The beginning

She peered over my shoulder as I typed. "Just what the world needs. Yet another amature blog."

I sighed. "Thanks. You're support and enthusiasm are encouraging." I kept typing.

"It's not that I don't think you should write," she explained. I could hear her voice grow distant as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a coke. It got louder as she walked back into the den. "It's just that... do we really need more stories about spaceships or dragons?"

"It's fantasy / Sci-Fi, and it's what I like to write!" I protested.

"Well... on a blog? I mean, what's the point? Won't the blog owners own the stories?"

"I AM the blog owner."

"No, I mean the... the people... the company that SUPPORTS the blog. I'm pretty sure they now own those words you're typing."

I sighed. "Not until I click the publish button. Besides, this is just to keep me writing. Like practice. I can post as often as I want, and then, if people are so inclined, they can comment and tell me just why they think my work is crap. "

"Aren't you embarrassed?" she said. "I mean, putting your name on all these stories? That are probably really... no offense, but they are probably really mediocre at best, and here you are putting out there for the whole world to see?"

"That's the magic of blogs. There are so many. How many people will actually see this one and comment on my mythical space creatures? And even if they do, and even if they hate me, I can do this almost completely anonymously. I mean, who knows it's me? I'm not telling anybody."

"Then what's the point of doing it?"

I stopped typing. "I'm not really sure."