i wrote this

i’ve heard that words are powerful. i’ve been told the pen is mighty. seems probable. i’d like to write more. i’m not sure if it will be on this here blog or in my journal or on a napkin from the brew pub. incidentally, birddog and the fear has been intermittent at best. incidentally, the journal is a lee valley model with acid free pages and sturdy binding. the description says the words written in will pretty much live forever save for fire and floods. unfortunately, most of the scribbles it contains are rather depressing and probably not worth preservation for future generations. incidentally, my napkin rambles are far better. silly tales from my youth they are – love on a yellow bus, falling out of tree forts and that time i ran with my eyes closed into a cabin wall. it may be that a circle of good folks around an old oak table laden with beverages and deep fried food brings out a simpler side of me. the current storytellers table on main street does similar good things for me as well.

the thing with writing is that it takes more than a little effort. i generally enjoy the exhilaration of holding a finished piece above my head in triumph but the process of getting to that point much less so. getting started is usually hardest. generating an outline is tedious. writing a first draft is agonizingly slow. backspace and delete are my constant companions. once i’ve cranked out said rough copy i’m mostly there – a little tweak of the adverbage here, tighten the presupositionals there, correct the imperfect tenses, cut the dangling modificator, and make sure all t’s are dotted and the eyes are crossed. done. and it’s generally worth reading, too. i’m not saying pulitzers are flooding my way. nor are publishers banging down my doors. but my friends smile and that is enough for me.

thanks friends.