Must... write...

Hoo boy. Not a good pattern I'm sliding into here. This week I'm going to just do one slightly longer post since I completely missed Monday and tomorrow's Thursday. I think I'll write about blogging and writing to try and remind myself why I started this blog in the first place.

An uncannily well-timed post about how the cliché "practice makes perfect" applies to writing and pretty much everything else floated across my dashboard on Tumblr today. I know it's true, and it's part of why I started this blog. Writing is one of the few things that actually comes fairly naturally to me--when I stop and make myself write. Actually, even when I don't. When I'm too upset to talk to another human being with actual feelings, I rant at my keyboard, for example. I've also been writing fiction since I was... probably eight or so. I think I remember making attempts when I was even younger, but those were mostly drawings. So it's a skill/passion I want to take advantage of.

Not that I don't have enough writing for schoolwork to do right now. It's just for that I have to read stuff and support claims and write things based off--GASP--outside sources. And document them. [shudders] That's academia, I suppose. I should be used to that by now. It's what you do when you actually care whether people take you seriously.

JuNoWriMo is also coming up. I'm not actually going for fifty thousand words, I've got a novel/novella (we'll see what it turns into) to finish/edit. Of course, it takes place in 1970s New York, a setting I have never and will never experience personally. Even with lots of editing/researching on my part, it may still turn out shitty because of that. But since the main characters were partially inspired by that place and time, I feel like I have to at least try and get it out of my system so I can move on and find a better setting for them.

I keep worrying that I'll lose interest in Cody and Joss before I write down enough of their story. Or that they'll mutate into totally different characters before I can capture their initial essences (that's already happened with Cody, who has gone from a confident, manipulative immortal to a desperately extroverted, insecure teenager.) Oh well. We all know the solution to that potential problem.

For JuNoWriMo I'm thinking I'll start actually scheduling time to write, which will be a habit I should probably hang onto. If I sit down and make myself type like I'm doing right now, I generally don't have too much trouble banging out 500-1000 words in one sitting. As long as I can write in English and I don't have to worry about sources, at least.

Another reason I started this blog was just to establish a more noticeable online presence. I find that the internet can be a much easier place to start lasting friendships with people than offline, especially considering that dancing and drinking aren't really my thing (which means I have to cosplay and get my ass to more cons and take writing classes and do other things I like in ways that throw me in contact with other people who like the same things. So not actually much of a problem. Keeps me productive. Or at least comparatively so.) Not that I think many people are reading this at the moment. In fact, I bet no one is reading this. You, the first reader, could be reading this in 2015 for all I know. Or later.

Not important. I'm not trying to please anyone but myself here (not that pleasing others isn't a nice bonus.) Just keeping the creative muscles from getting too flabby. And maybe if I keep at this long enough I'll come up with some sort of consistent subject matter to talk about instead of rambling about whatever's on my mind during any given moment.