Beginnings.
Well, here we are. Beginnings are always difficult for me, but I guess you have to start somewhere.
1. Why this, why now.
I guess an introduction is in order—although if you’re here you most likely know who I am already—or have just met me and know everything I’m about to tell you already.
If you’re in that special minority that has no idea who I am, and have chanced upon my Substack by the ever-fickle winds of fate, or clicking the link in one of my socials, then Hello! I am Matthew Boylan. I’m 30, from Brampton, Ontario, studying Creative Writing & Publishing at Sheridan College.
Funnily enough, I discovered Substack during my most recent trip through Ireland. Specifically, through the societyofauthors UK periodical that one of our stays so graciously had lying around for me to look through. Unfortunately, I cannot link the specific article, but if you’re so inclined you can find the subscription link through here.
https://www2.societyofauthors.org/
Thanks to my girlfriend’s Great Aunt Heather, who just so happens to teach and deploy creative writing modules for The Open University, for the chance crossing!
2. Character Creation.
I don’t want to bore you with my life story. It is neither terribly exciting nor long enough to warrant me writing it all down here for you. Suffice to say, I’ve been writing on and off for the majority of my adult life, but only recently settled on dedicating my life to the vocation of writing for a living.
Coming off of a particularly lucid moment of self-reflection in the midst of wandering to-and-fro in my prior factory job, I realized facilitating the repeated application of paint to lumber was not what I wanted to dedicate my life to, and so I put in my 2 weeks and applied to College. It’s hard to describe the feelings I felt in the following weeks. It finally felt like I was taking the pathway that I wanted to traverse rather than floating listlessly through the void. Though, this feeling of purpose belayed the uncertainty of my future, but as Nietzsche once said,
“To become what one is, one must not have the faintest notion of what one is...”
And I truly didn’t. It’s odd that in spite of being at a point in life where many of my friends and peers had begun to/had already established themselves in careers, marriages, and the beginnings of starting a family, I was upturning my life to pursue a passion. Yet the fact I did not have the faintest notion of what my future held never frightened me, for I never truly grasped the notion to begin with.
So far, it has bore no fruit other than the self-satisfaction of finally feeling like I found my purpose in life, feeling a sense of fulfillment that avoided me for over a decade of wandering, and a few publications in literary journals—which I’m perfectly content with.
As it stands, I’ve never felt a greater sense of purpose or drive than I do now.
3. What I’m doing here.
As it stands, the initial purpose will be to serve as the housing for all my writings across any and all disciplines I formerly or currently write in.
My grander ambition, or more holistic purpose, will be to post monthly updates for my TBA novel I have started work on—ranging from progress updates to excerpts. I do not expect to be reliable with this at first, so the “burgeoning forth” of this page will be all my inane and meandering ramblings I write on a daily basis.
4. What now?
For now, I can only ask you to stay tuned for updates that I plan to post weekly. You can do that by clicking the subscribe button at the bottom with your email, which will keep you updated on any and all of my posts from here on out!
5. Thank you.
If you want to follow along with my writing journey, you can subscribe for free with one click here!
Eggcited for more, b.