In '95 I spent a month at William and Mary University in a Governor's School session on Astronomy. It was a wild experience, and it was the first time that I found out that my favorite place in a university is the library. At that point, I'd been voraciously read Star Trek and Star Wars novels, Asimov, and Heinlein. I'd definately read other things, but that was what was fresh in my mind. I decided to write something of my own, and spent most of my free time that month in the library working on my first novel.

I got distracted by my senior year of high school, and the novel gathered digital dust. I pulled it out and fiddled with it my freshman year at Washington and Lee University. I got very discouraged as I started expanding my reading and realized that what I was writing had already been written better by established writers. So I gave up.

I returned sporatically to writing over my 5 years in college, but never had the disipline or drive to finish anything. But I did develop wonderfully erratic reading habits. In the last few years, I read very little, and got in the habit of not finishing much of what I started reading. I missed it.

So I started reading again. I'm getting a feel for the short story, which is where I should start. I write down every thought that I have that could possibly become a story. I'm in the right mindset, but I'm really not sure where to go from there. I'll keep you updated.