Writing

Every once in a while, I find it necessary to answer the question "So, what do you do?" and I am never quite sure what to say.  I usually say a few things about being a [single] mom, and homeschooling, and keeping house; oh, and I sell old books and things online.

But what I really want to say is, "I write."  I am always writing, or thinking about writing.  Writing has been a part of my identity from an early age; and I've had encouragement from others to write, starting with my fifth grade teacher, who told me to be sure to let him know when my first book was published, because he would be buying a copy (I haven't forgotten, Mr. Vergunst!)  There were other teachers and professors, too, who seemed to assume that writing would be a part of my future.

But if I say that I write, I will be expected to explain what it is that I write, exactly; so I refrain from calling myself a writer.  Yes, I am always writing, or thinking about writing.  But most of what I write never makes it to paper, or is deleted rather than posted.

I do want to write more, but what do I write, exactly?  I once thought I would be a journalist, and I did write a couple of articles for a small-town newspaper, the sort you pick up for free at your local grocery store; but I soon realized that I wasn't fond of deadlines, and dropped that idea.  I could write a book, but about what?  Should I focus on doing a better job of keeping a journal, or writing to friends?

I would like to post more often to this blog.  But it's hard to know what to write about.  I feel uneasy at the thought of writing publicly about some of the topics that I think about most often.  Some topics are too personal to post to a blog when you don't know who your readers are, or what they are looking for (...are you just here for the psalm recordings?)  Other topics might be of broad interest but might also be controversial (homeschooling) and would therefore require such a degree of patience and wisdom that I'm not sure I'm up to the task.  And other topics...well I might enjoy discussing some things (theology and church matters) with friends and family, but I'm not so sure that I'm qualified to write about them on my blog. :)

Still, I feel that I ought to be spending less time writing Facebook comments (and yes, Facebook comments do take a lot of time, since I feel compelled to proofread, edit, and re-write even on Facebook) and more time on proper writing.  So, consider yourself warned: I am going to try to be more diligent about writing for my blog--and actually publishing the posts. :)  Don't worry, I'll still post psalm recordings as often as I can, and pictures of cute babies and children.