The Project Manifesto

Manifesto - noun, plural -toes. - a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization.

Normally, a manifesto comes before any sort of action. Having written in this blog for about ten months, writing a manifesto now is akin to firing then aiming. Be that as it may, I still feel as though I should let you know what my intentions are with this blog. If it sounds like you are a parent interviewing a pimply teenager that is trying to date your daughter, it's because what I aim to do here isn't that far off. No, I'm not trying to date a teenager. No, I don't have pimples. But, I do want to make a connection. I want you to connect with what I write. I want that connection to solicit some sort of reaction. Any reaction. Happiness, sadness, inspiration, thought, anger. Something.

The first job of a writer is to notice. A writer notices the smell of a college professor's office that is full of shelves packed with old textbooks that haven't been dusted for months. A writer notices the feeling of a sick mother trying to be strong for her young sons, even if she's terrified. Writers notice. I notice. Notice is a derivative of the latin "notus," which means "known." I will write what I know. What I've experienced. What I've felt.

I want my writing to resist paraphrase. I want to capture what has avoided capturing. I am a camera.