Regular blogging is hard

The fundamental problem of writing a blog is thinking of something profound, interesting, or useful to say. I know there are some people who are able to do this on a daily basis, even multiple times a day, developing an idea and writing it down for the benefit of their large audiences. Other people may not actually have anything useful or inspirational or poetic to say, but they say it anyway; some may have little to say but when they are inspired to speak it is fantastic.

I find myself paralyzed by indecision whenever I have an idea that might be good enough to make it into a blog post. I don’t want to be another one of those people filling the internet with endless blathering, but I also feel the pressure of having this blog sit empty. Watching the previous post date drift farther and farther into the past without an answer is a profoundly unpleasant feeling.

So here is an update on what I’ve been doing. The second novel still sits at about 1/5 of the way to completion, but I’ve set it aside for now in the interest of trying my hand at some short stories and microfiction. Those of you who knew me during my undergraduate years might recall the universe I created with several friends, and the short “vignettes” we wrote set in this universe. Well, that universe is the same one as all my fiction takes place in now, and those vignettes are all still “canon” in the universe. I have taken some of these old vignettes, updated them to what I hope is a superior writing style to that used by college-me, and have been submitting them, along with new fiction, to various science fiction magazines and e-zines. I guarantee there will be an excited post here if I receive back an acceptance from one of these ‘zines!

While I’m doing this, if I write a story, or update one of my old ones, and it just doesn’t strike me as enough to officially submit for publication, or if it is rejected from publication, I figure someone should be able to read it. I’ll be posting these stories, sometimes with a short introductory explanation, sometimes not, in a new section of this blog called “Stories” which will be linked from the main page as well as from the general blog. The first of this list, “The Siren’s Song,” should go live today.

I’d love comments about the stories. I think the best possible way to improve my writing is to actually hear reviews from people about it. Honest criticism is the best way for me to be able to share my universe with you all, and I look forward to discussion in the comments!