Writing on the Net Without a Net

            When you’ve decided to blog once a day for 60 days (55 more to go!), suddenly everything feels like grist for your mill, even technical difficulties.  For instance, after posting last night’s blog, I discovered that I had misspelled Jeremy Lin’s last name.  But when I went back to edit, I somehow moved around my first post. 

            No big deal, but it got me to thinking: Boy, have things changed!

            Some 38 years ago, I was graduating college and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. So I wrote about my angst in an article that was published in the Sunday magazine of the local newspaper.

            (In my attic, there’s a box of old newspapers. And that article is somewhere near the bottom, unless it’s been used for other purposes by a couple dozen generations of mice.)

            But getting back to my story…

            That article led to a steady gig, writing magazine pieces for the newspaper and then to a job at another newspaper and so on. And now, 38 years later, I’m doing the same thing.  Writing about a transition, wondering about what lies ahead, and hoping that my efforts will lead to something.

            The difference is that this time I don’t have to deal with Steve, the Sunday magazine editor. Steve was all of 27 to my 22. Yet with the braces on his teeth and his blonde cowlick, he looked even younger. He was short, too, and a bit of a bully. His critiques were brutal, and he played on my insecurities, which wasn’t hard since they were easily the size of Texas. By the way, when Steven edited my copy, he used a scissor and a pot of glue to cut and paste. Literally.  

            No, I don’t miss Steve.  I like the fact that I can post my blog myself. I don’t need to get anyone’s approval to publish, and I don’t have to meet anyone else’s standards.  I feel like I’m communicating more directly with my readers. (So feel free to post your comments! Tell me where I’ve hit the mark or missed it. I promise I won’t cry this time.)

              On the other hand, I’ve got no editor to catch an embarrassing mistake or smooth out an awkward sentence. Because Steve didn’t just torment me, he taught me a lot about writing and journalism. It dawns me on me that publishing on the net is working without a “net.”

            Oh, and by the way does anyone know how to move a post around?