Writer's Block

So with great thought and all, I've decided to convert my really aging Pentium III machine into a headless terminal, and to have (as the main tools) spell-checkers, vim, and LaTeX installed as the main applications, in addition to having some form of VNC/SSH ability. If you still haven't figured out what I am up to, well, let me spell it clearly then: it will be my writing machine.

That's right. Things have gotten to the point where I think that having a dedicated writing machine is probably the way to go. It is not that I cannot write with my current machine; I write a lot (and decently so!) with my current set-up. But there's always distractions here and there, with people trying to contact me over instant messaging. I long for the days where the writer can just sit down in front of his/her trusty typewriter and cobble together words to make stories; there is a timeless feel for that that I cannot truly describe in words over here.

In related news, I've finally got hold of a copy of Strunk & White's The Elements of Style. Again, you might ask, why. Truth is, it has been a long time since I polished/fixed my English, and it has gotten to the point where my English is rather fractured. Sure, I might sound like I know what I am writing, but trust me, I have never felt that my English has improved since I was twelve years old, and it is not a feeling that I particularly enjoy. I have hardly taken any English class seriously ever since I was twelve, since for the most part they were stressing on how to conform to obtaining better grades in examinations, which do not necessarily lead to actual improvement in writing style and diction. I have no real bone to pick about the examinations [here, at least] but the thing is that I don't feel that I have improved my writing abilities at all throughout all these ``gaming'' exercises which basically involves me trying to write such that the examiner will be pleased.

I was not writing because I enjoyed the art of writing, but only to satisfy some requirement set forth by someone who thought that it was a good idea to include in the education system.

But now, after churning out hundreds of rants, and even more poems all over the place, I've decided that I should probably put some structure into my writing and consider working at it a little more seriously. I have the tools, a good thesaurus, a decent style guide, a grammar guide, and a somewhat outdated dictionary (physical) that is fast replaced by an online version. It would then seem to be a good idea to put these tools to good use [finally] and to produce works that I truly am proud of.

I don't have any mentors for writing now; old Mr Lin Min probably has forgotten about me/not too interested in critiquing an amateur's work since he might still be inundated by work, but I think I will survive, sort of.

I guess only time will tell if I'm really doing good. And by golly, I swear that I will work on NaNoWriMo this year, considering that I will be working and not doing busy work all day as it is in school.