Testing a Different Kind of Writing
In the first month of 2025, I hunkered down to work on my yearly reading stats. This annual project requires referencing year-old Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, pie chart graphics, and the blog posts that record the books completed over the last twelve months. As I flipped back and forth between blog posts, I also transitioned between the reader-view of the blog and the backstage version, which only I get to see. With all the clicking between screens, I noticed a little dropdown button on the upper left corner with the name of this blog. I clicked on it, and what did I find?
I found evidence of an old blog. Of course I remember having shared a blog with a few friends back in college, but long disuse and the pursuit of other adventures eventually pushed it out of active memory. I clicked on it and went through some of the posts I had composed in the midst of grad school.
What I realized while reading old posts about Gandalf, grad school, and stress reading was that my writing used to be better. Perhaps that is not true, but regardless, my old posts had a wit and vigor to them that delights me long after I've moved on to different creative projects. I was saddened because those essays reflected a whimsy and imagination that I feel that I've lost. It's not the first time I'd had the feeling - I don't actively create scenes for an epic novel in my head anymore - but it was a moment where the feeling of regret was strong enough to lead to a resolution. I suspect that I fell into the "use it or lose it" rule that applies to some gifts, so I may never get back the fun and creative ideas that came to me in the feverish frenzy of grad school. However, there's no guarantee that such flights of fancy are forever gone, either.
What I proposed to myself was to make an effort to keep engaging in the art of writing. My brain may be laying down tracks that are too straight for another post like "Books With a Letter Missing" right now, but there's more vivacious writing to be done than writing in an online book journal. If an idea comes to me of something that I think might be fun to riff on, I'll make a note in my phone and try to tackle it eventually.
Literary Considerations
I plan to call these posts "Literary Considerations". The little blog post ideas that step outside the realm of my usual monthly Book Bracket posts and Deep Dives have to do with the craft of writing. I can string words together into sentences and paragraphs, but I've never actually sat down and studied the craft of writing in earnest. I do still harbor tiny hopes about writing books and publishing them someday, but I also recognize that I lack the prose-composition skills I'd want to have if I were to write seriously. Beyond composition, though, there are other aspects of literature that I want time to mull over myself. Why do we describe landscapes in books? What makes for a cozy tale? Perhaps there are aspects of story that I can reflect upon that will help clarify what I would need to do to create a story I'd love and feel confident in sharing. It may take a while to get something posted that heads in this new direction, but I'm already brainstorming ideas to explore.
Post Script
If you have any interest in checking out that fun blog I shared with a few close friends, you can check it out here:
https://narnianaustenites.blogspot.com/
Happy reading!
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