Monday, May 3, 2010

Hind sight truly is 20/20

Seriously. As I embark on my journey into the desolate lifestyle of a writer, many questions come to mind. Like, how will I represent myself as a 'real' writer? What should my pen name be or should I even use a pen name? Have I behaved myself online enough to not need to disassociate from my real name?

All valid questions that every writer (should) probably ask themselves. And the way you answer that last one may have an impact of how you must answer the first ones. Hopefully it doesn't come to that. But I have to tell you, in the age of the internet you cannot hide anything. If you have a FaceBook profile that you post to, everything is privy. Remember to think before you strike those keys to post overtly revealing information about yourself. Later on down the line when you've worked extremely hard to make your place in the writing world, anyone can find a plethora of info about you in about 2 minutes of searching the web.

As I Googled myself I panicked, the way you do when you think you may have painted yourself into a corner. My mind raced to remember every covert slam or registration to a weird-o website (I am a Trekker/lover of Goth and Occult/Nerd after all). The more I ran down that mental check list, the more I wondered if I'd forgotten something really embarrassing that had the potential to crop up and bite me later. After my little bout of paranoia induced searching, I realized that I worried for nothing. I mean, if the worst I've ever done is created a dating profile on Trek Passions or Googled magic rain chants I should be fine.

Building a reputation as a dignified and prosperous writer seems potentially like a house of cards. You just don't think about stuff like that at midnight when your web searches turn towards an obscure subject of interest. But you should. Thankfully my interests seem to be blissfully benign. In the world of information in an instant I have remained stalwartly uninteresting. Which is a lucky turn since I see now that it is really important, and a lot of hard work to boot, to build a name for yourself as a serious writer. Not something you want to jeopardize just because you're bored online one day.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Listen up, biotches (mood: hyped and happy)! Time to BLOG.

I've always intended to 'get back to' this here blog. I created it at roughly the same time as I created this blog. But I also knew that at the time, the other blog would take precedence as it is seriously time sensitive. It is a Twilight Saga blog, and that means it's a ticking time bomb. Either I was going to lose interest in Twilight or I would run out of stuff to say about Twilight or the fourth movie would be made and then there just wouldn't be anything new to say about Twilight. Any one of those was immanent.

Don't get me wrong; I LOVE my other blog. And I'm danged proud of it too, so step off! I dare you to go peruse http://hisambereyes.blogspot.com and tell me there isn't some fine writing in there.. Somewhere. That was my first blog and I shall forever remember it fondly and blush mildly while replaying the highlights in my mind. Like a first kiss ...or a first shag.

I guess I had to do that blog to attempt this one. I needed finite subject matter. A blog without borders was just too intimidating back then. I have infrequently posted to this blog when there was some little story I wanted to tell you. Or when I stumbled upon some music so good, I had to document it's kickassery for posterity.

 I have learned so much from doing the TSB (Twilight Saga Blog). I was a serious fledgling when I started out. Through the course of over 2 years of blogging I've learned to keep a tight schedule and I think I've found my voice as a writer. I also learned that I have to write. I have no choice, it's my passion. TSB has introduced me to what will be a lifelong love. I've become an actual story teller as well, thanks to TSB. And that is something I cannot forget because it is my calling: to make up ridiculous, unbelievable (and hopefully insidiously entertaining) stories, steeped in the supernatural. I am grateful to that Twilight blog!! So make fun of me if you will.

I plan on devoting myself to this blog every bit as much as I did the Twilight Saga blog. Because like some sage dude once said, "It truly is the journey, and not the destination."