2025 - Looking Forward

First day of the New Year – trying to start off on the right foot writing wise. I tried to think about what I COULD write about if I wanted to publish more work. Perhaps I could write about boring tech – simple solutions to big problems. Are their blogs doing this already? Is a blog the best form? It seems like a lot of great modern writers are journalists. However, journalism seems like a shitty career – low salary, long hours. Good journalists do it for the passion.

Morning in Texas

I'm starting the New Year in Texas. Sally and I went for a quick walk this morning and we saw an amazing variety of birds – cardinals, great blue herons and a blue bird I have yet to identify. Their plot of land is in the middle of farm country Texas. There is a state park nearby but surrounding them are large plains. The neighborhood outside the property is poor. Rural poor. I wonder what that is like for someone; to live in rural poor. There must be no escape.

Sally and I have had nice conversation walking around the property. The act of walking is great for thinking. While the body is subtly occupied, the mind can float where it likes, with enough blood circulating to form some nice connections. Nature provides a gentle backdrop upon which thoughts can form, like Rorschach blots. What pops into my head constantly surprises me.

On Writing Daily

What would happen if I wrote every day? Would I grow tired of writing the same things repeatedly? I already notice that my attention to grammar and word choice has increased. Some of that is my study of Spanish, which reminds me of the different verb tenses. I don't reread my writing frequently, however. That would help most in growing a voice.

It's so easy now to create text – everyone has a Twitter, a Substack and an opinion. It's harder to differentiate your thoughts. That is freeing, but also scary. A lot of the advice I've read is just to do it consistently. Life gets in the way, of course. Most days, I'm busy with work, desiring exercise and forgetting to make the space to sit and think. When I do it's nice.

Finding My Practice

To force myself to write, I have started writing letters to my friends and family. This serves a dual purpose of connecting with them and honing my craft. I would like to try fiction and article forms as well. Finding a trusted editor to read my work would be helpful. My dad is not that man, although he will diligently read everything I write.

Writers seem to sit in solitude for long periods. I have trouble with that, sitting for discrete 45-minute increments. Maybe training myself to sit for longer would help me write. Perhaps, 45 minutes is sufficient. Is my goal to be a great writer like Toni Morrison, or David Foster Wallace? Am I special in that regard? I think I'm simply doing it for myself, to build a voice in a time when there are a cacophony of voices. Building a voice allows you to get attention by being thoughtful and not the loudest.

What do you think? Comment below ⬇️