Brandon Moon

Well… I did it. I made it to the end of my 30 day challenge. And quite frankly… I’m amazed I made it this far. There were a few times I almost gave up. And there were a few times I struggled to get a post out that day. But here I am, at the end, having completed it… and it feels good!

The more important part, however, is what I learned from this experience:

1. I learned that I actually have a little bit of talent at this. I’ve been surprised by the number of people who have expressed appreciation for and interest in my writing. Is my style perfect? No. Do I have awesome structure to my posts? No. But at least I can communicate my ideas (at least somewhat clearly). And it’s helped me to appreciate my own writing a lot more than before.

2. I learned that there is so much to say, and so few people who care. This may seem contrary to the last post, but let me explain. While I truly appreciate the people who read my blog (that means you), I know that compared with the readership of a lot of other blogs out there, mine is in the minority. I’d be willing to wage, however, that most of you have a blog of your own. Maybe you don’t post much on it, maybe you do, but either way, most of us are generating content online. Amazing amounts of content, really. And sometimes I wonder… are we generating more content than we can consume? I can’t possibly keep up with everything out there that’s being published online every day… nobody can. So why do we get upset when so few people pay attention to what we write? It’s a funny conundrum.

3. Some topics are more controversial than others. My apple posts and my Harry Potter post drew a lot of attention. Yet others, such as my posts about Tasha didn’t seem to draw much attention. I find this a little sad, really, that we express more interest in things of less significance, and less interest in the more meaningful things. It’s not that I don’t doubt you read them, and maybe you really did appreciate them, but I didn’t always see it (though I did see it from my wife—love you honey!).

4. It’s hard to come up with something interesting to post about every day! I’ll admit, a lot of those posts I didn’t spend a ton of time on, and they were kind of grudgingly finished. I also learned that if I open my eyes, I can find something interesting to post about fairly often. And I definitely enjoy posting about something I’m interested in much more than posting about less interesting things.

I’ve enjoyed my adventure. Now it’s time to think up another 30 day challenge!

(Also, this is my 100th post on this blog. How’s that for awesome timing?)

Alright, so I guess I’ll just come out and say it. I’m not a big fan of Harry Potter. Something about the books just doesn’t resonate with me. It’s not necessarily a bad story, or poor writing. In fact, I’d argue that they’re very well written. I just don’t really like the story.

My coworker recently shared this cool article with me by Brandon Sanderson.

If you don’t know already, Sanderson is one of my favorite fantasy/scifi authors. I highly recommend his books. He also lives in Provo, and he’s LDS, which gives him extra points in my book.

In his post, Sanderson explains what he calls “Sanderson’s First Law of Magics”:

An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how well the reader understands said magic.

In essence, if the magic system is well documented and understood, it can be used to solve a conflict or a problem in a story. If the magic is more nebulous and undefined, it should not be used to solve a conflict. Otherwise you run the risk of undermining the whole plotline you’ve developed.

This, I think, is the reason I’m not a big fan of Harry Potter. Though Sanderson defends the series, I just don’t like the use of magic in it. On the one hand, it seems like it’s supposed to be defined and limited and understood by the characters: You need a wand, you have to say (or think) the spell, you have to do it right or things could go wrong, etc. But on the other hand, she tries to keep it more undefined and unlimited, to give you that sense of “you’re in a magical world” and fill you with wonder. And honestly, she actually does a pretty good job of it. It can’t be easy to merge those two styles.

But for me, it doesn’t work. The suspense just isn’t there. I feel like half the time Hermione waves her wand and everything is perfect again, and half the time she’s all “you can do it Harry!” Plus, if you have a spell that kills someone instantly… It just doesn’t work for me. The situations seem too flawed and contrived for me to believe them. Which is a shame really, because in some ways, I want it to work. But unfortunately, the story just doesn’t grab my attention.

Harry Potter is a cool world that is interesting and fun to me. I just wish it had the story to fit it. As it is… it’s kinda boring.

Sorry Harry Potter fans!

I’m inspired!

For my 30 day challenge, my plan is to write one new blog post a day. My wife has pointed out that blogging is not for everyone, and its not exactly my strongpoint. Nevertheless, I want to write more; I’m not so concerned with my blog posts being amazing or popular or anything, I just want to see how it goes. So if you’re still following my blog, get ready to see some more activity!

(I won’t be writing Saturday or Sunday, just Monday through Friday. Maybe Saturday, but that’s not part of the goal.)