Biography In Progress

Biography In Progress

10/8/2011 9:59:26 PM

 
Note to Readers: If you get a kind of time warp feeling as you read this, I understand and will explain. When I decided to do this, "this" being this blog and what the blog is about, I needed to create a place to put it so you good folks could read it. The process of getting the blog and other associated parts together is also something I wanted in the blog, which will seem strange to read about since it's obviously already in place or you wouldn't be reading this. Now that you've seen my site, let me take you back in time to why I created it and how I got to where I am now.

There was a time back in the 1990's that I did a lot of fiction writing, primarily science fiction and horror. I didn't make much money at it, but I did publish a number of stories. I also did book reviews and some artwork as well, and even became a story editor/reviewer for a small press "zine" called Neophyte. All of the publishers I worked with, whether small press or mainstream, required that submissions be sent through the mail in hard copy. I was already using a computer for writing, but it was a rare publisher that accepted electronic submissions. So it took time and postage for a story to find a home.

I distinctly remember how much I loved writing and how hard I worked at it, mostly at night after a full day's work at my "real" job. That's why I was so surprised when somewhere along the way I realized I had stopped writing. I couldn't recall wanting to stop writing, nor could I recall making a decision to stop writing. My life just went on without it.

I missed it, at least at an unconscious level. I think I missed it even before I realized it was gone, if that makes sense. To be honest, I never stopped writing all together, because there was that gap I felt had to be filled somehow. So I wrote. As a fan of the board/computer Baseball game by Strat-O-Matic, I became expert enough to write articles to improve play and to explain "under the hood" mechanics of the game. When The Sporting News launched an online version of the game I wrote about that as well. Then came a new game - World of Warcraft. I launched not just one, but two blogs on the subject, one of which is still active even now.

I wasn't writing original stories, however. I worked at being creative and entertaining in my blogs, but the reality was it was based on a world already created by others and was more about reporting what happened instead of creating something new. These things served as a substitute, and still have their place, but my desire to write original stories never really left me. It was buried under an otherwise full and happy life.

I'm writing again. Hopefully, determinably, I'm going to put some serious time and effort into it.

I call this post my "Biography in Progress" because I want this blog to be mostly about my reconnection with writing, which is as yet unwritten.

More posts to follow ... and by the way, look to the "About Me" link to get the usual biographical details.

As always, comments are welcome and encouraged!