Why the heck am I doing this?

Honestly, I don't know.

I guess I've always wanted to be a writer. But who hasn't? Anyone CAN write - the question is, will I?

Do I have the discipline it takes to practice and edit my work, refining everything until I feel I have done the best that I can before setting my books out into the world? Roald Dahl describes it in "Matilda" as authors "sending their books out into the world, as ships out in the sea."

That image always stuck with me.

If I was building a ship, I wouldn't send it out until I knew it was well-made, checked out, and seaworthy. Until I knew that it would survive the journey.

Likewise, I wouldn't start by building ships. I would start by building smaller items out of wood and metal or assisting a shipbuilding.

So, really, this blog is my practice barrel. My bookshelf or breadbox. The smaller items that a carpenter makes before he is a shipbuilder.

I have a friend that's a carpenter. He does really beautiful work and is a true professional. However, I happen to own a magazine rack that he made for a girl he was in love with in high school. It's horrendous. The pieces of wood aren't the same length. The stain isn't even. There is glue oozing out of the sides. But it was a labor of love for him, as cliche as that phrase is. He cared about this chick and wanted to give her a gift. Granted, she didn't care, and that's why I ended up with it. But that's not the point.

The point is that he endured and got much better, and now he's top-notch. He started with something he was passionate about and kept working at it until he was great.

That's what I want to do. I want to start writing out my random thoughts about life. This blog is more for me than for anyone else. And, dear reader, as much as I'll love you in the future, I don't care if you read this now. I don't yet consider myself a "blogger" because I don't keep up with the few blogs that I have! But maybe this random scribbly-thoughts blog will prompt me to make a real blog, that I actually think about and edit before publishing. Maybe this scratch-pad will get me back in the habit of writing. Maybe it will turn into a beautiful journal which I use to craft ideas for short stories and screenplays. (I'd say poems, but I'm a horrendous poetry writer. Also, besides music, I personally feel like poetry is slightly outdated to our society. ENGLISH MAJORS: COME AT ME!)

Or maybe this will just be something little and fun for me.

Great things usually come out of humble beginnings. And nothing comes out of no beginning.