how to become an author

Hey guys. There's some confusion over how to become an author on this blog. Here is how you do it! There are two paths you can take to publishing.

1. Create a Gmail account (which is very easy), and send me an email at grant.patch@gmail.com. I will invite you to the blog and you will click yes. Then you can log into the site at your leisure and upload your pictures, thoughts, stories, poems, paintings, etc. on here whenever you want.

2. Email me, and I will publish it for you. It can be anonymous. This way is slower; I suggest that you create a Gmail account.

Thanks guys. Don't forget to submit stuff for the paper-back copy of HtDC.

Also, some ways to think about this blog:

Do you want this to be a place to dump emotions in a rant? I would discourage this; this is mostly for literary purposes. Get a livejournal for that. Just a suggestion. I would also warn against becoming an author just to say shocking things because the internet allows one to become faceless. Shock value is good when done tastefully; I would warn against writing the word "fuck" a billion times. The word "fuck" can be used so many times it just becomes ugly and turns a story into something one doesn't want it to be. I don't know. It's just that it carries so much weight, and many people use it in every other sentence--it's hard to separate where the line is. The word "fuck" can carry a whole story on its back or it can make a story become ugly, or non-art.

Just watch the "fuck"ing, readers/potential writers. Submit to Whatever the Fuck you Want for that. It uses that word in the title! Go get 'em, champ.

Also, a good many of you are taking writing classes with either Mr. Dury or Ms. Crowell (right? is that the other Creative Writing teacher?). If there's a prompt that you guys particularly like, throw it on here. This is a good tool that you guys can use to polish up your stories. Yes, it's a tool. I'm a tool? No, this is a tool. Tool! Tool! Tool! Good word.

As a closing note, I want to encourage you all to be open with this. It's easy to throw an anonymous story on here. I want you guys to slap a name to the story. Heck, create a pen name if you want. Throw your dukes up!