Yet, I am pleased by the mark. It has been a personal achievement to keep a semi-regular writing schedule over the past 15 months. At first, I wasn't sure how I would come up with ideas on what was supposed to be sort of related to my first years as a full-time faculty member at NWTC. Forty published posts later, ideas haven't been a problem. I add ideas to a smartphone note pad and am about a dozen blogs behind where I could be. What to write has never been a problem. When to write and how to write is another story.
I know my writing tends to be a little too formal, not nearly as fluid as some writers I admire. "Open up, expose yourself, be daring," advised my UW-O writing professor who thought my writing sounded like the narrative of a routine school board meeting. I'm not sure my style has changed much other than I no longer worry about style ever since I passed that class. I've never been comfortable exposing myself in writing and don't expect to start now. That would seem artificial to me and, somehow, dishonest. I try very hard not to be dishonest in my writing.
What has been important is that I am working at the keyboard on an almost weekly basis on subjects that interest me at the moment. I think it was western novelist, Louis L'Amour, who said, "The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on." The art of writing requires the discipline of craft first. Inspiration is a luxury that working journalists don't have time for, and I guess I still see myself as a working journalist more than any other kind of writer. I use this blog like a reporter's notebook to explore a world that is endlessly interesting. If I am able to tell a good story or make an interesting point which makes the events seem a little more clear to my readers, I am happy with the result. I hope they are too.
What has been important is that I am working at the keyboard on an almost weekly basis on subjects that interest me at the moment. I think it was western novelist, Louis L'Amour, who said, "The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on." The art of writing requires the discipline of craft first. Inspiration is a luxury that working journalists don't have time for, and I guess I still see myself as a working journalist more than any other kind of writer. I use this blog like a reporter's notebook to explore a world that is endlessly interesting. If I am able to tell a good story or make an interesting point which makes the events seem a little more clear to my readers, I am happy with the result. I hope they are too.
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