“A purpose, an intention, a design, strikes everywhere the careless, the most stupid thinker”

This is not my first blog. It is, however, the first without a really concrete purpose. The last one was a travelogue, in which I detailed my adventures on the counterweight continent, and then up into Malaysia where I was working as a scuba diver. It was largely to keep my friends and family informed of my movements, and to let them know that I was still alive and that the weather was nicer where I was than where they were. I had a lot of fun writing it.

This blog's purpose is more fluid; I have a few ideas about what I want from it but they are likely to change over time. My inspiration in starting it came from an old friend, Tom Nash. He is an exceptionally talented individual whose acquaintance I am proud to have made, and you can find some of his scribblings here. He is also one half of the dynamic creative super force at 'What Fresh Hell Is This?,' a webcomic that is merciless in its hilarity (and decidedly unsafe for work, whatever that means).

In his blog, Tom mentions the book he is in the process of finishing. A book, with pages and words and themes and the whole literary shebang. This is, of course, a sound achievement on its tod, but what warms my heart and stirs my loins is that if I know Tom Nash, it'll be damn good. It'll be witty, and considered, and in all respects better than the dire scrawlings which fill the bestseller lists, penned by the cynical to divert the lazy.

Now, Tom's writing style is something I'd dearly like to emulate, but am probably unable. (He's funnier than I am, see.) Not only that, but he has a clear grasp of a writer's tools- grammar, formatting and stylistic understanding of structure. I envy him so much I'd like to light him on fire, but there are lessons to be learned from this. I want to write a book, and I plan to start at the end of this coming summer. With Tom Nash as a stimulus, I shall be using this blog simply to write, in the hopes of perfecting my own writing style. The posts will be about what I tupping well choose, and will almost certainly be marred by my attempts at humour.

This blog is also a statement of intent. I want to write a book, and am worried that I won't be able to. I may lack talent, or determination, or I may let my own anxiety sabotage my creative impulses. It has happened to me before, and will in all likelihood do so again. But the thing is, I really want to write this book. And so this blog is, in part, a challenge to myself. If nothing else, what I have written here may embarrass me past future creative hurdles (and if not, I shall dismantle it quietly, in the dead of night). I won't start telling people about it until it is a little more established, and will be keeping it relatively schtum until I start work on the book.

That's everything for now, I think. If you have travelled into the archives to read this, and there are more words above these ones, then hurrah for me!