Pure Writerly Moments (Blog Posts, Short Stories, and Musings on the Craft)

Introduction -- Part 1 --About Writing

I planned to write a book that was unplanned. I wanted my writing to be something different. I wanted it to be whimsical. I wanted it to be always in progress. I wanted the very bookness of it to be a lingering question mark.

Will anyone read this?

That is the eternal question.

I can't answer that.

I can only surf from word to word and hope that each word finds a mark.

This book is not just about words. It's also about moments. Like the moment I was in high school and found myself scribbling a story about vampires in between episodes of Conan O'Brien and old episodes of Star Trek. My eyes strained to stay awake. This was not a story, it was only a moment. The story was about vampires, but the story about vampires takes me back to that moment.

What is this book? Will anyone read it?

I'm a man lingering into his late 30s, thinking about life and growing older. I need adventure. I need these words to hit the mark. I pull on my necktie and try to find the right pull that will automatically rip off my dress shirt and turn me into a superhero.

Instead, I just find my body stooping. The necktie chafes. 

A character from a novel-in-progress calls to me, "We need you writer-man!"

And I need writer-man to appear, too. I desperately need good stories to be written.

A thing told simply and truly is the purest thing in the world. It has the ability to suck the badness out of the air and restore vitality.

This first part is my journey into questions of what it means to be a writer. You will find meditations, stories, and love letters all about writing.

This book is always in progress.

If you look away, don't be surprised if it changes. 

It has already changed me.