Introduction

Hello, my name is Herbie and I like films. And television and books, but not quite as much. I have a degree in English and American Literatures from Keele University, which has largely gone to waste since I finished my degree over three years ago now, so while I’m trying to figure out what on earth I want to do, I thought it was time to finally settle myself down and start this new project for myself. I’ve been wanting to write a blog for ages, more for myself than anything. I’d like to say there’s an actual reason for not having started a blog before, but it really is a lack of motivation mixed with a deep lack of self-confidence when it comes to putting my voice out there. Ultimately, I realised that I want to do this for myself, but I sure do hope that you enjoy coming along for the ride.

I’ve always struggled with titling my writing, and it wasn’t until fairly recently that I questioned why I needed titles at all? I’ll always outline my main talking points in the introduction to each of my posts anyway, so what’s the point in stressing over the five to ten words at the top of the page? This thought developed into how I ultimately decided that I wanted to structure my writing, which will simply be to write. I’ll probably have an introduction and conclusion, but I’m not looking to make any particular argument about a piece of work, instead my posts will act more as discussions on the things I liked (or didn’t like) and what I thought about them. I’m used to going off topic in most aspects of my life, so why not embrace it?

I struggled a lot with the restrictions and rigid structure required for a lot of my university essays, so I’m hoping that this more loose and conversational approach will allow me to express myself in a way that I always wanted to, as this time I don’t have to worry about grades. I’m not intending to be overly self-critical and micro-manage every sentence as I have done in the past as well, I’d like to be able to write some notes on a film, write the blog post and then just check for grammar and legibility. As such, assume that all of my posts will have spoilers in them, unless otherwise stated (likely if I talk about new releases, or if not knowing certain plot points is crucial to the enjoyment of the piece of work).

I do hope that this isn’t the last thing of mine that you read, I want to upload at least semi-regularly and I feel like being less strict with my structure will allow me to write big, sweeping pieces about some things I really love and shorter, snappier pieces about things that I find interesting too. University really changes your perspective on writing, I think writing for anyone other than yourself does, so I’m looking forward to doing this with a bit more freedom than I’ve ever allowed myself before.

*All images and screencaps used throughout the discussions come under UK fair dealing copyright laws, whereby I can use a limited amount of material as long as it is relevant to the discussion*