So, what is the point of writing about writing? Surely it's a terribly pretentious, silly thing to do, only for academics and people with too many opinions?
Well, maybe it is. I've certainly come across my share of pretentious writers-who-wrote-about-writing, and I detested some of the things they came out with. Dorothea Brande, for example, whose ideas about what a writer should be made me extremely angry in second year when we studied her in one my my classes. I felt that she had invalidated my prerogative to try and get my writing published, and I cast her aside with bitterness and resent.
But, having said that, I have read some beautiful writing-about-writing, words which made me feel amazing about being a writer. Ted Hughes, for example, in his poem The Thought Fox, takes the image of a fox walking in a snowy night and turns it into an allegory for the process of composing a piece of writing. When I studied it in sixth form I was applying to study Creative Writing at university and I fell in love with the poem. It has stuck with me for at least five or six years now as both a wonderful way to describe the creative process and as a beautiful piece of writing in and of itself.
But the influence of others is only a small consideration to me. As useful and interesting as influences can be, if I were to only consider those in my own thoughts I would find myself parroting their ideas back to others, whereas I would like to build on their ideas and try to form my own. I am not seeking to deliberately disagree with or agree with any one writer and their ideas, but I will attempt to use theirs to inform my own, as there is much to be learned almost anywhere if we just look for it.
But this is more a question of how - I was trying to tell you why I'm writing about writing.
Well, I suppose one of the simplest and most straightforward answers is that I was bored. Having graduated from university in the summer, and then spent six months looking for a job, and then finally got one, I found that I haven't made as much time for writing as before, nor do I have essays and assignments to do to keep me going. Okay, so I did attempt my own version of NaNoWriMo in November (I managed 25k words in the month allocated), and yes, I have been continuing to write a story I started for a friend's birthday a few years ago (sorry Beanie!), and sure, I run my roleplaying game each week and have to write plot for that. Aside from these, however, I haven't been devoting any real time to writing, and I really hate that feeling. So, this blog is partly to help combat that and give me something real to do and stuff to write about.
Another reason is that I would like to have my writing published in the future, and to this end, this blog will hopefully help on two fronts: firstly as a way to promote myself and my writing and secondly because I think there is always room for improvement, and practise makes perfect, as the old saying goes. If I can use this blog to practise, revise and improve my writing, I think my "proper" writing will be much better.
Lastly, I would like to get back into the habit of reading, as it's another one of those things I have been neglecting. Part of the purpose of this blog is as a place to review books, and hey, I can't review books if I don't read them, right?!
I guess overall, this blog is really just about disciplining myself and getting myself back into the literary groove, so to speak. I'm excited for the future of this blog and the opportunities it might present, and I hope you enjoy reading!
