It seems that things are working as intended so far and I cleaned up some of the rune pages. As I mentioned before, sceadugenga.com is no longer intended to be a standard blog, but more of a static reference website for Elder Futhark runes and, as time permits, I’ll be updating and improving the ogham/ogam pages as well (which currently need a little TLC and work to complete the second half of the alphabet). I may eventually add more pages that include my other explorations into neolithic animism and indigenous beliefs.
If you want to check it out, feel free to visit sceadugenga.com. If you want to go back to what it last looked like and re-read earlier posts of a more traditional blogging nature, you can view the archive at walksinshadows.wordpress.com.
Anxiety reigns, although it really shouldn’t play a role. And I mean, not at all.
I’m dedicating part of my weekend to migrate my previous site over to my new host and change the registrar over to them as well. I decided that I liked Sceadugenga for a site name and I don’t want to give it up, even if I don’t plan to make it my main site. And, seeing it is up for renewal, and I am allowed several sites for the same price as a single site at this host, I’ve decided now is the time for the move.
Why am I anxious? I am not certain. I have the backup files. The site won’t actually redirect folks until I point the internet to it, which I won’t do until I have everything set up at the new host.
It is likely just the lack of familiarity with the process that makes me feel all nervy and itchy. And I’m not sure why it takes a minimum of half an hour before I see what has been broke due to my lack of experience.
Aded: I think I did it wrong. already. Rework is not my favorite past-time and I’m thinking it is going to require rework.
What will eventually be sceadugenga is probably almost exclusively my rune pages and other resources that I continue to link to. The posts will probably all go private or be eliminated completely to keep sceadugenga running light. And while I can just park the domain, I typically prefer to not do such things. Use it if you have it, that kinda thing.
I have problems with the logic behind the pithy advice that in order to be a great writer, you must read. Voraciously. I know Stephen King has been credited with saying something along those lines, and I’m pretty certain he isn’t the first author to give such advice. [Oh no! Nobody Author dares counter the prevailing wisdom of the Almighty Stephen King! Heresy!]
I mean, I think that might be partially true if you are looking to emulate a style, a genre or an author. I will submit that you should be well-read in order to know how others write — as long as when you have done so, you read or have read with a critical eye. Reading only eye-candy and consuming to consume will not make anyone a great writer. But I question the concept that the reading requirement is a persistent prerequisite for writing great things.
It is probably a good thing that I have no ambitions for greatness. I’m quite alright just writing and enjoying the act of writing. Happy about it, even. So there’s little risk of greatness coming from my little corner of the world. I honestly should let those striving towards greatness deal with this question and not worry my pretty little head about the matter.
But I’m not convinced being a constant reader necessarily is a requirement towards being a great writer. Especially if you want to be a writer that wants to be the pathfinder type. To boldly go where no one has gone before, or some such thing. Or the subversive, where you need to have enough freedom apart from classic tropes to break them while still remaining familiar with them. I can see several other types of writers who could benefit from not “reading when they aren’t writing.”
When wisdom seems to not stand up to scrutiny, I get all nervy and bothered and I end up saying something.
Am I off the mark? Probably. But I remain unconvinced that the wisdom that a writer must read as part of their formula for greatness always holds true.
I know… I’m all duck and cover after this post. Especially after invoking and questioning the King of Horror’s holy gospel.
Your thoughts?
Be gentle as you tear me a new hole. I break easy.
I’ll admit it: I’ve been binging The Walking Dead again.
If I want to pretend to be an intellectual, I’d say it was research into human nature in the face of an apocalypse. I have not recently seen evidence in real life that suggests that people will act differently than their fictional counterparts if they were faced with a zombie (or any kind of, really) apocalypse. Zombies in TWD might be the overt threat, but the real monsters are other people. The Witcher games and books, fantasy tales about a “monster hunter” mutant named Geralt of Rivia play the same tune. Horrifying creatures are a real threat, but the true monsters are us.
My mind keeps going back to when I was driving through Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia. Not to disparage Alberta or Saskatchewan, but those landscapes were too “familiar”. Really, once you’ve seen one endless field of a particular crop, they all take on a similar character and we have a hell of a lot of examples of that landscape when you’re away from the river valleys in the upper midwestern states of North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. My eye craved something different from what I could view a half-hour’s drive from home. And so, the last leg of my trip was not nearly as visually stimulating as the foreleg of the same.
