The Gateway to The Garden Library

An Introduction to Stories Unwritten

Oftentimes the hardest part of the creative process isn’t brainstorming ideas, writing out body paragraphs, or even synthesizing an argument into a conclusion. Instead, the difficulty is found when crafting an introduction.

It’s often said to “not judge a book by its cover”, but none would say those words when describing an introduction. If that first paragraph is boring, confusing, or inaccurate most won’t bother reading further. If designed properly, an introduction can hook the audience into your paper and lay the groundwork for the content that follows. Sometimes an author may take creative freedoms to subvert our expectations, redirecting reality with an introduction that points contrary to the content: be it clickbait, or an early plot twist.

We’ve all read our fair share of good, and not-so-good introductions on paper. This same structure can be seen across creative works: music, film, theatre, video games, and even conversations. In my view, no matter what form an introduction may take, the good ones always accomplish these things:

1. Captivate the audience.

2. Establish the context.

3. Introduce the style of discourse.

In other words:

1. What’s interesting about this piece?

2. Why should I care about it?

3. How will this piece represent its ideas?

These characteristics form the outline of this very conversation.

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Welcome,

I’m The Librarian though many of you know me as Michael. I’m an advocate, activist, and college student from New York City. If you’re reading or hearing this you’ve found the right place to be! This is my aptly described blogcast called The Garden Library, or T.G.L for short. Here, I’ll discuss a variety of topics with a mixture of lengthy monologues and imaginative storytelling. Though as you’ll come to know, this is a living project with the style subject to experimentation and revision as time goes on.

My specialty is environmental justice, and professionally I’m pursuing a career in public policy or law. This background is the foundation for this blogcast, which will focus frequently on climate change and adjacent environmental policy issues. However, you should expect US politics, current events, and more mundane topics to be discussed as well.

Every topic, such as today’s introduction, will exist in two separate formats: written, and audio. Hence the term ‘blogcast’ is a mixture of a blog and podcast. While I encourage you to interact in whichever format is more convenient, expect that certain images, links, and community discussions will only be available in the written format.

Each post, written and audio, is referred to as a page. While a sequence of pages refers to a chapter. Lastly, pages of thematic similarity such as Environmental Policy, The 2024 Election, or Banter, are entered into a book.

You should anticipate at least one page a week, though sometimes pages will be posted in sequence -such is the case today- where you’ll find 2-3 new pages at the same time. To keep things organized every 12-20 pages marks the end of a chapter. Closed chapters are hidden in the archive but never deleted. You can find archived pages by scrolling through their corresponding book.

As stated this is a living project, and I am constantly learning and revising as needed. I welcome any feedback and encourage further discussion of topics in the comment section.

Occasionally pages will be dedicated to Groundskeeping more abstract or non-topical matters that break a proverbial 4th wall. These posts, such as the one you’re reading, are done to establish more context about the space of The Garden Library, and the blog-cast itself, or highlight important developments over time.

Lastly, if you are interested in joining my work, pitch your ideas to me. Whether it’s a topic you want me to discuss, a written piece you’d like to share with us all, or a desire to be the voice for an audio page. I’d love to collaborate whenever possible.

I appreciate your time here at The Garden Library. I invite you to subscribe and explore all of the different offerings.

Until the next page unfolds.