An Inauspicious Start

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Judging from the amount of time it took to write a handful of paragraphs for my initial blog post, I am off like a herd of turtles. I'll sooth my ego by remembering what French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote in 1657 (in translation) "I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter." Brevity in verse seems inversely proportionate to the time spent achieving it.

Researching online writing resources, blogs, and related information is like standing between two mirrors reflecting each other as their dizzying duplicated images telescope endlessly in both directions. One link leads inevitably to endless other links, until you are lost in a virtual maze, time vanishes down an electronic rabbit hole, and the digital undertow pulls you further into the web.

Real life conspires against you as you seek to carve time from your schedule to learn the writer's craft. I've been reading Walter Mosley's book, This Year You Write Your Novel and stumbled upon a word  I was unfamiliar with: "simulacra." My racing mind came to a screeching halt as I pondered the exact meaning within the context of the book. Was it simply a facsimile or reproduction, a material object representing something, a stand in for the real thing, a vague semblence, or an insubstantial token? 

Were my means eclipsing the ends? Was I too wrapped up in the process? It's easy to get stalled in preparation. The more you delve into the craft, the more you see there is to it, the less equipped you may feel. Writing everyday pulls you out of the abstract, and excercises the creative muscles. It is the antidote to protracted ponderings.

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