My plan was to start writing here once I got 10 followers. I have 7. Close enough.
On a whim, I decided to feature a cover song of a talented artist, by another talented artist. (or course, talent may vary and is subject to listener’s tastes) I called it “Take Cover July,” and I introduced it on social media two days ago titling it “Look at the sky, Take Cover, it’s July!” So, did I really do this on a whim? Did I do this for my own amusement or did I have some ulterior motive? Well, I started it on my blog but, because I couldn’t get any of the Wordpress auto-post plugins to work, I decided to move it to Instagram instead, where I was more or less, “successful.” And this is where I start to question my intent. Am I doing this whole, “Take Cover July” thing to show that I’m a whimsical fellow, like the male version of the Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl? Or do I expect some sort of return from this? Well actually, I am getting a return from this, in the form of likes and add requests, but is that what I really want?
To try to answer this question, I turned to the boundless wisdom of Google and typed “does social media kill creativity,” and the first post that popped up was New York Times bestselling author, J.T. Ellison’s article on, word for word, the answer I was looking for. After just reading it, (which is literally right before I wrote this sentence) I think I may have found the insight I was looking for. (which is kinda sad because this is the first time I’ve heard of J.T. Ellison, let along her blog) She says social media is cool, if you manage it correctly, along with your time and feeding your “muse.” She recognizes the need to use social media for networking purposes, but if it’s just to get add requests, likes and . . .
Holy shit! (Ok, so that’s not what she said, but, that’s around the time where I got the G-rated “aha” moment, or PG-13 rated “holy shit” moment)
So, what now then? What do I do? I’d like to say buck up, put that smart-phone away and get to writing, but I’ll need to address some issues I have first.
1. I’m still in college. Granted, it’s Brandman University, which is mostly an online & brick-and-mortar hybrid school where all homework is due Thursday and Sunday night of that week, meaning I’m able to schedule my time around it so, well…fixed that.
2. I’m about to have a baby. Most of my attention is devoted to fulfilling any and all of my wife’s pregnant whims, which can come out of the blue, but is still manageable due to the fact that she is the most patient and understanding woman I know. Sorta nipped that one in the bud-ish.
3. As a retired military member, I’m given a lifetime monthly pension to keep my head above water financially, but it’s not enough to prepare for rainy days and emergencies. Therefore, I need secondary income.
It’s the third issue I need to contend with. Am I comfortable with my financial situation or will I need to get a job? Or, can I go freelance and take “gigs” from Upwork and Textbroker and call my case good? The funny thing is, I’ve registered for those sites already, but I have yet to take a job from any of them. Maybe that’s it. Maybe I should just get my feet wet in the business, even if it is a content mill. It’s better than saying you’re a writer and having nothing to show for it.
So, I started with writing about how I wanted to be all cool by introducing “Take Cover July” and ended with wanting to make a move towards writing for a damn content mill just to get some writing experience. This isn’t the first time that these thoughts have crossed my mind, but this is the first time I’ve written about it. Maybe this time, I’ll actually stick to my haphazardly laid plan and finally grow as a writer, which is taking me a hell of a lot longer than I want it to.
P.S. I don’t know if this is Medium.com worthy material, but I guess I won’t know until I put myself out there. So, to my 7 (and hopefully more) followers: please comment, critique or rip the living daylights out of my post. It will only make my writing better, and perhaps propel me to writing more.
