Habit Forming

I neglect this poor blog horribly (in case that wasn't obvious). I started it as an experiment, an alternative "journal" for a class. Perhaps that association is the problem. Not that the class carries negative associations, but that this blog was for a class that is now long ended, and has occasionally, briefly attached itself to other classes. Right now, that's all on hiatus for various reasons. So maybe it's time to rethink the role of this medium.

I write.

In 2009, I took a creative writing workshop class at the local university. I emailed the instructor before class (as is my habit) and he said to have a story ready to workshop. I didn't at the time, but over the couple of weeks between then and the beginning of the semester, I had something started--sort of a Japanese light novel, but in English, and less random than the few I've read or seen animated. My base idea pushed me toward this style--a sort of Japanese urban fantasy story and the notion that it should be manga-like but still literate and thoughtful. (Not that there aren't literate and thoughtful manga out there.)

The story idled along for a couple of years coming in fits and spurts. Then last year it jumped from about 60k words to 200k words as the overarching story fell into place. (It has since grown even more.)

So, as I said, I write. Which brings me back to the core point of this meandering post.

Recently I read an author who talked about forming the habit of writing on a regular schedule as a means to write more. (Sounds obvious, but it's true. Look how fast the story grew when I wrote on it almost daily for a year vs. writing on it here and there for a few days a month.) So I've decided to make this blog another writing habit. At least once a week. Whatever I want to write about. Pick a topic and write a few paragraphs here. That's the current goal. I may step it up over time. I'm still writing "the story," spending at least an hour or two on it most days, and I don't want this to interfere with that.

And don't expect everything to be about writing, or the story, though so many things that seem unrelated are actually parts of the same whole.