That’s like, a hundred little stories, which feels like a nice way of restating it.

This notice surprised me in my WordPress app the other day. I certainly don’t feel like I’ve written that many posts or sent some 50,000-words into the Internet ether.

That means I’m posting about every two weeks, which is more frequently than I expected (although when I look at the history, my schedule is more erratic than that). And I’m getting 30 views per post, which isn’t much if you’re a commercial website, but for a guy who’s just creating a little content to give people a peek behind the writer’s curtain, I’m happy with the results.

Data and metrics are fine and all (is this guy an English major?), but I went into this website project with different goals:

1. Updating people on book’s writing progress
2. Marketing the project
3. Giving myself another creative outlet when the manuscript needed a break

To these ends, the website has succeeded. Beyond that, it’s been fun, which is often a better motivator than anything else.

However, it can be challenging, too. The writing style is different, and unlike the manuscript, it needs to be polished now. Well, polished-ish. None of that writing and rewriting for a year stuff I’m doing in the book. Similar to the book, some days it feels like work; on others, it’s a pure creative pleasure.

What’s he been writing about?

Glad you asked! If you’re new to the site, or need to catch up, I’ve posted a variety of topics. With a hundred posts, there are plenty of ways to see how my writing brain works or to delve into the world of Empyrelia. The Categories list is useful for exploring, and it can be found at the bottom of this post (mobile) or on the right sidebar (computer).

I’ve shared some of my writing exercises, some of the ways I tighten up my writing, and the anxiety that can come from sharing your writing.

I’ve even dabbled in “what Mike calls poetry” (to borrow a phrase from Tolkien). And I’ve discussed my musical influences less than I’d like. Something to work on in 2020. And a couple times, I discuss greater societal issues, such as raising kids, gender, and abuse.

Like many bloggers, I have a boatload of partially-written posts, maybe another fifty more. This is probably the time where I’m supposed to use one of those clichés, something like: “Here’s the start of the next one hundred!” or “Here’s to another four years!”, but I think I’ll leave you with something else instead.

Whether you’re writing for yourself, or you’re writing for others, the important thing is to keep writing. It’s not about pandering to popular themes or emulating another writer; it’s not about word count or the number of pages; and it’s certainly not about likes or follows. It’s about putting your butt in the chair and creating something honest.

That’s what you can expect in the pages of my books, just as assuredly as within the pages of this site.

Thanks for reading.

Mike

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© Michael Wallevand, December 2019