Begin Again

I opened this page with a clear idea of what I wanted to write. I’ve now spent the last half hour updating quarto, setting up a new git repository, fixing a git merge issue, figuring out how to render drafts… this was a mistake. When I have something to write, I need to get the words out as soon as possible without worrying about their final destination.

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One of the protagonist in 1Q84, Tengo, is a writer. He teaches math at cram schools to make a living but his real passion is writing. At some point in his life he has to decide between writing and math, and he decides to write. Tengo is my alter-ego from a different dimension. He chose writing just as I chose math. Thankfully math pays so I do not have to teach writing for a living.

I’ve always loved writing. I have had several blogs representing different phrases of my life, each reflective of what I was going through at the time but haven’t maintained one of late for various inane excuses.

I recently started reading The Artist’s Way and it inspired me to write again. I sometimes get stuck in arguments, trying to find reasons to justify doing or not doing something, analysis paralysis. Very simply though, I just enjoy putting thoughts into words, which is justification enough to write. I heard Neil Gaiman talk about how he likes to write with a fountain pen. Writing here is the equivalent of writing with a fountain pen for me - just watching words magically appear on the screen out of nowhere.

This journal is going to be a collection of my second drafts - nothing polished or well-thought but not stream-of-conscious either. As Sam Harris says, it’s never late to begin again.