My Very First Blog Post
My old blog site’s sinking like the Titanic. I recently opted to fold it into my website. While doing this, I’ve found some old blog posts worthy of being salvaged. Among them is my very, very first blog post:
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Guess this is the blog post where I tell a little bit about myself and why I started this project. I'm a writer. It's in my blood, sweat, and bone marrow. Much as I'd sometimes love to live a regular life and shoot for happily-ever-after, I know my limits. Besides, I'd rather sit in a tiny apartment and write stuff. I prefer sci-fi. And these days, I do short stories. I've pushed out so many that I'm probably gonna publish them someday.
But I've got three big obstacles in my path to being a published writer.
One, according to the conventional wisdom, publishers don't touch newbie writers until they've built some kind of following or platform. It's a "sound business practice" thing. Publishers can only handle so many books a year, in a highly-competitive business where so many good books just don't make it. If you're unknown, they can't be sure your stuff will sell, even if it's great. But if you've got published works out and a large enough fan base, you might actually be good enough for them to take a risk on you. I need that kind of rep.
Two, I've much to learn about this writing game. I've read articles, bought "self-help" books on the matter, and probably written a million-plus words in my lifetime. . . and I still don't know sh*t. I've gotta pick up knowledge of this game, preferably by getting my hands dirty.
Three, I'm scared to death. Writing's the one thing I do better than anything else. The one thing I love. And I'm scared to pursue it. I'm not 100% sure why. And it annoys me that I don't know. But then again, I'm a compulsive writer. My need to write is an unstoppable force. My fear's an immovable object. So they're gonna clash, with me in the middle. I'm not immortal. And as I stumble toward 40, I think I'd better step up my efforts before I die of something.
This blog will (hopefully) help me through these three obstacles. Maybe it will help me build a platform by strengthening my wobbly people skills. And as I research the etiquette and means of getting my works published, I can jot stuff into this blog: much like keeping notes while taking a class. Feel free to read my posts. Maybe some nugget of wisdom will be of use. But mainly, I need to focus more on my passion to write and give my fear the middle finger.
There, my first real blog post. Hope you like the rest. Thanks for reading even this far.
Sincerely,
Marcus V. Calvert
P.S. – Of course, if I stumble across any interesting/cool/bizarre stuff, I'll post it in passing. This blog thing shouldn't be all work, now should it?
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Guess this is the blog post where I tell a little bit about myself and why I started this project. I'm a writer. It's in my blood, sweat, and bone marrow. Much as I'd sometimes love to live a regular life and shoot for happily-ever-after, I know my limits. Besides, I'd rather sit in a tiny apartment and write stuff. I prefer sci-fi. And these days, I do short stories. I've pushed out so many that I'm probably gonna publish them someday.
But I've got three big obstacles in my path to being a published writer.
One, according to the conventional wisdom, publishers don't touch newbie writers until they've built some kind of following or platform. It's a "sound business practice" thing. Publishers can only handle so many books a year, in a highly-competitive business where so many good books just don't make it. If you're unknown, they can't be sure your stuff will sell, even if it's great. But if you've got published works out and a large enough fan base, you might actually be good enough for them to take a risk on you. I need that kind of rep.
Two, I've much to learn about this writing game. I've read articles, bought "self-help" books on the matter, and probably written a million-plus words in my lifetime. . . and I still don't know sh*t. I've gotta pick up knowledge of this game, preferably by getting my hands dirty.
Three, I'm scared to death. Writing's the one thing I do better than anything else. The one thing I love. And I'm scared to pursue it. I'm not 100% sure why. And it annoys me that I don't know. But then again, I'm a compulsive writer. My need to write is an unstoppable force. My fear's an immovable object. So they're gonna clash, with me in the middle. I'm not immortal. And as I stumble toward 40, I think I'd better step up my efforts before I die of something.
This blog will (hopefully) help me through these three obstacles. Maybe it will help me build a platform by strengthening my wobbly people skills. And as I research the etiquette and means of getting my works published, I can jot stuff into this blog: much like keeping notes while taking a class. Feel free to read my posts. Maybe some nugget of wisdom will be of use. But mainly, I need to focus more on my passion to write and give my fear the middle finger.
There, my first real blog post. Hope you like the rest. Thanks for reading even this far.
Sincerely,
Marcus V. Calvert
P.S. – Of course, if I stumble across any interesting/cool/bizarre stuff, I'll post it in passing. This blog thing shouldn't be all work, now should it?
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