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I have created this page to host all previous articles on my website.
In other words, nothing new to see here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to view previous articles over the years. Or, while you are down there, utilize the search button and the tag cloud.
If you’d like to enjoy the new updates, click here or the Blog button up top.
If you’d like to enjoy some decent photography, click here to the portfolio page or the button up top.
Thanks for reading and your support.
We’re writing today to notify you that the Medium account associated with this email address is at risk of being removed from the Partner Program. As outlined here, Medium has created new eligibility and activity requirements for writers to maintain their enrollment in the Partner Program. If you have fewer than 100 followers you may be removed from the Partner Program.
Currently, your Medium account does not meet this requirement. You will have until February 23, 2022 to reach the 100-follower requirement, or your account will be removed from the Partner Program. Your existing metered posts will be un-metered and you’ll no longer be eligible to earn on them.
Medium was a great platform to publish articles and get paid based on views. But then they changed the algorithms and buried posts for those without a huge following such as myself.
Not a problem. Medium doesn’t care, I don’t care and it is one more platform I get to delete.
This year I set myself the target of writing 100 posts for this website. This post makes up #35 and it is still January.
It is difficult to find the motivation to start when all of my ideas seem terrible all of a sudden. So I will keep reading, keep creating and maybe I’ll post something interesting along the way.
I think I need to keep being creative, not to prove anything, but because it makes me happy to do it… I think trying to be creative, keeping busy, has a lot to do with keeping you alive.
Willie Nelson
It is difficult to ponder, but I’ve been thinking of a time in the future where I no longer own a smartphone. Even more difficult to think about, is no longer sharing my life on the World Wide Web. Granted, both of those scenarios are much further down the road, but they have been on my mind. The spark for those thoughts comes from having a presence on multiple platforms, thousands of followers, and then realizing that it matters not. There was a time when I did care to interact and share ideas with my network of friends, some were IRL, most were social media. It has presented me with numerous opportunities to meet physically, to share ideas and share some commonality out there.
A lot of us have worked out that social media is no longer relevant, but where do we go to have our voice heard, if that is still something we want? The feelings go toward, “If I don’t have an online outlet to plug into, do I even exist?” If so, what’s the point of writing if no one is around to read it?
Social media is dying, and this is a good thing. Social media has been dead to me for quite a while, and not soon enough. I’ve been around long enough to see countless changes, some good and mostly horrible. People look at me with amazement when I tell them, no, you cannot follow me on Facebook because I am not there. “I like your photos, what is your Insta?” “I don’t have an Instagram account, but here is my website” and they are all of a sudden disinterested. Am I left behind?
Before the social media platforms we only had SMS texts, e-mail and our self-hosted websites. All was well and good. But stop to think, if social media was so great, why do these trios of basic communication still exist? Because we have control over what we choose to send/receive. We have control over our websites. I vowed a long time ago not to use tracking tools, or advertising. Who did I think I was anyway?
Good website owners write for themselves. However, being human, we do like some return on our efforts. Websites and blogs exist to be read. I write for myself to remember, to learn and to grow. Sometimes people join me and I am grateful. If I were to shutter this website tomorrow, would anyone notice? I would, and after twenty+ years of self-publishing I’ll keep doing this, probably for another twenty years.
Not for you, but for me. Thanks for reading and sticking with me.
After twenty years of putting my thoughts online, I still feel like I don’t know what I am doing. Occasionally, it even feels like imposter syndrome, like I don’t belong. But then I think, “Who am I writing for?” Easy answer is myself and sometimes great people come along and join me.
Taking a quote from another author and a blogger:
Blog posts can be edited, added to, improved upon. If you missed something, you can fix it.
Austin Kleon, Blogging As A Forgiving Medium, 2021
Kleon writes that blogging is a ‘forgiving medium’ because it can be therapeutic. Blogging can be rewarding by practicing and learning in public. Not one single person will know what changes I make to a post unless I call myself out with a correction or an update to that post. Unless you have a massive following who likes to keep track of those kinds of things- which I don’t have.
Learning by doing. The more you create, the more you learn. Learn by putting yourself out there and become a better writer.
Learn how to close out your thoughts and your blog post properly.
The title of this post is loosely taken from Stephen King’s book titled “On Writing.”
Just received the first installment for the Field Notes notebook subscription. The “Ignition” edition, FNC-53, contains two 26-week planners a checklist journal (2), three stainless steel book darts, pen and a 2022 calendar.
I sincerely hope that this will help “ignite” a passion for documenting the important things. Eventually I’ll find a hybrid methodology of both digital and analog notes and even combine the two.
Happy documented new year.
Date: December 27, 2021 at 6:24:52 PM CST
Weather: 54°F Mostly Cloudy
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Almost one year since I have last utilized this journal app called Day One properly. My plan for 2022 is to journal daily. I want to track fitness goals, blood pressure, nutrition and random thoughts as well. Hopefully by purchasing a premium subscription I will use this more effectively towards my goals.
Me, today
A few months ago the parent company of my web host, WordPress purchased the Day One journaling app and I was hoping to see some sort of integration by now. Maybe in 2022?
I also purchased more than a few Field Notes notebooks for daily journaling, note taking, scribbles, logs etc. You know, in a physical format. This is highly unusual for me but it is something I have wanted to do for awhile.
My creativity and imagination for starting a novel or short story is stifled now. I can’t write unless I have thought it through and can see the whole story in my mind.
I need to sum up the whole in three paragraphs until I can see the story. Then I can finally turn those paragraphs into an outline or a rough draft.
Long-form writing is becoming a lost art during these days of short attention spans. With all the media content available to us, our time feels limited, so we want to maximize our consumption time. Blogs have been taken over in favor of quick social media posts. Twitter limits a tweet to 140 characters. Tik-Tok and Instagram promote short video clips, etc.
Microfiction is the natural progression of all this. It is considered to be even shorter than the short story genre. Much like a haiku, it forces concise wording to tell a story. There is no set word limit, but the general guideline is 100-101 words to tell your story. The trick is to make it meaningful enough to make an impact, as opposed to having your reader hop on to the next nano story.
How to start: Come up with an idea, create a rough draft, check your work count and revise to fit. Ulysses writing app is brilliant for this.
Where to publish: On your website first, of course. Then, save your work as a PDF and distribute to your interested followers, either for free or fee. Thereafter, use the same social media platforms if you must. There are even publishing houses looking for microfiction authors.
Finally: Microfiction is a tiny sub-genre (see what I did there?) in the writing/reading world. You won’t earn a lot of money from it, but the challenge itself can be very rewarding.
If you’re overthinking, write.
If you’re underthinking, read.
Chris Denbow [.com] 