Why the title Scrivener?

 

A scrivener is a clerk or scribe; so, somebody who writes.

 

Herman Melville's scrivener, Bartleby (Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street?) came unstuck because he was lackadaisical; he could not muster the energy to be conscientious.

 

He and I have that in common. Unlike Bartleby I'm unlikely to be reduced to penury by my laziness. I have basic subsistence covered and I don't have the same responsibility for dependents that Bartleby did.

 

So IF the spirit moves me I'll write, and I'll write what the spirit moves me to write, not what I feel I ought to.

 

You never know; once I get moving I may be quite productive.

 

But the object is not to give myself permission not to write. I intend to write stuff. That’s what scriveners do.

 

So what will this blog consist of?

 

My intention is that, at least initially, it should be a garish medley of verse, commentary, diary entries, and (occasionally) fiction. Anything that keeps the silence away.

 

The only concession to conventional notions of organization will be that you’ll be told by the heading what each entry is.

 

This introduction may seem truculent: I’ll-write-when-and-what-I-like-and-if-you-don’t-like-it-poke-it.

 

That is not the intention; I simply want to make sure that this thing does what I need it to do.

 

I hope you find it entertaining. (Hell, at least that).