teach my book a lesson about bullying. I hope so.