You are seriously talking nonsense here! This is the first post I have ever read of yours. I meandered over from Tobald’s site. You have a style to your writing, it comes across as clear and engaging! I read from start to end and will be back as a result.

Want to write a book then make time for it! It’s not education but having a story to tell that drives you.

Whats an average novel? About 70,000 words.

Write about 500 words 3 times a week (that’s slacking) and you have got a novel in about a year!

Right on the money, and one of the reasons why I wouldn’t want to reveal enough of myself for my employer to find out who I am.

And no offence meant, but do you really think somebody is more interested in whether I like sirloin steak than in my opinion on some feature of WoW? The reason why so many of us hang out in virtual worlds is that our virtual lives are so much more interesting than our real lives.

Because at work, I’d like nothing more than to be home playing said games.

Cool to read this, Brack. Maybe I’ll follow suit.

On the other hand, I probably am a bit more free with information these days than I have been in recent years. Back when I was in college, I took a creative writing class that was taught by a lady who has actually had more than a dozen books on the NY Times best sellers list. She said over and over again, “A good writer draws on what he or she knows… which is their own life. You don’t have to write about yourself, but you have to put a part of yourself into everything you write. It can be painful and it can be embarassing, but that is part of the price you pay when you choose to write.” As I have started to get back into my old love of writing, I have had to come to grips with slowly cracking the shell and taking a peak at the outside world again.

Atleast, more than others.

By habit, I don’t put a whole lot of myself on that site. From time to time, I’ll slip in a story that is real and not about gaming and I’ll make references from time to time in the midst of a gaming entry. When you put all of the pieces together, you end up with a very incomplete puzzle. It just so happens that I am the same way in real life too. If you haven’t known me for years and years, you don’t really ever get to know much about me. There are just certain details I will reveal to keep people from asking questions.

It is a bad habit, but one that I picked up through bad experiences. I used to trust much more than I do now… and those that I trusted turned around and used what they knew to better themselves and to bite me in the ass. I just don’t do it anymore because I have a really hard time trusting anyone any longer.

I seriously wouldn’t worry about your “lack of education.” Some of the most idiotic people I have ever met have years and years of higher education. By the same token, some of the wisest and most intelligent people I have ever met never stepped foot in a college classroom. I look back at my years of college and, professionally, I view those years as a complete and total waste of time. If I had it to do all over again, I’m not sure that I would change the fact that I went, but I would certainly not cling to the lie that a degree is a ticket to get ahead in life. To me, all a degree is is a large bill that I am still trying to pay for 15 years after the fact. :p

@ DM – I agree that Tobold is probably not a conglomerate of writers and I’m not really pointing just at him in this. He was just the one that Brent mentioned as a beacon of the community in which we may know little about in real life.

@ Luci – You know, i run into the same thing with podcasts too! I frequently find myself rewinding to the beginning when people are introduced. This weeks SUWT was a little easier with Hallower (Aaron) as he seemed to have a southernish accent in there that helped.

Thanks you guys for the great replies.

Yanno what “they” say – if you think you can’t, then you can’t.
I hold a master’s in education (adult learning). I’ve gone to 4 bastions of higher education, taught at 2 of them and I’ve come to realize this: organized education, for the most part, is crap, and stunts creativity. The bureaucracy is stunning. Most teachers are mediocre. My undergrad was graphic design, and it absolutely killed my inner artist (I had a very dysfunctional advisor, I know realize). I watch in horror as the marketers promote parents paying for their kids’ education (a way to get into your pockets) and everyone thinks that if you don’t go to college, you are nothing. Now we have troops of people, all lockstepping thru college, and then into the MBA track. “Check for pods!!” (Invasion of the Bodysnatchers)

Not everyone should go to college! There’s scores of people who didn’t and did great things!

I happened upon a blog post yesterday on girl gamer. It talked about what gaming teaches you, and the part about learning not to sit outside the monsters lair, shivering and whimpering, but to go in there and GET IT, rings so true about so much in life. What’s the worst that can happen? You “Die” or fail..and you learned a few things..and when you try again, you are more successful. Great post, and I think relevant to your wanting to do something ‘powerful’ but feeling not up to the task.

See what happens when you talk about yourself? You get some silly lecture from Me.

I know that if a post by Tobold looks uninteresting to me after a quick scan, I am safe to ignore it safe in the knowledge that there will be no revelations about him on a personal level. He just doesn’t do it.

I don’t think Tobold is more than one person but I do think he spends a good percentage of his working day blogging, where the rest of us would be ‘working’.