Introductory Post: Oh, Boy, Another Guy With A Blog ...

So here I am, getting ready to join the twenty billion or so people with blogs or Livejournals or some such on this Internet thing. Which is especially scary when you consider that there are only a little over six billion people on Earth.
And yes, I freely admit that I'm one more wannabe writer who's latched onto the idea of using a blog as a creative outlet. So bear with me while I ramble a bit about what I've got planned for this space.
For years, I have harbored delusions of grandeur about writing science fiction. However, I have also had a little problem following through on my grand plans. Most of the time, I get so caught up in world-building that the stories set in those worlds never quite coalesce into something coherent, or publishable. ("Coherent" doesn't necessarily equal "publishable" -- and I've read a few books where "publishable" didn't equal "coherent!" Not naming any names here, just moving on now ... )
Anyway, somewhere along the line, I usually do one of the following:
a) Lose interest
b) Confuse myself
c) Get sidetracked by another project on which I want to work
d) Get smacked in the head by real life
e) All or some combination of the above
Of course, it must be pointed out that in recent years, my now inactive Webcomic, Way of the Dodo, has been the 800-pound gorilla of my creative efforts. That's http://dodocomic.comicgen.com, by the way. Sheesh. All the time that's passed since Dodo updated regularly, and I still couldn't let this pass without working in a plug for the comic!
Also, periodically (such as now), I veer into the idea of having a serious go at being a freelance writer in general. At times like this, my pile of often vague and incomplete story ideas sits side by side with a pile of often vague and incomplete nonfiction article ideas. In fact, some of these consist of little more than a note that says something like, "I should do some research on [insert topic] and see what I can write about it."
Hence, this blog. The plan is to write fiction or nonfiction, whatever I've got stuck in my head at the time*, in 4,000 characters or less. Why 4,000 characters, you ask? (No, I guess technically you didn't ask. But I'm going to tell you anyway. It's all part of my tendency to provide more information than my audience actually needs.)
I've got this antique Palm Pilot on which I do most of my writing these days. It gives me the advantages of writing electronically without being chained to the computer. At least, that was the theory. More often, I just do my writing on the desktop, do a quick HotSync, and take it with me.
Anyway, the Memo records have a 4,000 character limit. Which is not to say that I can't write something longer on it. It just means that some works in progress fill multiple records. But for this blog, I'm going to try to keep entries to one record, at least to start.
For you, it's a chance to watch the creative process in action. For me, it's a commitment that will (hopefully) push me to keep writing, instead of just intending to write.
Oh, by the way: I "plan" to update at least once, maybe occasionally twice a week. There may be the odd delay for research, writer's block, or real life issues.
However, the lesson of Way of the Dodo is that things don't always go according to plan. By which I mean that life can be readily relied on to laugh hysterically at your best-laid plans, before smashing them into little pieces and jumping on them.
As I did with Dodo, I start this project with high hopes. Chief among them is the hope that things will go a little better this time. Who knows? Four Thousand Characters might even start developing a little bit of a following over time.
Speaking of that 4,000 character limit, I'm getting pretty close to it now. So that's probably enough introductory rambling for the time being. Blog number twenty billion and one is now online.

*That may even include a few simple cartoons from time to time as the spirit moves me. And by "simple," I mean, "Not Dodo."