Whenever I read things I’ve written in the past, I always find some small details I wished I had changed. They’re little mistakes. Maybe I allowed an emotion to be too transparent in what I intended to be a relatively objective statement. Or maybe I let myself stray off topic just to get something off my chest. I hate finding mistakes but I think it’s useful to review old writing, especially the writing that was given the stamp of approval to be published. Acknowledging mistakes can be an effective learning technique.
Writing can obviously be very personally revealing. Personality bleeds through text. There’s not much an audience needs to interpret, just what is said and what is not. So when I see mistakes or flaws in the things I say publicly, I take it kind of personally as it reflects poorly on me.
I love writing this site. With the evolution of myself as a writer, as it pertains to hockey at least, and the fact that I now have a solid foundation of past entries, I’ve come to realize that change is necessary. HR has outgrown its current content diet. I want this place to grow and I want to become a better writer. It’s not enough for me to just pump out these feature length pieces that are laced with blog-like moments of reflection in an otherwise fluid entry.
So in the name of progress and reducing those small mistakes, things are going to change a bit around here. I’m going to start publishing short blog posts and the occasional post-game reaction. I need a place to comment. This way, when I sit down to write the feature pieces — which, by the way, will continue to be the primary focus of this site — I wont be distracted by the small matters and topics that are more suited for a blog anyway. I think writing the occasional blog post will challenged me to write the features more concisely.
This is all good news. The features should be better and at the very least, this place will be updated more often. There will probably be a lot more references to my favorite writers and musicians, so long as they can be properly linked, particularly in the blog posts. And of course, it will all be tied back to hockey.
Sit tight party people, I’m going to really challenging myself. Just as soon as I get a moment.