When I describe myself, you will see me list terms that list my interests, such as “podcaster,” “techie,” “gamer,” “science fiction fan,” “audio production nerd”—needless to say, I’m definitely a geek. But in a bold step, I recently added another label in to the mix: “wannabe writer.” While there are far too many to list here, I am incredibly lucky to have some amazingly creative friends, both writers and non-writers, who encourage and inspire me, especially on the Internet in the podcasting and new media space. In recent years, there have been points where I have expressed my admiration for my creative friends, and idly lamenting my lack of talent in this area, and insisted to myself (and others) “…but I’m not a writer.” I have had many creative ideas for stories to tell—”but oh, well, I’m not really a writer…” Well then, why the heck not? You are what you make yourself—so what if I haven’t been writing for years, so what if I didn’t want to be a writer back when I was a kid? No more “but.” I call shenanigans on my mind’s own insecure, self-doubting nonsense—because disbelief is the enemy.

Those who follow me on Twitter or hang out with me on IRC, you may have seen me mention my “super secret” projects. At least two of these projects—yes, I have a few secret projects, and no, I won’t say exactly how many—are, and have been, writing projects, fiction projects. Part of this “coming out” and declaring “I’m a writer!” is to give myself, through you, some measure of accountability. Today, a lot of people—some very talented, but unfortunately also many hacks—seem to like to claim to be a “writer” (fiction or non-fiction) if they can put a few sentences together. You almost can’t help roll your eyes at some people who claim to have been “writing” their “Great American Novel”—no matter how brilliant it might be—for years with little to show for it. I have the ideas, but maybe this year, I will have something to show for it. Wait, no, that’s not right. There is no “maybe”. I will, or I will not; “maybe” is a self-defeating excuse.

What I write might not be worthy of the bytes it takes up on my hard drive—and probably won’t be, at least at first. But if I don’t try, I might as well pack up all my toys, and go home, because I have already failed—and have nobody to blame but myself. To succeed, you have to first be willing to fail.

It’s time—no, past time—to come out of the creative “closet.” I am no longer simply a podcaster, techie, science fiction fan, gamer, audio production nerd. I, am Steve Riekeberg, and I am a writer.

Coming Out of the Closet is a post from Steve Riekeberg

My previous forays into blogging were on again, off again, from about 2004 to 2008. People seemed to like reading what I had to say—sometimes to my surprise—but updates were sporadic, and there were frequently large gaps between posts. Looking back, I’m not sure what the problem was. While blogging had become a very popular thing at the time—and many sites from that period have long since disappeared—I wasn’t doing it for any sort of recognition. I had plenty of things to write about, but just didn’t get it done. Whatever the reason, after about a year passed since that final post in 2008, with the site fallow, I finally decided to retire it, though the site remained online, until recently. People grow and evolve throughout their lives, and I believed I had grown out of it, and it didn’t quite properly reflect who I am.

I podcast with Geek Cred, I post idle amusements, frustrations, and what have you on Twitter, I rant and interact with like-minded geeks on IRC—and love to, and will continue to do so—but life isn’t limited to 140 characters, or to plain text—I’ve been itching to return to such a rich-text, long-form format, but this time, giving blogging more attention as it deserves, and I have something to say more than ever.

I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. In my mind—and, admittedly, based on some personal experience—such resolutions will all but certainly eventually be broken. While I can understand the sentiment behind them, if you’re really serious about changing a habit, or doing something new, you certainly don’t (and shouldn’t) wait until the beginning of another year. So I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. But if I did, they would probably include three simple points: More podcasting, more blogging, and more writing. You could even further boil this down to a single point: be more creative. And if anything’s worth doing, it’s worth doing now, so there’s no time like the present to get started.

Many know the slogan “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” As far as I’m concerned, that applies just as much  (and possibly even more so!) to creativity. I have already and will most surely continue to lose sleep due to late nights, and in the end, I may end up failing miserably. Some months down the road, this web site might face a similar fate as it’s predecessor, gathering virtual dust on a hard drive inside some server, but sometimes you have to stop worrying about failure, about what might happen, and just do it.

“Disbelief is the enemy.”

—J.C. Hutchins, Author of 7th Son & Personal Effects: Dark Art

Here’s to new beginnings. Here’s to creativity. Because it’s not about having a voice, it’s about using that voice—and that is worth doing, and worth believing in!

Let the journey begin…

New Beginnings is a post from Steve Riekeberg