There was a time in my life when I loved to write. There was a time when I believed I was a good writer. Years intervened. I became a teacher, where I learned to strip the task of writing of any creativity or joy. I wrote formulas for paragraphs so that student essays could tick boxes on standardized test rubrics. And they did. My students did well on their tests. But as I taught students to produce writing that was mechanical and artless, my writing became mechanical and artless. (Maybe you knew that already, because you are reading my writing.)
I started this blog as a way to revive the part of me that loved to write. Challenging myself to write privately had failed; the resolution alone was toothless. Exposing my writing to the world, even when I don’t promote it, gives the promise some bite. So, here we are.
All of my posts will forever be a work in progress, which means I may revise and edit them over time. Weeks, months, or years after publication, I may reconsider a phrase. I might tighten an argument or polish a piece of prose. I might change my mind.
I wish I’d taught my students to take risks, to write embarrassing metaphors now and revise them later, to freely publish works in progress.
Cognitive Overhead 