So over the past few days I’m managed to build up a buffer of posts. For instance: yesterdays post was written the day after fencing practice, and this one was written on Sunday. Basically, if a post goes up at noon, you can safely assume it’s been written beforehand. The ones that have gone up around 3 or 4 I wrote that day, after I got home from work.

Having a buffer has been nice; for instance, it let me take Saturday off of writing and go see Elysium with my dad and brother (short review: a timely and good [if not-so-subtle] allegory about class tension). Rather than writing, I spent my down time decompressing and crushing playing video games with my brother. However, having a buffer is not without its downsides.

For one, there is a loss of immediacy, at least in my mind. I’ve found that when I’m talking about my writing in person with people, it can be a bit jarring when thoughts that for me are a few days old are brand new for them. It goes the other way too: I may want to talk about a recent (to me) writing topic, but the actual post isn’t scheduled to go live until a few days later. It’s not bad, but it is an odd feeling.

But more worrisome is the siren song of not writing. After all, if something is going to be posted no matter what, then why do I have to worry about writing every day? I can totally slack off! Inspiration not there? Screw it, read TV Tropes! Pretty soon, the buffer is run through bout the discipline required to write every day is also gone. So here I am, mind foggy with fatigue (don’t type with your eyes closed in this state; that way lies blissful oblivion), writing about I’m not sure what. In fact, I’m going to change tacks yet again; don’t worry, it’s at least tangentially related.

One thing my brother asked as we were hanging out was if I could “share my mojo” for posting every day. I actually found myself giving some of the seemingly-trite advice I’ve seen in books on writing and being an author: “Write. Every day. Even if it’s crap. Actually, especially if it’s crap. The habit is more important (at this stage) than the product. All you have to do to be a writer is to write.”

So why am I sitting at my computer, typing, when I don’t really have anything to say? Because I’m writing. I almost didn’t; I almost escaped my ropes and impaled myself on the cruel rocks of procrastination. But I opened my word processor, faced the terror of the Blank Page, and here we are. Several words which, when arranged and re-used in this manner, will hopefully make some sort of sense to someone else. I am just writing.

That reminds me: I’m not sure how many people get a chance to read this blog on the weekends, but I’m thinking about doing lower-brain (not quite) “filler” posts on those days. I’m not sure I want to go to the “X content type on Y day” formula just yet, but there it is. Any thoughts?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch some Torchwood with my girlfriend.