My First Post

Okay, so the title is a little cliché.  As a writer, I have never before succumb to the call of the blog.  What is it about this opinion based form of prose that draws people in?  Is it that sense of free speech? Is that it? Some patriotic demonstration of the 21st century that glorifies men almost 250 years our senior?  And yes, in this context, men does not include women.  If that's not it, then is it some innate desire to be famous?  Just one blog could make a person somehow more publicly desirable than before (see: Perez Hilton)?  Is it the ease of the medium?  Is this indirectly linked to the obesity epidemic, proof that laziness is the new Richard Simmons?  As a writer, I am concerned that my words are now put out in front of persons worldwide without compensation for doing so.  But is it so bad? Technically, I am publishing to the web.  This can be used as the "dangling carrot" for future endeavors.  Does that mean I should then write exactly how I would on paper?  I don't know, but again, this is My First Post.

Alright, so I am sitting in my apartment bedroom, spilling my guts to whomever.  I am in my second week of "college".  By second week, I mean at this particular location.  I decided to save money at Comm. College.  I feel that it was a good option.  I now have a good chance of getting out of school very close to debt free.  In this day and age, that is an amazing feat.  I guess I owe it to the timely death of my Grandfather?  That rolls of the tongue strangely, but without the financial arrangements of that situation, I may very well not be in the place I am now.  In fact, it helped my decision on Comm. College.  What position does this put me in?  Well it means that at 21, this is the first time I have been away from home for an extended period of time (more than a week).  So I feel awkward, not having any friends in the upper classes, not feeling right in making friends of true freshmen.  Fortunately, the degree program I am in helps with this problem somewhat.

The Creative Writing degree, because of its Fine Art standing, and because it is such a non-traditional degree, there is a small community of writers.  The intimacy may prove useful, as I already have begun to feel an acceptance in a few peers.  Certainly, it won't be the four year support of a more traditional student, but its something.  And really, isn't non-traditional the new traditional?  Probably not.  But I feel hopeful for my future here.

Besides, if I had not gone to Comm. College, I would not be Jon of JR Writing.  It is wonderful that a few of the students in a writing workshop class worked so well that we created a writing group stemming from the workshop setting learned in that class.  It speaks to me that we are still together and deeply involved in each others works.  One writer is working to get published. Another is slowly piecing her's together.  I am somewhere in between, I guess.  I just hope I keep focused enough to write.  We are participating in the National Novel Writing Month.  For those that don't know, from November 1 to 30, you are supposed to write 50k words.  We modified this slightly.  We all want quality pieces by the end of this year.  So from now until the end of November, we are working to get to a publisher's definition of Novel, which is 70k words in most cases.  That is for a short page length, by the way.  A typical "page" is only 250 words.  The breakdown, therefore, is 280 pages.  Really, to have a quality piece by the end of this year would be amazing.  Potentially, I could be published before I was out of College.  If I could, I may not have to even use my plan for steady income!  Awesome.

Now if I could only find time to write!  Maybe this blog for me, then, is a way to distract myself from the inevitable.  Maybe, sub-consciously, I don't want a writing career?  I hope not.  That would not be cool.

Later.