So I’m starting a new project. It’s a writing project. And I’d like to take this time to update as some things have happened, most pertinent of which being that we’ve decided to go to Hong Kong this next round of Visa juggling. But the writing. So as some of you may know, it’s relatively commonly held and believed that a good writer is one who writes, for whom writing is a habit. The idea being that if you write every day, regardless of what you write, you will eventually come upon your “voice,” whatever that is, or, I guess, it’s actually that distinct way and rhythm one writes that’s unique to them. Um…I’ve never really believed this to be true, or at least have always been too lazy to ever try it. Not to say I haven’t tried it. I think this may actually be the third or so time I’ve tried this sort of writing exercise, the idea of which is to write a minimum number of words a day, every day, barring nothing. Obviously I’ve always failed in the past, or else I’d be a successfully published writer by now, rolling in money. Just kidding. I’m not actually sure what I hope to gain through this exercise, but at the moment it seems appropriate.
The salient difference this time is that I feel some pressure to write. I’d like to think that I’m a good writer, or at least an OK writer, but just yesterday I formally withdrew from my Masters in Creative Writing program at Antioch University. The prospects of being in school again were less than pleasing, and I’m at the point in my life where I only want to do things I enjoy, as selfish of a life goal as that is. I think I’ve earned it. So I withdrew, leaving it open the possibility of maybe one day going back, though as I think on it now, I find it very unlikely. But who’s to say what will happen in the future. The point is, I felt cut off. I’m officially NOT going to be writing anything in the near or even distant future. And that bothered me a little. I enjoy writing. I take pleasure in it. I don’t want to not. So I’m giving myself a project, something of my own.
The other difference is that I think I have more direction this time. Whenever I’ve undertaken such projects in the past, they’ve always been very squishy in definition; fuzzy. I never had anything in particular to write about, nor did I want anything in particular. I think that the original scope of these kinds of writing exercises as explained to me when I was a student was to specifically not have any to write about, with the point being to write about anything. Or, to allow yourself to write about anything. I think I’m bad at that also. As much as I’ve rattled against the cages of formal structure in and throughout my life, I’ve found that sometimes without just a little, the broader strokes, I’ll lose all inclination to gain or maintain any forward momentum. I need a premise, a context, one solid thing or principle around which I can then build the rest.
So the premise this time, is memory. Not to be too immodest about it, but I like the memories I have. Now like is not a question of how on the surface good or bad a particular memory is, I don’t mean that I’ve had a wholly happy and optimistic life thus far and my memories are colored thusly. I more mean that I’m happy and thankful for the memories that I have, and I don’t want to lose them. My early childhood memories are few enough as it is that I fear any further aging upon my part may render those years a complete blank. I’d like to take the opportunity now to write them down, as best as I can, and maybe find a few more that I never knew existed, as I did last night when I first thought of this project.
I’ve also never told many people these facts about my life, even those very close to me, and perhaps it’s appropriate that those select few do know. Though this is a public forum, but I don’t hold out any hope that my readership is huge.
So that’s the plan, and as the title states, this is Day 1, of an as yet undetermined number of days, in which I will write at least 1000 words per day. Barring, though I said nothing earlier, technical difficulties involving international travel, my lacking to pay our internet bill on time, etc. I chose 1000 words because I think that’s what I can comfortably write in one sitting, and I am busy enough where I don’t wish to devote more than one sitting to this. I realize it’s poor form to enter into a project unless you’re willing to commit fully to it, but my full commitment this time consists of just that, only my partial time. I’m also decently quick enough of a typist that 1000 words comes and goes without having to think too much about it. The idea is that each time, subject appropriate, I may write more.
I don’t intend to write about any specific memory this time. I’ve got a lot of them lined up that I’m actually very excited to write about, mostly because this will be the first time I write about them, and because it will be the first time that people may read about them. I’d like to progress in chronological order, as best as I can remember, allowing for the odd few that may crop up due to one memory but be completely sequentially unrelated. I’ve thought of a couple of possible pitfall as well as there are certain aspects of my life that very few people know, but we’ll get to those if and when we get to them.
I look forward to continuing this in earnest tomorrow.
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