Maybe Fitzgerald was wrong?

“There are no second acts in American life,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Maybe he was wrong. More likely, I’ve misinterpreted the meaning of that assertion, as have many others, apparently.

Anyway, in hopes of a fresh start in 2024 as I conclude a nearly 33-year career in higher education, I plan to commit more time to my first love: writing. And here’s where I’ll do it, right here on this blog I abandoned nearly six years ago.

This post marks the beginning of this second act, one devoted to writing for the fun of it.

I’ve repurposed this blog, formerly called “Higher Ed Marketing,” to focus on the writing craft. That’s right; another writer writing about writing. What could be more fascinating, or more necessary for our times?

Here I plan to share my thoughts and observations about writing of all breeds: fiction, non-fiction (creative or otherwise), a bit of poetry, but mainly prose. I’ll certainly muse about marketing and advertising writing, too, since that style of writing has been my bread and butter for years. Old habits, you know. And of course I’ll navel-gaze about writing itself, the craft and joy and agony of it. Don’t be surprised if I stray into more universal themes, like creativity, from time to time.

I envision this space to be part scratch pad, part journal, 100% place for me to share my thoughts about writing, and a home for some of my own works in progress; fiction, creative non-fiction, bad poetry. Over time, I would love to use this space as a forum for other writers. I’d love to include some interviews with other writers from time to time, and guest posts to showcase their work. So if you know an author you think I should profile on this blog, let me know.

I’ve rechristened this blog as Andy writes! Not the most flamboyant or creative of titles, but it’s in keeping with my time-honored tradition of creating lame, pedestrian titles for my websites. Consider that the former version of this site, “Higher Ed Marketing,” wasn’t super creative, either. And at one time there were at least three other blogs with the same name, so that created some confusion.

(For the record, there is at least one other Andy who writes on the internet. But the differentiation here — and this is important — is that exclamation point in the title of this blog. See how much extra excitement that effervescent little punctuation mark brings to the party? When you see that ! in the title you know something good is in store, and you can’t wait to find out what it is.)

As that exclamation mark implies, I’m excited about getting back into writing for the sheer fun of it. I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

Thanks,

Andy

P.S. – I’ve also started a side project devoted to writing about rock’n’roll. If you’re into that sort of thing, check out It’s only rock’n’roll. I’m also on Substack, or trying to be, and once I figure that website out I envision it becoming a mashup of both this website and the rock’n’roll blog, and maybe some other topics.

Image courtesy of TheHilaryClark via Pixabay.