A Thinker in Space

This will be a very brief update, and should not result in any permanent changes here. I still intend to post on this blog semi-regularly, but at least for the time being, I have been doing some soul-searching and have some clarity for the first time when it comes to my writing. I love writing, so much that it set the course for, well, most of my life. I teach literature and English to middle schoolers now, which is in some ways a million yards from where I thought I would be, and in some ways right on track with my personal goals.

Bringing back this blog was huge for me. It kept me writing, and the small audience never bothered me because I was finally back to actually consistently writing. It gave me an outlet to write reviews and content I have always wanted to write. I still have unfinished series and articles to publish, but they might not be weekly at the moment. I am taking that requirement off my shoulders for now, because I have started doubling down and investing in the writing I have been training myself for all these months – back into stories.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a published author by the time I was 18. Obviously, that didn’t happen. And nowadays, I am so glad it did not happen. My plan stunk because I would have rushed to finish a book that I care very deeply about. I have since written that book, and have put it to the side because I want to do it right. I would not have done this story justice in high school. I would not have done this story justice in college. Honestly, I don’t think I would do this story justice now. I went back to edit it this week, and was gung-ho about taking the axe to it and rebuilding. However, with some inspiration from digitally auditing Brandon Sanderson’s BYU writing lectures (an amazing series available on his YT channel if anyone is interested), I decided to wait a bit longer, put everything down, and start a new novel. Through this, not only have I gotten 6k words into a brand new story I am super excited about this week, but I have also fixed a major problem that made me stop writing my second book (as a discovery writer, I have a tendency to write my characters into a corner and then faceplant, hitting writer’s block and shutting down, something I am learning to fight back against now).

I am optimistic and invigorated about my writing, and am planning to devote my writing energy to this new novel rather than to this blog at the moment. I might pop up every once in a while with a review (looking at you, incomplete review of Rhythm of War) or commentary, but for now, the weekly pace is likely going to fall off, simply because I am no longer holding that as a standard for myself.

I haven’t talked about my other writing a ton on this blog, but that is one of my most important personal goals, and I hope that I can return here with experience in months and years to come and give advice about the successes and failures I am going to have along the road ahead.

This is not a capstone to the body of work I have created, it is simply a change of pace and a refocus. I still love writing reviews, and I am sure I will feel the pull to tackle one in the near future and publish! Someday, I hope to use this blog not only to review, but to promote a published work that I will be releasing.

For now, I expect to post every once in a while, including reviews of games from The List (which I am doing very well on this year), more underrated games, DC reviews, and Cosmere. But irregularity will be regular for now, at least in my current work-life balance.

See you next time!