A New Direction

So, I’ve been thinking. Mostly about other stuff, but a lot about this blog and the direction I want it to take. And while I’m not entirely certain of what will happen going forward, I do have some ideas as to what I want to do with this blog.

The problem: Loss of momentum and desire for a clean start

I don’t know why, but I kind of lost all my motivation to move forward last year. Obviously, I did a lot of stuff—cancelling Diverged and starting Maple Street most notably —but 2014 honestly felt like a write-off in spite of all of the shake-ups and changes. I’d start a post, get caught up in revising it, and never finish or publish the damned thing. The upshot is that I have nine posts in various states of completion in various locations that will likely never see the light of day. I don’t know that I can finish these, let alone upload them; some I couldn't say anything in, some were intimately tied to current events which have since vanished from the public consciousness, some just failed to cohere pending major revisions, two were topical and niche. I had a blast writing parts of them (in particular the one dealing with David S. Goyer’s idiotic, sexist comments about She-Hulk and the Martian Manhunter and his role in the increasing grimdarking [1] of modern superhero movies, especially those made by Warner Bros. about DC Comics characters, which I believe has some potential and relevancy in light of his involvement with Batman Vs. Superman), but I couldn't finish any of them and I got bogged down in revision.

I turned eighteen last month, and that and the new year have ignited a desire to make a clean start of some sort. I don’t know what that start will look like, but it will probably take place away from this specific blog at this specific address in this specific part of the Internet. Some more specific changes:

1.  A different workflow: This is a rather behind-the-scenes change and won’t affect this blog directly. However, I've decided to modify how I write the posts. Instead of multitasking and jumping between several posts at once, then wandering off to the Internet when I need to research something or get bored, I will focus my attention on one post at a time, working in as much depth as possible. I hope to move from occasional to monthly or biweekly updates in 2015. In addition, I switched to FocusWriter for my drafts rather than Jarte. This should help me stay on-target during the rough phase.
2.  A move: This would be the major change—one of the “new directions” in this post’s title. I’m considering leaving Blogger and this blog altogether and switching to WordPress; I've already got an account and have started up a blog showcasing my fiction, though at the moment it’s more of a showcase  for the theme’s designers. I've been blogging here for five years, longer than I've lived anywhere, longer than I've gone to school anywhere, and frankly I’m done. I’m (probably) not done with blogging completely; but I am done with Blogger’s weirdness. Five years is a long time and I’m a different person now than I was in 2010 or even 2012. Most obviously, I’m a better writer and artist—better technically, more experienced, with my ambitions in a different place than when I started. I’m a slow and inconstant writer on top of that, and it’s against my religion to upload two consecutive posts in the same week, so I can never really become the daily content-spewing behemoth of the sort that dominates the blogosphere—not that I ever wanted to become such. The result is that this blog is no longer representative of the work I can do; it’s like my baby photos—Aw, look at the cute widdle bwogger getting all mad about razor bwades! Who’s passionately for LGBT equality? Yes, you are! Yes, you are—only the baby photos are on display for anyone with an Internet connection, so more like Facebook. Kids these days—no idea how hard they’ve got it. You try convincing your mom to hide the photo album [2] and even if she doesn't agree that’s why God made attics. But online? Nothing ever goes away. Can’t even...
3. Anyway, I’m in the final stages of resolving a dilemma, outlined above, about what to do with this blog. I’ll retain the URL and keep it as an archive, but I don’t foresee any new content on here after spring. I have a URL pinned down and a blog set up over on WordPress; it’s private, though, so you can’t see it yet. It should go live in March or thereabouts, and I anticipate some level of double-posting throughout spring.

 Oh, and one other thing...

I may also shake it up in terms of content. People seem to like humorous, linear reviews; maybe I can get in on some of that action. Also, should I start showing my art off? Thoughts? Opinions? Colorful euphemisms? Thanks for reading.
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[1] It is too a word.
[2] Photo album, you ask? Well, before Facebook—
You know, I hate this whole “explaining obsolete technology to kids” thing. It feels condescending and actively insulting to the reader’s intelligence. The landline isn’t dead, the typewriter hangs on, kids aren’t stupid, and the whole exercise is arguably an excuse to lord your superior intellect over someone. It’s the equivalent of yelling “your epidermis is showing!” but not funny.