Transition

There’s nothing like a really nasty, miserable case of tonsillitis to prompt you to take a good, hard look at your blog.

I know at first glance that doesn’t seem like a natural cause and effect, but my swollen tonsils are why you are reading this post right now.

Bright and early on a Saturday morning this virus hit me and stuck around like an unwelcome house guest for the last half of October. In addition to the gifts of fever, restlessness, coughing and an incredibly sore throat, my clingy, microscopic visitor did at least leave me with one useful thing, several days in bed with plenty of time to think.

This idea has been brewing in the back of my mind for awhile now.

I’m ready to move on. I’m ready for another new beginning.

The reason I started this blog was to get my stories out of my head and into the world. Now, nine months and 34 posts later, my focus has changed. Now I not only want to get my stories out there, but I want to tell them well.

Just as important to me as the finished product is the process of creating it. I enjoy the process of writing. I want to learn and practice and improve and I want a blank canvas on which to work.

I am starting a fresh, new blog.

Goal 1: Hone my editing skills.
I plan to still tell the same types of stories, but, hopefully, in a clearer, more concise way.

In the past my writing model has been: idea, type, read through, reword a bit here and there, check for typos, publish. All of this taking place in the span of a few hours.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this model.

However, I’ve recently come to terms with three facts: Editing is hard. Editing is time consuming. But, editing makes for much, much better storytelling. Learning the fine art of when to cut a paragraph I may love on its own for the good of the piece as a whole is essential if I want to grow as a writer.

Goal 2: Post regularly.
In the past my plan has been: no plan. I would be randomly struck by inspiration, jot down notes, and the next time I got a chance, I would sit down and clack away at my keyboard until I had something to publish.

To ensure I spend more time on each post (see Goal 1), I’m looking forward to planning when I want to post a story and scheduling time in advance to write and edit the piece in order to publish it on time. As much as I look forward to and think I want a lot of free, unscheduled time, I think plans and schedules and self-imposed deadlines will add some welcome, informal structure to my week.

Goal 3: Enjoy myself!

I came up with a new name and a new design and have had a blast making plans for my new online home.

http://maybeyoucanrelate.com/

I chose the name of my new blog, “Maybe You Can Relate”, because I enjoy writing about things that make a reader say, “Yes! I totally understand! Something similar happened to me once!”

I chose the tag line, “And if not, please humor me.”, because I often end up writing about things that make the reader say, “That could ONLY happen to Shannon.”

As of now, I’m not planning on announcing my new posts on Facebook, so if you’re interested in keeping up with what I am writing, please sign up to follow my new blog and receive updates by email when I post something new. You should find a follow button on the bottom right of the screen or you can open the widget bar (black button at the top of the screen next to the search button) and find instructions for following me there.

Thank you so much for reading. I hope you will come join me in my new endeavor!

http://maybeyoucanrelate.com/