“There was no triumph, after all, without a girl concerned, and if he did not lay his spoils at her feet he could at least hold them for a passing moment before her eyes.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Sensible Thing”, 1924

Whenever I think maybe I should just give up writing I always come back to Fitzgerald, and it always brings me back to the blank page. His command of language and grace with words have been an inspiration since I first met them, especially knowing how much he struggled to get them down on paper.

I am not a beautiful person, but the one place where I occasionally feel I can add a very small amount of beauty to this ugly world is through words, even if only a handful of people read them. To me, that is a worthwhile immeasurable goal.

Like Fitzgerald, one of the great motivations for my early writing was being young (and dumb) and in love. When the other boys were going on about how gross girls were, I inevitably had a crush, but would be made fun of if I talked about it, so instead I wrote stories – and soon after burned the evidence. The possibility of early success like Fitzgerald’s is long, long gone, but what else is there to do but keep trying, and keep loving.

Thank you to all the girls and women who inspired me over the years, and especially to my fiancee who has never let me give up on my dream. Love comes in many forms, and the explosion of young love is wonderful, but unsustainable. It, however, can give birth to a love that endures the most difficult of hardships together.

Now, time to get back to that blank page.