Backwards and Forwards in Time

Giving up Facebook is a bit like giving up smoking, or rather (as it is probably temporary) like fasting – you suddenly have a couple of extra hours per day, to do something else with, that used to be filled by smoking or eating.

When I first got onto the internet (1999) I soon started on a website, which grew and sprawled for years, with experimental pages, biographical content, idea pages, etc.   I supplemented that sprawl with a blog, as the more linear form seemed right for a kind of diary.   I started one, but after 9/11 I restarted the blog, and it continued for years, although it faded.   I still raid it for content occasionally.   Language ‘is’ avirus.  (2001 – 2015)

As my job with the library involved learning and teaching computers and online stuff, I had to explore other platforms (I generally use Blogger) so I put an e-learning blog on Word Press.

I also put up a librarian blog (2008 – 2015), when trying to convince the management that the library should have a blog.  Anon the Librarian’s unattributed ideas remained ‘personal opinion’ while the Council ummed and ah’d about how safe such a project would be.

I was lucky enough to become part of a fascinating online community and study group in 2004, and we began a collaborative student blog (in addition to creating magazines) which still continues: Only Maybe (2004 - 2016)

Of course, in 2004, Facebook also started up, and slowly took over my online writing, and interactions, but I find it very ephemeral and far harder to search for old content.  

These blogs remain full of material, links, and ideas from over the last few years, so I plan to dig through them a bit, as well as using my spare time to get some more writing done.   I saw Will Self on tv, and he uses a typewriter (the same as the one I have in the cupboard) to avoid the distraction of the web.   Of course, one could simply disconnect the WiFi, but perhaps the temptation is too much.  I noticed he also never learned to type, but two-fingers on a typewriter looks incredibly slow.  I think I may still need my word processor, and Scrivener.

Then there is a blog where I can stash my stuff about magic, juggling, hypnotism, etc – called Intelligence Increase.    (2006 – 2014)

Each of those may lead you to other places online.  I am all over the place!

This blog, that you are reading now, supports my writing projects.  I have completed NaNoWriMo six times (writing a 50,000 word novel in a month).   I started on an autobiography, but it stalled when I started working on an archive for NoFit State Circus, which took up all my mental space.  I even followed through on a couple of those bad novels (no re-writing, as yet) to see how easy it would be to actually produce a paperback book, using print-on-demand through Lulu.  I also put up a couple of other experiments, a book by a friend who died young, my mum's unpublished book on the use of the voice, etc.

Anyway, I commissioned a cover for the autobiography, and that is ready to go; I have 50,000 words written, and some research already done; I even have a title.  I just have to sit down, and finish the damned thing.