Letter Zero - The Prologue

Dear Reader:

I know what you're thinking: "Not another blog from another self-conscious writer online who is trying to be different, but in this want and need for autonomy and external gratification has ended up a cliché, a hack, a has-been-who-never-was, posting unfiltered upon the internet as a way to pushback against his own mortality when really he should have his ass in the chair, working on his next book, etc." While I can't promise you that any of those things are not true, I kindly ask you to put down your virtual pitchforks, put down your burning torches, and amuse me with your attention (what you have left of it) just for a little while. I mean, you've already clicked your way (somehow) to find this, so why not stay and read a letter. Who doesn't like getting a letter?

Yes, that's what this page is and will be - a blog/journal masked as a series of letters to you, The Reader.

Why do this, you ask?

Good question.

For starters, I've been wanting to practice a form of writing that is outside of my fiction and critical essays, one that is directed towards a singular someone, the vague notion of a reader. In a way, I want to get more personal, and as is typical with psychoanalysis self-letter-writing, probably get more personal with myself. I also want to get better at keeping a journal of some sorts. And, I think this could be a useful outlet for some things I can't work into my Twitter feed; I tend to think maximally and need to write around a lot to get at a single idea, so working in the realm of 280 characters just isn't quite right for me. Who knows, maybe this is my first step away from social media. Wouldn't that be nice? But everyone thinks that life would be better off social media; it's so true, it's almost cliché. But, despite how much I try to resist it, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere; it seems as much a part of our everyday natural world as much as trees, mountains, and rivers. So, instead, this may be my way of accepting that. I also hope to share with you whatever's inspiring me at the moment of writing each letter, whether it be books I'm enjoying, music I'm listening to, good films I've seen, etc. along with snippets of my work in progress, personal news, my own art and photography, and random whatevers and nonsensicals.

So, that's the gist. Hope you'll stick around.

Yours,

N.