I forget, sometimes, how much I love to write. I used to write in a blog every day, back when blogs were the hottest ticket on the internet. I didn’t do it to be trendy, I did it because writing engaged a particular muscle, and like every other muscle that one whips into shape, it just feels better to use it and keep on using it. Historically, I’ve written in blogs much more devoutly when I’m alone, without a community or romantic relationship. I’m soon getting married, so that is about to change forever. I’m not sure I’m quite ready to hang up the blogging muscle for good, though.

When I started Easel Ain’t Easy it was a blog, did you know? There were no illustrations at all! (You can scroll way back into the archives if you want to see it for yourself.) Then my friend Gwen introduced me to American Elf and I decided it would be fun to try and draw a daily comic of my own. Hence, Easel Ain’t Easy became a daily comic, and I loved it, and it’s still a comic if not still a daily one. In fact, postings here have become so infrequent that I’m skeptical if more than a dozen people will read this (but to you dozen, thank you!) I confuse myself thinking, “This is a comic now, so it can’t have personal blog posts.” Or “I’m a graphic novelist now, so I can’t have these scribbly diary comics!” Or “This is the Age of 140 Characters or Less, I can’t really do anything here that would take more than 3 blinks to consume.” In short, I’ve been locked in an internet identity crisis for a few years now. And it’s time to stop.

So what do I do?

I write. I make diary comics. I make graphic novels. I interview. I rant. I review. I link. I do all of that, can I do it all here? Really, can I? Because I don’t mind creating a separate blog for my wordier pursuits. In my head I think that people come to this website for comics, but I wonder if that’s necessarily true. Obviously I can’t keep writing posts like this one in particular, or no one will want to read them (do I still have a dozen of you? Again, thank you!). That’s okay though. I have stories. I have opinions. I have ideas. And I miss writing about them. I’m not quitting comics, of course not. But I think I need to write, for my own wellness, and as much as possible.

Do I write a version of this post at least once a year? Probably. There have been previous attempts at revival. Sometimes they stick, sometimes not, but each attempt is a valiant one, because it gets words out of me that would otherwise remain in the dark. I wish everyone would write, but I can’t keep saying that unless I start with the one person whose habits I control: my own.  Enough talk about writing, then, and on to the writing! Onward!