Blog: Introspective

                I’ve been dipping my toes back into writing again; reusing the blog I had created years ago. Originally it was going to be a place where I could write honest reviews for the parents of video game players. I worked in a video game store and I was frustrated with the level of awareness many parents displayed toward what their kids were putting so much time into.

                8 year olds were standing in line to get the Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty. Their mothers and fathers would pay, oblivious to what media their child was going to be consuming. I wrote a few reviews, mixed kind and scathing. I offered the website to a number of customers before learning that most of them had little interest in doing the research. They had decided this was not a battle they wanted to fight and would buy whatever game their son or daughter wanted.

(If you are interested in learning about the games your kids are playing I suggest visiting ESRB.org)

                Disheartened, I gave up my reviews. I talked about writing new posts, told others I had plans to continue, I even turned down an offer when someone inquired about buying the URL. But I didn’t write anymore. 6 years later, my daughter was born and I was reinvigorated! I would start writing a blog as a Parent Gamer. It would be more general, board games, D&D, video games, the life of a father and gamer. Reviews and posts for Gamers, Parent Gamers, and Parents of Gamers!

                After only a few posts I wound down again. I kept trying to offer others advice, but most of what I wrote was just repackaged advice I had heard. (I still think it’s good advice, it just wasn’t mine.) What I wrote was fine, it just didn’t fill that creative spark and I let it die.

                Just recently, a YouTuber I enjoy listening to challenged himself to make 12 computer games in 12 months. He was successful, not in creating great games, but proving to himself, and me, that he was still a creator. This inspired and convicted me to do something similar. I cannot be a writer unless I write.

                I’m a few weeks in now, writing little short stories to practice or amuse myself; each one written and posted with only a single glance to fix spelling or grammar. Already I feel the same pull I do whenever I start writing again.

                “This is fun, maybe I can write that book that’s been kicking around in the back of my mind now!”

                And while writing that book is maybe a great goal, I need to continue these blogs, short stories, musings, and word vomit to keep up the discipline. It’s too easy to draft a few chapters, become distracted or discouraged, and then stop again for a few years.

                So my writing assignment for today has been an introspective look at my habits and history. I apologize, some weeks I’ll simply post my stream of consciousness, purely to keep up the habit, the discipline. But my goal is to post something, anything, once a week. Even if what I post is awful, writing for the sake of writing blog posts.

                Today is one of those days. Writing because I have some time to write and none of my short story ideas are clicking. So I will write nothing. General musings. Gibberish. And I will post it to show that I am still keeping up the practice. Trying to build the habit.

                A writer writes. Always. And if I want to continue to call myself a writer, I must write.