If you noticed the dramatically lower post count in the archive, it's because, after removing some of the past articles I had written that are no longer congruent with my beliefs, I realized I was sort of offering my short Stories up for sacrifice.

I believe that if an author truly cares about the writing he (or she) produces, and believes that this writing may offer some value to potential readers, it is then his responsibility to ensure that the writing reaches the most readers in a way that will allow them to extract the most value--but without sacrificing anything about the quality of the writing in attempting to achieve this goal. I no longer think, then, under most circumstances, that a blog is the correct medium through which to share serious short story fiction.

Because a blog is so accessible and instantly gratifying (for both publisher and visitor), I think it encourages a mentality of "act (meaning write or read) quickly and move to the next thing." This couldn't be further from the actual conditions required to produce writing--or anything--of value. I mentioned in a previous post that I'd rather enjoy one piece of art that changes my life instead of ten that don't. As a writer, I would always choose to create one story that tries to do the same, instead of five that never will.

I realized that by posting my stories on this blog, they were not only being hastily written and revised, but experienced in a different way by you, the readers. Reading is all about perception and self-understanding of what an author is trying to communicate. There's a huge debate on whether a book's meaning is about what the author meant, or what the book, analyzed in a vacuum, might mean without authorial context. Regardless of the "right" answer, we can be sure that reader perception is more than half, if not all, the battle.

That I think some of my work may have been interpreted or judged differently because it appeared on a blog is not at all the reader's fault; to the contrary, it's only my own fault: for not considering the presentation of my work, for not making it available in different mediums, for placing some of my stories (the ones in which I saw some value) alongside humorous or less-intense blog articles, and for not realizing all this earlier.

Moving forward, no short stories will appear on this blog, though I will continue to work on polishing the interesting ones for possible publishing in the future. Again, I don't want to create anything below what I consider to be my greatest potential. I'll also post updates about other projects I'm working on as they become more relevant--and look out for a website in coming months that should serve as a more balanced portal.

While I think blogs are a great invention and usually a very positive thing, they can easily turn into something selfish and inwardly-focusing, which, hopefully, is not the idea for most bloggers. I hope to move away from this mindset by making this blog more about relevant updates, and also about certain things I think or notice with which others might be able to relate.

These posts may not always be perfect (as I'd rather spent my time on the work that matters most), but they will, at the very least, always be honest.