Dear Reader,
Let’s start with one thing: welcome blog posts are boring. It is a obligatory, long, painful performance put on by the author to court a suitable audience; I imagine myself dancing around center-stage, laptop in one hand, furiously typing with the other in a large auditorium filled with hipsters, grandmas and kids from my old high school. My imagination precedes me. What is often lost, however, is the idea that this post is not about me creating an audience, it’s about connecting with an already existing one. I highly doubt that my own aspirations, interests, dreams, and opinions are uniquely my own, they are a collective. My hope is that through this blog I may connect us like-minded people together.
Of course, there is an ulterior motive. I started this blog because I want to get in the habit of writing everyday, not so much in order to share my life, but instead to become a habitual writer. I have found that writing has provided an escape from the scientific, pre-medical community I find myself trapped in and allows me to effectively explore aspects of my own life I find mysterious. In doing this explorative writing, I hope to become a better writer.
How will I accomplish this? By writing through three (to start) mediums.
One, a daily blog. If something interesting is happening during the day, you will hear about it. If I find my mind fixated on a current event, you will hear about it. If a bird poops on my arm during lunch with a friend (which happened today), you will hear about it. See what I mean? This daily blog will be the main bulk of my writing.
Two, selected essays. Some topics are far too complex to be covered in a single blog. They require research, outside opinions, and numerous drafts. These may involve personal narratives, opinion pieces, medical research, historical findings, anything. However, they should all fall into the broad genre of Creative Nonfiction.
Third, short stories. This is where I move outside my comfort zone. I have never written short stories before, nor have I written a work of fiction of any length for that matter. I think the closest I have come to calling myself a writer of fiction was in the third grade when I wrote 3-pages of dialogue between myself and Jim Carrey, set in a submarine (I got a bad grade and the teacher said the conversation lacked content). My ambitious goal is to move beyond this early failure and write one short story a week. This goal is inspired by Ray Bradbury’s advice to “write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.” Well, we will keep our fingers crossed.
I want to thank you for embarking on this journey with me. I am truly excited about the opportunity to connect with you.
Faithfully yours,
Jer
Textual Feelings 