Short version: Longer Thoughts is where Paul and Storm put crap that is too long for Twitter, but too off-topic for paulandstorm.com.
Long version:
Starting a writer’s blog may seem like an odd thing for us to do. But we often have ideas that are too long for Twitter’s 140-character limit, and too “off-topic” to merit posting on paulandstorm.com. We don’t know exactly what we’re going to post yet, but it’ll likely be a mix of glib observations, thought-provoking and/or funny essays, TV and movie reviews, short stories, or even serialized stories (like “Emily and the Really Sexy Vampyre”).
Why not use Facebook and Tumblr, you say? Blech.
For me (Storm), Longer Thoughts also offers something that Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr don’t: the prospect of complete failure. (NOTE: Paul will also be making contributions, but I absolve him of any responsibility for keeping Longer Thoughts afloat.) If you open a Twitter account, tweet once, and then never use it again, what have you lost? Just three minutes of mouse clicking, really. And Twitter will roll on just fine without you. But if I post once or twice on Longer Thoughts and then let it go to seed, I’ll lose much more: a more significant amount of time (and that of our web gurus Dan and Russ), and the notion that I’m a writer.
In a too-often-cited and factually incorrect legend, the Spanish explorer Cortez set his ships on fire so that his crew would only have two choices: move forward or die. No, I won’t really die if Longer Thoughts fails. Nor have I lost any actual ships. Hell, I’m not even Spanish. But establishing this blog is enough of a commitment to motivate me to write at least 250 words a day.
Do I expect to be successful right away, or ever be as successful as the writers whose blogs and work I admire, such as John Scalzi, Wil Wheaton, or Neil Gaiman? No, and probably not–but stranger things have happened. Do I even have a solid idea of what I’m trying to achieve? Not really! But as Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame says, “Failure is always an option”, and I’m going to embrace that philosophy wholeheartedly as I figure out what type of writer I am. And regardless of what chugs out of my brain, I promise this: I’ll do my best to make everything I write entertaining, and every word will be honest, even when I get the facts wrong (which I inevitably will from time to time).
Please be just as honest and thoughtful with your feedback, positive and negative. Gushing praise is also welcome, if and when appropriate. Although my writing decisions ultimately have to be guided by what I feel is “good”, your comments will be important in gauging whether or not I’m doing my job properly.
