Happy 1003 Blog Anniversary

As I was logging into Blogger tonight to post an update I noticed a new header. It said 1003 posts, last updated July 13th 2008. A thousand and three posts. Wow!
I started posting in December of 2005 and I have not missed a day. There have been many days when all that got posted was drivel, but I was on a mission. I'm still not sure what the mission is, but I feel compelled to write. There were a few times that the power was off when I started to write an entry so I had to write it in Word on my laptop, and post "after the fact" but I've written every day for well over two years.
It's funny how you get started on a quest. I became interested in blogging and did a search for free blog hosting. The first thing that popped up was Google's Blogger. I thought I'll write a few things just to see what happens. The next thing I know I'm addicted. I invest a little piece of my life energy each and every day so that people can drop by and see what's going on in my life.
What's interesting is that the blogging gave me enough confidence to approach newspapers about writing a weekly column. One thing lead to another.
When I go to writing conferences, the main theme the guest speakers say is if you want to be a writer (this is profound) you have to write.
I was watching a writer's conference on CSPAN once and when the moderator asked John Updike how he wrote so many books, John said - "one line at a time."
I've got short stories rolling around in my head and that's what I want to do next. I may start a private blog where I write fiction and only invite the readers who visit this blog to read the short stories. This idea appeals to me because I can get feedback. I'll know fairly soon which ideas work, what story lines strike a chord and which ones to toss. If that works out, the next logical would be to write a full length novel online....changing and editing as I move through the process. I'm not sure if this would work or not, I'm really just thinking out loud. The beauty is, even if it doesn't work I will still consider it a success, because I will have identified something that does not work. It's a win/win.