Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who comes to this silly little blog and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hope you keep reading in 2010! And yes, I realize the theme has changed yet again, but rest assured, I only change it to learn more and more about Wordpress. So it may change again, but I’m digging the simplicity of this one.
Happy Holidays!
Brian Thomas Clark
Writing is a process that cannot be mastered. No matter the kind of writing you are doing (fiction, non-fiction, copywriting, academic, etc.), you are never complete. As a writer, you are always learning, trying new techniques and developing your own personal style. Writing is amorphous. You cannot even really refer to writing as an “it” because the writer is always the one with the control. Writing is action. That’s it. It’s like trying to master going to the bathroom: You either choose to, or choose not to, and pay the consequences.
Even the best writers, the ones we might refer to as “The Masters” or “genius” are still learning. There is not a writer alive who does not struggle and flail when putting together a piece. It’s the nature of the beast. William Faulkner said “the most important thing for a writer to be is never satisfied.” The learning, the trying, the failing, the trying again, the failing again, until finally some semblance of success is found, is the whole purpose of writing in the first place. To quote a cliche, “It’s the journey, not the destination.” In the case of writing, there is no destination. Ever. Read More
Update 11/23/2009 – The odds are stacked against me, I know, but I wanted to let everyone know that, if for some reason I do not make it to 50K words by Sunday, November 30th, I am going to continue with the novel, because I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Besides, who writes a novel to 50K words, doesn’t feel like it’s finished, and gives up?
Actually, I am planning (if I don’t make it) to do my own personal version of the NaNoWriMo and see if I can get to 50K words by December 15th.
If I make that and I still don’t think it’s finished, I am going to continue on even past that. Those who know me know I ramble when I talk, and I write a lot when I write, so to have an entire novel encompassed in 50K words is ridiculous to me. I’ve tried my hand at short stories, and I still will, but I can never encapsulate a story into 3K words easily.
So there you have it. Onward and onward.
How To Buy a New Car Without Getting Screwed
Given this is the time of year when car dealers offer A) Their best deals and B) Their best tactics to screw you over, it seemed like the perfect time to post this video. I don’t have any idea who this guy is, other than “Rob Gruhl,” but his tips on buying a new car are brilliant and come from a lot of car-buying experience.
I have purchased only one new car thus far in my life, but I was not the one who did the haggling. I left that to my mother’s husband, who is an expert at grinding out great deals (not to mention he had already purchased multiple cars from the dealer we went to). That said, remembering how he operated and now watching this video, I have realized that I think I will be able to haggle for my own car next time.
However the biggest hurdle is going to be not caring about how much of an asshole you’re being to the dealer.