Why this? - 0000
This is a denser read than what will typically arrive in your inbox, but if you’ve signed up for this already - without seeing the content - then I have to believe you will bear with me …
In 2021, I took a personal assessment of all of the side projects I had started and stopped over the years. I had done everything from a season long show about Baylor football, to fifteen or so screenplays ranging in size from half a page to 3/4 of a pilot episode of television, to 6 different ideas for a novel with some pages written here and there. As I completed my review, I realized that while being prolific, my side-project resume looked as if I were mostly incapable of finishing things outside of work.
So I changed that habit. I focused on a single book. A non-fiction title on the intersection of business and creativity, written mostly as a personal guidebook for me to use on my own projects. After completing it, I immediately jumped into a novel. The words kept flowing. Routinely getting up at 5:00am every day to write for over a year will change you - though the jury is still out on whether it’s for the better.
Then suddenly, I hit a gigantic wall. After completing just shy of 30,000 words with another 35,000-40,000 to go based on my outline, I was getting up and staring at screens in a waiting-for-the-coffee-to-kick-in haze with no words coming out. Classic writer’s block. Classic me.
The only way out? Writing. Even if it wasn’t in my book. I began dumping thoughts onto pages about recent Internet rabbit holes I had found myself going down. As quickly as I had hit a wall with the novel, I had found joy in writing something else. Simultaneously I made a different discovery: I’ve been writing but no one had been reading … that had to change at some point, why not now?
And, here we are. This newsletter. The novel writing isn’t going away, and neither is this. Instead, I now have the option to bounce back and forth as the correct inspiration strikes - while not spreading myself too thin. So, why does all of this matter?
For one, I needed to underscore the consistency I have developed so that you can feel assured this won’t end up on the cutting room floor. I have already written enough newsletters that if I didn’t write anything for a month, you’d still be receiving them every Monday-Friday three months from now. And second … I promised you receiving something in return for subscribing.
Since you have subscribed before launch, I’ll be sharing the first chapter of my book - The Narration of Nathaniel Jones - to anyone who responds to this email asking for it. I’d give you a direct link here, but then those who haven’t signed up would have access, therefore losing its exclusivity since this is a free and public newsletter. Just respond at all and I’ll know what it means. You’ll have the first chapter in your inbox within 24 hours!
If you are reading this as a non-subscriber, just know that this won’t be the last time I give something directly to subscribers vs. the reading public. So ya know, get on it …
Thank you all, sincerely, for signing up. It means a ton to me that you’d allow me to clutter your inbox, in an attempt to declutter the Internet. I’m excited to see the discoveries we’ll make together, and the feedback you provide to help me make this better for you over time.
Next week, May 1st, 9:31 am EDT we’ll begin to chip away at making sense of the Internet’s vast wealth of information.
It oughtta be fun.
- Ted