ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

"ch-ch-ch-ch-changes" david bowie

dear readers

I want to begin by thanking you.  At the end of each day I check the stats of the blog just to see how we’re doing and every day we meet or exceed my expectations.  I can’t believe that after five months I’ve managed to amass over forty posts and as many fans as we have.

Changes are abound for the blog.  First of all you are going to be seeing new contributors.  I began the blog as a way to document my time in Los Angeles and report on the observations, conundrums, frustrations, joys, and liberations of my daily life in both the real world and the digital realm.  It occurred to me some time ago however that being only one man with only my opinions the blog may not be offering up the highest quality experience.  If I was able to have multiple contributors collaborating with me, they would add new experiences and points of view.

The first new contributor will be Jaime Navarro, my wife.  I asked her to write for the blog not because she is my wife but because she is a great writer.  You can currently see her write one to two blogs a week for Fierce Inc. where she tackles topics on business leadership, communication and some other topics I don’t quite understand.

The other big change coming to the blog is going to be a slight name change.  I love secretly, i’m an important man, however that name was fit for just myself and as I add contributors to the blog especially those who are not men it begins to make less sense.  We will now be going by secretly important, which is a little catchier and encompasses anyone who might write for the blog.  The url for the blog has always been www.secretlyimportant.blogspot.com so really the name change is mostly vanity.

Lastly, you may or may not be aware that we also have a facebook fan page which you can find here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Secretly-important/176164499098145.  Or if you are so inclined just click on the little picture of the internaut on the right side of the blog tool bar.  If you have not already done so please like us on facebook.  Why should you do this?  Well, I prefer not to write little newsletters like this directly on the blog and prefer it to be devoted to new content and would like all news or possible events concerning the blog to be displayed on the facebook page.

Thank you all again for your continued support as this blog grows.  I always appreciate your questions, comments, or concerns and if you enjoy a post please don’t be afraid to share and repost it.

Thank you,

brian 
posted by: brian snider

on dedication

This post might as well be part three of an endless series called “how I get it done.”  For further reading on this subject please read what do you do and i willn’t be a prisoner.

i'm really just writing an angry letter to toms toothpaste 

The other night while she was getting ready for bed Jaime turned to me and asked “how do you stay so dedicated to write?”  I was already in bed with the laptop on my thighs and my yellow junior legal notepad on my hip, as has become my nightly ritual.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer her because usually I don’t feel particularly dedicated.  Either in my daily life or in my writing life.  I have many high aspirations yet when it comes to making those happen I’m rather lazy.

If she was talking about my blog then I must admit that this is the third blog I’ve started, the first that I’ve managed to keep up with.  I went from one post a week to two or three a week.  Now I’m cranking out five every week.  I write them long hand on a yellow legal pad when I have free time and transcribe them at night.

I manage to stay dedicated to the blog because I have a routine and have more or less committed myself to five posts a week.  I treat writing for it like a job, each night I have an article due and I must deliver or get fired.

Jaime wasn’t just talking about the blog though, she was talking about my dedication to write all sorts of material all the time.  To date I’ve written three complete full length plays.  Many people find that kind of dedication difficult, when they have a bout of writers block or get bored they stop and abandon their work.  Again however I am no poster child for hard work as it has taken me an average of two and a half to three years to complete each of these plays, and only one has been produced.

I suppose if I have any real answer to the question it’s this:

I write because that is what makes me feel good.  I know people who exercise, people who hunt, people who hike, drive fast cars, do drugs, play video games, have sex, etc. etc. etc.  The high that people get from performing these activities is the same one I get when I write.  I almost never feel as complete as I do when I’m writing, and when I don’t have something I’m currently working on I feel a little lost.

I am also dedicated because the only way to get better at something is to work at it all the time.  I write furiously because I desperately wish to make this my living and I have a vested interest in doing it well and often.

For those of you out there who do write or aspire to write I have some words of wisdom that I have imparted to Jaime and a few of my friends.  When you have trouble getting started or begin to suffer from writers block, write through it.  Don’t stop, just write.  It might be shit, it might be painful, in the end you might just throw it all away but if you simply sit down and begin to write yourself out of a situation, you’ll eventually come to an ending.
posted by: brian snider