A Work in Progress

This right here, Fernweh, is why writers do what they do. I went looking for a blog post I'd written years ago for a future article that I'm working on now. And guess what? I went back to the beginning of all my blog posts and it looks like I've been blogging for ten years. That sure went by fast. August 6, 2009 ◄ was my first post and hey, I'm still here and still loving it. While my random blogging is nothing special, I've got to say it's been a wonderful place to hone my writing skills. And as a writer, it's a good idea to have a digital footprint that shows both a writing past and a potential writing future. There are plenty of "real" bloggers who have tons of followers and loyal fans. They're super prolific and making six figures, and writing about their successes. And that's great. But, this blog isn't that. I never wanted it to be that in the first place. Not to mention, it wasn't even a thing ten years ag

The way I start a story is rarely how I finish it. And writing is pretty much always this way. Which is a good thing. No, it's a fantastic thing. The first draft of anything should never, ever see the light of day. Or anyone's eyes. But yours of course, the first time around. Then said eyes need to watch yourself retyping a great deal of it. And this is for any writer. Pro or amateur. As Hemingway once said, and I'm going to paraphrase, "All first drafts are crap." Clearly, he didn't say "crap." That wasn't the word he used. That wasn't Hemingway. But, I digress. Here's the thing. He's right. First drafts are garbage. Always. They must be rewritten. Now, sometimes when articles and things getting printed, what you think will be printed won't always be the case. I know this first hand. I've written many things that have been edited sharply. Things I wrote, that turned out nothing like what I submitted. That's the fre