So Why a Blog???

So why a blog?

Well, this whole Internet thing seems like it just might take off, and I wanted to get in on the ground floor before it gets too big -- you know, make a blog while there still aren't that many people doing it.

Oh wait -- it's 2011, not 1991.

Now days, there are probably more blogs out there than there are grains of sand on the beach. And most of them are long-dead, untouched, and left forgotten in dusty and cobweb-filled attics of the Internet.  Many of the early bloggers who were actually successful at them have long-ago gotten bored and moved on to other social media sites like facebook and twitter. And frankly, even that wave may have peaked, and the used-to-be-bloggers are sharpening a new cutting edge far below the radar of aging, un-hip, and out-of-it people like me.

A blog?  Really??? How quaint and retro and doomed to be forever-unread....

So why start one?

Because, after years of toying with it, I'm finally becoming a writer.  Maybe not much of one yet, but I'm practicing my craft, and honing my chops, and I think I might actually be improving.  Enough that maybe -- just maybe -- someone might actually want to read things I've written.  

Yes, feel free to offer me your pity and deepest sympathy -- I'm that sad and pathetic creature known as a wanna-be-writer.

But, still, I've become more than just a wanna-be, at least in a vital way:  I'm actually putting words on the page.  I'm currently working on a semi-fictional mystery novel (35,000 words of a rough draft so far), and doing some writing prompts for fun and practice, and generating plenty of writing ideas, and I may eventually reach the point where I begin submitting material for publication. 

Seriously.  Maybe even where someone gives me real cash money for something I've written.

Who knows?  Stranger things have happened...

But a 'published writer' needs a web presence, and so why not start now?  Lay a few blogging bricks as a foundation, kick the tires, and then see if I can get this thing to fly (to mix a mess o' metaphors).  And start it now, while I'm still in the 'practicing' mode. 

This way my 'web presence' can evolve as my writing does, so that someday (and hopefully before I take that final dirt-nap), when an agent or a publisher or any potential paying customer might want to check out who this 'Chris Fries the Writer' guy is, they'll at least have this site to come to, and there will be enough here for them to get a clearer picture of what I can do.  Then they can find out a little about me and get a taste of my writing.

But that's not all.    

Or even the most important part.  Because there's more than just getting an agent or publisher or paying customer for my writing.

There's getting readers. 

That's the whole point.  An agent or a publisher is really just a facilitator for getting my writing to the people who ultimately matter:  Readers.  People who might enjoy the words I've put together, get something out of the thoughts and energy I've put into the words, and somehow connect with it. 

That's what makes it all worthwhile.

So if you're here as a reader, let me give you my warmest welcome:  Thank you for taking the time and effort to seek me out.  I truly and deeply appreciate your visit.  I hope you may find a few moments of enjoyment out of the things you find here.  Feel free to look around and to comment or contact me.

And if you're here as a potential agent or publisher or paying customer, let me welcome you, too.  Because in many important ways you're also a reader.  Plus... if you see enough to make you want to become a buying reader, please don't hesitate to contact me -- we'll talk.  ;^).

Welcome!