A NEW YEAR - A NEW BEGINNING

The beginning of a New Year seems a good time to resume blogging after a long hiatus. I am still working on the Grandfather project I began last February when I ended another blog which I have now totally abandoned and erased. For several months since the summer of 2007 that project gave me emotional difficulties. I didn't realize that was so until quite recently. I had reached a point in recording my memories where those recalled from the summer of 1942 seemed too uncomfortable to record. That summer was all of 65 years ago! A breakthrough came when I recognized that there were some experiences of which I was not proud, but could still write about however troublesome they remained for me. That was all I needed to get me started again. Some day the whole project may see the light of day, but not now.

That being said, let me further make no promises as to how long I shall continue this blog. I note that journalists and other professional writers appear to make their blogs the means of keeping their skills constantly in use. Every book on writing makes the same claim: to be a writer, one must write. The difference with blogging is that while it is open for anyone who happens to find it to read, no one may ever see it.

I like the definition of a blog cited from Wikipedia: "A blog is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.... Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal diaries."

There isn't much more to be said about the process, except perhaps to investigate one's motivation. Who knows? The truth is probably buried deep in one's psyche. That means that each person's motivation is different. A more superficial guess is that one just likes to see one's own thoughts, however ephemeral, in writing. The major problem with maintaining the process is making regular entries. That takes time which one does not always have available to carry on as a daily exercise. I note, however, that some journalists make very brief entries several times a day. They do that because they area most always working on their computers. I may try that too because I am usually at my computer for several hours a day.

For instance, I am now going to take a break for my mid-morning coffee. The time is exactly 9:52 am and I have been at the computer for about half an hour or so reading my e-mail messages and signing into my blog.

An hour later - 10:52 am.

So what took so long? Helen asked me to help her with the editing of the fourth part of her family history. She is completed the actual writing and is getting a number of excellent illustrations she has ready for insertion in the text. That requires a whole new set of pages and page numbers. It is a complex process, but essential to the production of her final manuscript. She hoped to have it ready for printing in December, but that was not to be. I can see it in the printer's hands within a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I shall have to dedicate some of my time to working with her on these final stages of the task. The best approach I can make is to be ready whenever she asks for my help and leave the specifics to her.