Why I Blog

I’ve always thought of myself as a writer. Unfortunately, that means people expect you to write.

It isn’t that I don’t enjoy the process of writing, but it’s hard to stay motivated enough to keep at the same novel for months and years at a time.

Every published novelist I know gives the same advice: you have to stay on a regular schedule. It’s best if you write every single day.

Great. So, while I’m sure there are people out there who can juggle a full-time job, raising a family, other interests, and, you know, life, and still keep to a daily writing schedule, I can assure you I am not one of them. I simply can’t stick to routines.

If I manage to chisel out an hour at a time for writing, three days a week, I feel like a champion. Just like trying to stick to an exercise program, it’s far too easy to put off my writing, then pile on other excuses, and pretty soon I’ve gone a month without producing anything.

Hence this blog.

My rationale is that if I sit down once a week to write an article, it will keep me on track with the other writing projects I’ve imposed upon myself. Amazingly, it’s worked as intended. Something about this free-form, no-rules forum takes away all the apprehension about getting the words right.

As an added bonus, I get to talk about all the things I’ve been researching.Whenever I learn something new, I want so badly to share it with people, but you probably wouldn’t be surprised at how hard it is to work Tycho Brahe’s dwarf butler into conversation.

The one thing I never expected, though, is that … people are actually reading this! You, you wonderful, dear person, are actually reading my blog. Family, friends, co-workers, college buddies … and more and more people are picking me up through Google from other countries.

The first time someone in my life mentioned to me that she’d followed some advice I gave in one of my posts, I was floored. My first thought was, “Wow, that’s so awesome!” – followed quickly by, “I’d better not say anything stupid.”

So thank you, dear reader, for indulging my wandering brain. I cannot promise not to say anything stupid, but I do hope you find it entertaining.