Where to Begin?

A few years back, I remember sitting down at a desk in my family's Virginia farmhouse, staring at a blank screen, and writing these same three words: "Where to Begin?" It was Thanksgiving break, I was sixteen years old, and I had a week of freedom to write whatever I wanted. A year and a half later, I finished a 22o page novel that had begun with those three simple words. It's hard to believe that those words snowballed into something so damn big. And my God, a lot happened in between.

It seems almost hypocritical to start a story, a blog - any piece of writing for that matter - with these words. For in truth, there is so much already being brought to the table when we sit down to write. So I suppose the better way to look at it is: I'm beginning from this specific point in my life. Wow, that was easy. So where am I in my life right now? While that is certainly a topic for a long and consuming post, I won't even touch that one for a moment.

For now, my topic is writing. It's what I've always wanted to do and the sole reason I moved to Los Angeles, leaving all my friends, family, and loved ones behind. Writing: that which gives me the greatest happiness and fulfillment in life. Writing: that which makes me a better person and inspires me to succeed. Although I imagine that I'll be ranting about Fantasy Football a great deal in posts to come, perhaps posting some short stories, journal entries and random thoughts, I expect that a great number of posts will revolve around or in some way come back to writing. Consider this for a moment:

"Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy... Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up." (Stephen King, On Writing)

Never mind the fact that I read almost three hundred pages before King imparted these nuggets of wisdom. For sure, the book was inspirational and poignant from beginning to end. But this paragraph aptly summarizes a great deal of what he is saying throughout. We write for ourselves and for those we care about. We write to make ourselves better and, at a most basic level, to make ourselves happy. If there's one thing I've noticed about myself as I continue to get older, it's that my moods and psychological stability are directly related to the success of my writing. If I am making progress each day as a writer, I am happy. If I notice a regression in my written thoughts, my mood pays the price.

I'm not sure that I've truly accomplished what I set out to do when I started this post. My gut suspects that I have not. Yet I've certainly taken a step forward by popping my proverbial blogger's cherry. I look at what I've written above and think to myself, I'll get there. Patience, young grasshopper. I see a lot of information about myself above. Perhaps not exactly what I set out to uncover an hour ago but a starting place nonetheless. And that is where I will begin...