A Return to Writing

They’re called “365 Projects.” The idea is that you contribute to the project every single day, for an entire year. Naturally, what better time to start one than on January first, right? Right. So a guy I know, Nathaniel, blogged a few days back (best summed up on his “tumblr,” whatever that is,) about his intention to make one contribution to Ficly a day. (Ficly being a site where you get 1024 characters to write a story, regularly a sequel or prequel to an existing story on the site.) I can do nothing but applaud the guy; as I do on many fronts. On top of his smarts he’s always seemed an affable gent, so I wish him well.

What does it have to do with me? Good artists borrow, great artists steal. I’m going to steal Nathaniel’s entire 365 Project, from goals of daily short stories, down to his plan to Tweet a link to each Ficly entry, with the tag “Ficly365.” I may even make a weekly post linking to them. Not sure yet.

The obvious question to anyone who knows me: Do I expect to succeed? Well, I intended to write an entry for this blog on December 16th, having that date gone a full year without an entry. A year ago, and still now, I intend to shore up the blog a bit design wise. So, am I actually expecting to pull this off? No; but that’s because I’m a realist. Am I going to try anyway? Absolutely; I’m also a romantic, and what cause is greater than a lost one? I submit there is none. Only knowing full well the result of ones actions can one launch headlong into process without a specter of doubt looming over him, and knowing failure is imminent gives me the ability to proceed into an insane task without flinching.

Who needs opportunity? I want certainty, damn the outcome.

If you like, you can read the first entry here. It’s actually rather important to read the prequel and understand what the original writer was going for, as mine was just a riff on his.