Hello and Happy New Year. Welcome to the 500th blog on my site. The Featured Image is the very first blog post I wrote. If you decide to check it out after reading this, spoilers: I never did finish Project HARP.
I started this in 2018 on a whim. I hadn’t had a proper author landing site before, but attempts had been made. (And no. I’m not sharing what those sites were as they’re filled with dreadful short story starts and the idea that hundreds upon millions of people would be reading it.) After some long debate I thought of the title “Fifth Draft”, based on my writing process, found it wasn’t taken, and went with it. I wasn’t sure what the site would be, besides a place for potential readers to come find me, but I thought I could figure it out as I went. I added shortcuts at the top of the page to relocate to whatever specifically I was writing about (the process of trying to become a published author, my online notebook filled with random bits, and finally where I break down stories.)
And that’s all been good. 499 entries good, with most tending towards The Online Notebook as it’s the easiest way to log random bits that don’t have a definable category. An Online Notebook is supposed to be the peak over my shoulder, so to speak.
Now it’s 2025. I wanted this to go live yesterday, on the first of the year, as that felt somehow more special. But I have to take into account how special it is to have 500 blog posts on ANYTHING and how valuable that is. Think about it.
I wrote 500 blog posts. In the year of our Lord 2025. That’s…that’s got to count for something. Right?
But what does it mean to have -now- 500 blog posts on a website I own? I’ve been on the internet since the early 00s, but never in this context. This feels…special? I know tons of authors have had their own website for decades, cultivating a following and using it to practice and expand their fanbase, while also honing their craft through longform essays.
I wanted this site to reflect me better than any of my socials ever could, like my writing heroes before me. While some of them have fallen away from the online space, some are still here, writing regularly, sharing who they are. Some moved to Substack, or another newsletter service, and while I don’t think I could ever pull those numbers until I’m published, it’s something I think about/dream about.
Do I want this website to be something more? That’s a question I go over again and again and again. The biggest hurdle, obviously, is the children. I mean, have you seen them? Always asking for graham crackers and blueberries and asking me to play Sonic x Shadow Generations with them.
But that’s really on me. They’re just being kids. And while being a full-time stay-at-home dad is a lot, I could make the time. Just don’t look at your phone as much, Rob. That’s all it takes.
No, really. That’s all it takes.
I’m putting myself on full blast on my own website to say that I’m on my phone too much and if I just lay off for just a little bit more every day it would all be so much better.
So what next?
I think I want to lean the website posting up, make sure it represents myself, talk about what I’m doing in the writing world, and set myself up for success.
First, new book review format. A lot of the time I get stuck in the muck, bouncing around from detail to detail, when what I really want to do is write 3,500 words on the story. I don’t have time for that, sadly, at this point in my life, so I’ll always focus on three things when I review a book:
- What I Liked: Just a few things I liked or enjoyed.
- What I Noticed: This one can be open-ended, but maybe there’s a theme or a flow I noticed.
- What I Can Learn: I read for fun. That’s always true. But as I’m trying to grow as a writer, it means every book I read
I’ll set up a template, then whenever I finish a book this year I’ll use it to talk about it in a structured, focused manner.
The next thing is my STATUS posts, where I talk a little about my life and what’s going on with the writing projects I have. Those will still be the same, but my aim is to do those weekly. Either on a Monday or a Saturday. It’s important to reflect on my work, and when I’m not doing that in my Bullet Journal, I may as well do it here.
Everything else, I’m hoping, will be more reflective of me. Of who I am and what I’m trying to do. I want to talk about the difficulties of trying to track down a book agent and what I’m learning about it. That was the intent, but I think it got lost. I don’t just want this site to be a static image, I want it to grow, to evolve, to change with me. I don’t want to be afraid to use it because I’m worried it’ll get lost in some algorithm. I want it to be me. For another 500 posts. Even more.
I hope you’ll stop back in and check it out from time to time, and find something worthwhile here. It takes a lot to become a published, agented author.
It sometimes even takes five drafts.
Thanks for reading,
Follow me:
Threads: @RobAcosta
Bluesky: @FifthDraft.com
Instagram: @robacosta
E-mail: robertmichaelacosta@gmail.com
Fifth Draft 
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