Francisco's Journal an author discusses the art of writing

By this I mean blogging. I mean, I am probably bad at many other things but for the sake of my self-image, let’s just take one at a time. When Behind the Eyes came out, I was told by my publisher that I needed to have a site where I could communicate with readers. Ideally, she said, you should be writing a blog at least once a week. Once a week? I don’t have enough to write once a year. Look at the last time I wrote something here and you’ll see what I’m talking about. If I were to write once a week, I would have to resort to telling my imaginary readers (And I’m a one hundred percent certain that there are no real, live and kicking, actual persons who ever read this webpage) about the snow on my driveway and how hard it is to shovel it. Nevertheless, I’ve decided that in 2008 I’m going to be more relaxed about blogging. No longer will I wait to write something useful or inspiring. From now on, I’ll write about the books I read, the movies I see, the music I hear, the people I meet, the candidates I like, TV shows, video games, the weather, celebrities, my dreams, restaurants, food. I am in so in awe of those good writers who can blog almost every day about the most common things which they somehow turn into subjects that are not just personal but communal. How wonderful it would be to have such freedom, such humility and lack of inhibition. Okay, in 2008 I will be more open and try as hard as I can to make universal bread from the dough of the particular.