I’m not sure what exactly the deal is with the formalities over here.

I’m used to the Tumblr side of the boardwalk, where forgoing both the shift key and correct grammar is generally accepted, if not encouraged.

Am I allowed to use run on sentences? Or smiley faces? How do ya’ll feel about toilet humour? (Too late to make that a no-go area anyway. See the post below.)  What about reaction gifs? Rage comics? Cat pictures? Details about my menstrual cycle? (Don’t worry, I’m joking about the last one. Honest.)

Is there a standard with which I need to comply in relation to the length of posts?

(But the most central question is, can I use parenthetical phrases as liberally as I like?)

(Eoin, that’s one thing you’re going to have to set me straight on. Does punctuation go inside?) Or outside?(the brackets?)(And can I pile them on top of each other like this?)

(Eoin is probably screaming NOOO at the computer screen already. He’s stuck with me and my writing for the year.  Poor chappie.)

(I’m not sure if my class director, John, will approve of me giving my editor shout-outs in my posts either. We’re supposed to have a ‘professional relationship’. And I haven’t met the guy yet or anything. I’m sorry, Mr Purcell. I’ll be proper from now on, Mr Purcell.)

In all seriousness, I may be putting on my very best *comedic writer face* at the moment, but in reality I’m clueless to what my intended tone is for the duration of this blog. My Creative Writing teacher in first year said that a writer’s voice is supposed to fluctuate as they go along, but a graph of the atmosphere in my work over the last year would look something like this:

(Excuse my late teenage mood swings!)

So I don’t know if that is really advisable in my case.

The best tactic is probably to just go with what feels right as I’m typing, and see how it develops.

I’ll think twice before posting anything, of course, and read over it more than a few times after that! But my opinions aren’t so heavy and jokes aren’t so bad that they’ll ruin my career over night, hopefully. It should be okay for now, once I’m writing something.

John says that that’s what this year is really about- getting us to write. And that’s what I’ll aim for! Until my first editing recommendations arrive.

I don’t have to submit anything officially until the middle of December anyway, haha.

I can handle publishing my nonsense on the internet when it’s in this rough a form, for some reason, but not submitting it for grading. Anyway, that’s a discussion for another night.

A toute a l’heure gangstas!

Sleep well.