Writing, Writing, Writing

Given over to the better angels of my nature, I have decided to do a post that has nothing to do with jobs, school, the baby boomer generation or Jackson. Sing the praises on high, I'm not bitching too much today. The question was raise today, in a somewhat indirect way, of why I blog. Sure, I blog to bitch and moan so my friends, who I am certain are the only people who read this, can get their fill of my bullshit when I'm not around. However, surprise, surprise, I have another reason to blog: I like to write. As surprising as that may sound, I do like to write. No, I am not, nor have I ever been, much of creative person. I have always wanted to play an instrument and I have always wanted to paint, but despite my efforts, I just cannot. My brain does not function that way. I know real artists and they have some brain chemical or genetic structure I lack. Therefore, to get my creative fix, I write and I enjoy it. My writing may not be too good and my writing may lack a clear cohesiveness, but its a release for me. I am not good at grammar, but I don't give a fuck. Additionally, I write because I can and I can do this with impunity. No one cares what I write and I like things that way.

Last semester the fact dawned on me that I had many good ideas and I should start putting them down. Ideas like writing fiction. An interesting writer I met through the internet encouraged me to do so and on his creative writing website he listed one essential rule to writing. This rule is called "Butt in Chair." The essence of this rule is, if you want to write, you have to sit your fucking ass in a chair and write. All the great writers had to start somewhere and the place they start is with their ass in a chair.

Taking this wisdom, I also discovered that any great writer, writes alot. He doesn't sit around just thinking about writing something great, but he flexes his creative brain muscle and churns out a volume of words. For me, this exercise is blogging. I force myself to blog all the time, either coherently or incoherently, but at the very least I'm writing. So there is my answer. For me, blogging is the equivalent of doing 100 mental pushups.