For every blog post that I publish, there are another half-dozen or so that I write out by hand on paper to a point of 80%-95% completion. At which point I often find that what is down on the paper is adequate for the point I wanted to express and the feeling of satisfaction at it being written down is enough. I tell myself that eventually I’ll get around to typing them up for the blog, but really they just live in my notebook for a few months until the next time I get the urge to clean them up and then they all end up being recycled with the other odds and ends of paper this house generates.
I end up much as the author Stephen Maturin meets in the 12th Aubrey-Maturin novel, The Letter of Marque. While walking, Maturin overtakes a man walking along the road and speaking aloud to himself. Upon entering into conversation, he learns that this is the man’s method for composing his novels. One he finds suits him admirably, but with a flaw.
My experience is much the same, though I compose on paper wherever the mood strikes and not by declaiming to the air around me, I find that if I complete the thought and point, I lose any motivation to put the writing in a place where I can publish it. That is probably the most important reason I’m having trouble resurrecting my blog.
Also, I blame Twitter.
Neh 