New Year, New Style

Although I'm a writer by profession, this is only because I have a certain faculty with organizing ideas on the page (or screen, as is often the case). Style-wise, I tend to sound just like whoever I just read that I liked. This lead to my previous posts largely sounding like Jason Mulgrew, whose hilarious blog of gluttony, blasphemy, sexual misadventures and substance abuse was one of the inspirations for this one. (Two others are Opinionistas -- a woman responsible for confirming that my absolute, inexorable failure to get into law school was in fact a blessing in disguise and an incredibly close call -- and Bouncer, who's just cool.)

I don't know any of these writers. But I've recently been inspired by my cousin, whose blog Commonmode is an excellent reflection of the way he actually talks, as well as the workings of his somewhat perplexing mind.

I'm 33 years old, and in most aspects of my life, I've pretty much passed that stage where I either didn't know who I am or wasn't all that comfortable or used to the realization of who I am. But because I never consciously chose to become a writer, I never really knew whether or not I was any good as one. Sure, my clients and employers seemed to like my writing, but I was always tailoring that for them -- writing in their voice.

My few attempts at personal writing (fiction) have been so bad that not only did I burn any paper copies and delete all digital ones, I demagnetized my hard drive when I got a new computer just to make sure such dreck would never see the light of day. But that was years ago.

Although offensive, I think my previous posts are at least marginably readable, so, inspired by young Colin, I'm going to take this blog in a new direction in the next year: I'm going to consciously sound like me, and not like Jason, or Guy Gavriel Kay, or Anthony Bourdain, or Calvin Trillin.

Deal? Deal.