I’ve written more than a few first posts over the years. Despite that fact, they never seem to get any easier. The same old issues always come up. What do I write about? Do I make it witty? Do I make it informative? Do I make it bland and uninteresting because I rush to get it over with and move on to something that’s much more fun?

I’m a writer. I’ve written, edited, and/or published hundreds of thousands of words. Some of that has been professional, paid work. Some of the has been purely for the enjoyment (as incongruous as that may seem given my opening paragraph.) But all of it has served to make me a better writer, I think.

I’ve always been creative person. I have expressed that creativity in many different ways – photography, design, illustration, filmmaking are some good examples. But writing is one of my earliest and oldest loves. I’ve always had a fertile imagination, you see, and writing has been an excellent outlet for the many ideas, scenarios, and worlds I have imagined up over the years. I’ve long dreamt of a better world, or worlds, and, through writing, I’ve been able to take some of those dreams and make them just a little bit real by sharing them. That’s always been the point of writing for me, too. To take something from my imagination, and then put it into yours.

In order to feel okay with calling myself a writer, though, I had to become good at writing. It’s taken a lot of time and practice to get where I am now. When I look at some of my early attempts at telling stories now, it’s hard not to laugh at that work a little. The ideas were good, but my writing was clumsy, awkward, and not very fun to read. I’ve never let that stop me, though, because it was putting those early stories into words that got me to where I am now, writing this blog post for you.

That’s always been the point of writing for me, too. To take something from my imagination, and then put it into yours.

I love writing. I think about it, a lot. I think about the stories I’m writing, and the worlds I’ve created, and the characters that live in them, and in my head, with me. If you’re thinking about becoming a writer, I can tell you from experience that it really helps to love writing. Having a deep, abiding love for the craft won’t make you a good writer, of course. But you’ll never really be a good writer without it.

You’ll need that love when you sit there, in front of a page that has five words or five hundred words, staring at it with absolutely no idea what to say next. You’ll need it when the ideas are pouring out of you so fast your poor fingers can barely keep on the keyboard. You’ll need it when you’ve been typing for hours on end, forgetting to even get up and get a glass of water or use the bathroom, because you just don’t want to stop.

After reading this far, you may be wondering what you can expect from this blog. The easiest answer to that is that I can’t really tell you. My intentions, for now, are unclear.

I plan to share some of my process, how I go from idea to finished work. I plan to share some of my ideas and notes. I plan to share some of the ways I’ve become a better writer, in the hope that they might help you, as well. But, who knows? Maybe I’ll just fill it with pithy memes and the odd GIF.