This isn't the first website I used to showcase my writing. I once wrote a blog, and a few of my short stories here can probably be found there.
The question isn't really why, but what do I really want to put out there? I have written so many short stories, novel ideas and random poems that I feel like my computer is like my head, just scattered with all these words and no way to focus on what to work on.
It's been an exciting journey this past month putting this together; the aesthetic wasn't so hard (I love this Wix interface, it makes designing a website a piece of cake compared to how it used to be). It was hard to look at my previous works. I won't deny that some of it made me cringe; while I was pretty surprised by other pieces I've written, it kind of treasures my inner demons that maybe I'm not that bad of a writer.
The portfolio, therefore, works for two main reasons:
One - to organise all my loose pieces of work, some of which had actually been translated and published (like Metro to Mars).
Two - to motivate me to get back into writing by valuing my old work and appreciating what I've done over the years.
I also want to promote my pieces and see if there is an interest in my work. In the case of the unpublished novels, I imagined they'd never see the light of day, but if I put it here and received some interest, I might just go ahead and see whether I should get one of them to a literary agent in the future.
Truth be told, I don't have a digital presence online other than my social media, which for me, acts more like a photo album of who I am personally but nothing about my passion which is writing.
I also want to write a journal to keep track of my writer's journal; now that it has been a year since I completed my degree in English Literature with Creative Writing and I am coming out of writer's block, I want to log for posterity.
Let's see how this goes but back to the question, why? Because to be a writer nowadays, you cannot remain anonymous, words need a face like a storyteller needs an audience, and if I continue to write in the dark, then my stories will never see the light.
Thanks for reading.
JS
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