This whole thing started because one day, I woke up and said “I want to write more.” And because I am adult who can do things like decide when to shop for groceries, when to start the dishwasher, when to drive forty minutes out of the way for a sandwich first for nostalgia then for the bit, and when to grit my teeth and say “I’m not going to let this get me down,” I decided to write more.

This is step one to getting better. To do the thing. To do it badly. To do it well. To do it until it second nature. To do it until you have to remember it is not.

The second step to getting better though is you have to work towards a specific thing, because it is the specific thing that hones you, that necessitates growth.

I’m very good at games of increment. I’m very good at the reset and start afresh. I’m less good at the long term, the singular project, the magnum opus level type shit, y’know?

And well, maybe, it’s time we try and make a magnum opus. And maybe, this newsletter is going to shift for a little from being assorted musings on pop culture and more as a journal of what it means to pursue a singular endeavor for several units of time.

And because the universe has it’s own sensibilities and senses of humor, the universe has provided an opportunity in the form of a chapbook contest.

As much as I consider myself a “writer,” I am also a poet. I am also a mixed media mongrel. I am also someone who gets a lot of ideas and gets caught up on the execution of said ideas, so maybe this is the compromise.

For the next 18 weeks, I’m going to be working on a singular project. For this context, but mostly for myself. And for the next 18 weeks, I’m gonna be writing spec scripts and plans, progress reports, and it’s gonna be hard and different, but I think I’ve proven to myself I can do a thing weekly, monthly, etc.

And well, maybe I need to prove that I can do a thing for months. And maybe, then years.

I’ll leave you with this, but for the next 18 weeks, your inboxes will be titled Making ‘Mangling a Manananggal’.

Let’s see what happens when I dedicate all my time and effort into making a chapbook for the next four and a half months.