“Don’t procrastinate. If you want to blog, then blog.” ― Fritz Chery
The other day, somebody asked me how long I had been producing my blog… Looking back, I was surprised to suddenly realize that I had been doing this for at least 15 years… Because what else, besides drinking Pernod and playing pétanque was I going to do in my retirement? Some people are so miserable after stopping work that they will do anything to get out of the house and break the monotony of their newly found “farniente”.
But not me. I never regretted leaving my 8 to 5 routine. Like many of the working stiffs, I didn’t choose my previous occupation… it chose me and I simply put up with it. So, leaving a large corporation where I was just a small cog in the machine meant very little to me.
To be happy in retirement, you need a hobby and luckily, I have always been fond of writing. In elementary and middle school, we had to regularly pen some essay (une rédaction) about a certain topic. Most of the kids dreaded this, but I loved it. The words came easily to me… probably because of all the swashbuckling stories I had devoured in my younger years.
What French kid doesn’t remember the famous line from Paul Féval’s novel Le Bossu (the Hunchback) “Si tu ne viens pas à Lagardère, Lagardère ira à toi! » ? It is part of the French catechism, and you could be banned from eating croissants for life if you don’t memorize this.
Blogging is strictly a labor of love because it is hard, time-consuming, and not remunerated. But I don’t care because “I cannot afford to waste my time making money.” – Louis Agassiz
Most magazines stories are written by entities totally unknown to you. As far as you know, the story could have been written by a smart robot. But the reading becomes a little more interesting when you know the author. You have seen him, you have talked to him, and it is easier to form an opinion about that person.
“You can’t make a fan of everyone. Stay true to your story, characters, music, art, or whatever it is you do, and fuck everyone else who doesn’t like it. Life isn’t perfect.” ― Ann Marie Frohoff
It sounds a little harsh, but to survive in the writing game, you need to have a thick skin and ignore naysayers. Fortunately, after many years of hard labor, it seems that Le Cochonnet Marin (The Flying Piglet) is finally taking off. I am getting more readers and more subscribers every day, and this warms the cockles of my little heart.
Keep up the good work and help me give Time magazine a serious run for its money.
Alain