So, now that this blog is up, what is going to be on here? Well, I work on the University of Southern California's newspaper the Daily Trojan, and I have a weekly column there, in addition to the other articles I write. So I was thinking about a doing a "weekly roundup" of my articles, every Friday or Saturday. I also want to put up information on some of the bigger projects I'm working on, as well as a few short stories, some poetry, and even my thoughts on writing as a whole.
To say that writing is a happy exercise is a bit of a rose-colored glasses. So many famous writers lived tragic lives, and met nasty ends. Hemingway, suicide. Byron lived in constant depression before dying of a violent illness. Don't even get me started on the Russian writers of the 1800s. The Pulitzer Prize winning writer J. Anthony Lukas once said "All writers are, to one extent or another, damaged people. Writing is our way of repairing ourselves." That may be one of my favorite quotations of all time. I went through a very rough time a few years ago, and while I turned my life around, I have not forgotten my past. I wouldn't say that I am haunted, but I carry that turmoil in me. And it fuels my writing.
You may be wondering, what exactly is he writing? Well, my main project is one which actively involves my past depression. I am working on a novel about a group of people tied together by past suicide attempts. It is a romance and character drama, told in the fog covered banks of the Siene, where self-doubt and fear cast a shadow over everyone, and loneliness runs deep. It is an extremely personal project, and a way to come to terms with a part of my life that I want to purge. In many ways it's difficult to write, but at the same time, very fulfilling. I will try to provide updates on it, maybe even an excerpt or two.
In addition to that story, I have a few ideas I'm working on. I've always been fascinated by gothic and religious horror, and I have an idea for a very dark comic book involving cults, secret societies, hidden secrets, and the occult. I am also working on an adventure novel in the style of Clive Cussler; something with history, action, exotic locations, and a good mystery and sarcastic, slightly jaded lead. It's been on the backburner for a while, but I'm starting to revamp a lot of my previous pages in it to get back into the main plot.
It's not much, but it's a plan. Writing is everlasting, highly personal, tormenting, and fulfilling. Writing is my passion.
A writer's tale,
Nicholas
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