I was a very prolific writer back in high school. I wrote almost every day and as time went on, I wrote more and more. I started writing short stories in the 2,000 word range (maybe three pages or so). By the time I graduated, my stories were close to 5,000 words on average and I had a few getting close to the 10,000 word mark. In between stories, I wrote poems, drew comic strips and shot many, many hours of video. My challenge with a 3 – 5 page essay was how to squeeze it down to five pages.
So when I went off to college, I didn’t have much difficulty jotting down five page letters to everyone I knew. As time went on, I got a job at a radio station and used those skills in production to compose audio letters complete with sound effects and suitable background music (they were even unknowingly sponsored by local businesses at times). However, I couldn’t help but notice that the ratio of letters sent to letters received was something like three to one. When I came home the following summer, I ran into some of my old friends. I remember asking one about the lack of response and got an odd answer. They loved the letters and thought they were great, but didn’t see why they should respond. I was the one who liked to write, not them.
While I did like to write, I didn’t get much enjoyment writing unidirectionally. I figured I could just keep a journal and achieve the same end while saving myself a lot of postage. When I went back my second year, I continued to write my friends, but waited until they wrote me back before I sent a follow up letter. In a lot of cases, I never got a response. That was many years ago.
Over the last few months, I have heard from some of my old high school friends. One wrote me an apology for not writing. I wrote them back and I’m writing this blog to set the record straight for any other “lurkers” out there. I was never looking for a word-for-word match of what I was writing. I didn’t expect that from anyone. I still don’t. Whatever you send, I accept gladly. I’m just glad you made it this far in life. I would love to hear how things are going for you and the ones you love in whatever manner you can manage.
This year, I challenged myself to start writing regularly again. My mission is to make my blog a reflection of me and the people I live with and work with. It’s essentially an open letter addressed to the world. I hope readers – old and new – will stop and read an entry or two. If you like it, drop me a line and introduce yourself. But there’s no pressure, no obligation to buy. In the end, my blog is all about my promise to myself and external feedback is an added bonus.
The Bob Files 