diff --git a/codec.go b/codec.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..66f80c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codec.go
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+package blammo
+
+type Codec interface {
+	Encode(*Event, []byte) error
+	Decode(*Event, []byte) error
+}
diff --git a/event.go b/event.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a81fdd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/event.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package blammo
+
+import (
+	"time"
+)
+
+// Event is a single log record. A log line if you're writing to file, a
+// database row if you're writing to a database, etc. Everything internally is
+// expressed as an event.
+//
+// Event is exported to support the implementation of custom log writers.
+type Event struct {
+	// severity of the event
+	Level Level
+
+	// time at which the event occured
+	Time time.Time
+
+	// where the event occurred in the system
+	Path *Path
+
+	// message to be logged
+	Text string
+
+	// key-value pairs to log as extra metadata
+	Tags *Tags
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index cd4ba66..a91df0e 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 module github.com/jordanorelli/blammo
 
 go 1.13
+
+require golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20200117160349-530e935923ad // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3474575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20190308221718-c2843e01d9a2/go.mod h1:djNgcEr1/C05ACkg1iLfiJU5Ep61QUkGW8qpdssI0+w=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20200117160349-530e935923ad h1:Jh8cai0fqIK+f6nG0UgPW5wFk8wmiMhM3AyciDBdtQg=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20200117160349-530e935923ad/go.mod h1:LzIPMQfyMNhhGPhUkYOs5KpL4U8rLKemX1yGLhDgUto=
+golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20190404232315-eb5bcb51f2a3/go.mod h1:t9HGtf8HONx5eT2rtn7q6eTqICYqUVnKs3thJo3Qplg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190215142949-d0b11bdaac8a/go.mod h1:STP8DvDyc/dI5b8T5hshtkjS+E42TnysNCUPdjciGhY=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190412213103-97732733099d h1:+R4KGOnez64A81RvjARKc4UT5/tI9ujCIVX+P5KiHuI=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190412213103-97732733099d/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
+golang.org/x/text v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
diff --git a/json.go b/json.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4dfa0b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/json.go
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+package blammo
+
+type JSONWriter struct {
+}
diff --git a/level.go b/level.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da95d09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/level.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package blammo
+
+type Level uint
+
+const (
+	// Debug is intended to be used for verbose logging information of
+	// implementation details.
+	Debug Level = iota
+
+	// Info is intended to be used to report expected behaviors; it's used to
+	// log usage and observe normal behaviors.
+	Info
+
+	// Warn is intended to be used to report events that are not along the
+	// expected "happy path" of the application. These events should generally
+	// represent failures of -other- systems.
+	Warn
+
+	// Error is intended to b e used to report things that the application was
+	// not able to handle. These events should generally represent failures of
+	// the system at hand.
+	Error
+)
diff --git a/line.go b/line.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f357b29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/line.go
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+package blammo
+
+type LineWriter struct {
+}
diff --git a/path.go b/path.go
index 10068fd..2ccb3d9 100644
--- a/path.go
+++ b/path.go
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ func (p *Path) String() string {
 // Child creates a child path having parent p. This is the recommended way of
 // constructing a hierarchical path.
 func (p *Path) Child(name string) *Path {
+	if name == "" {
+		name = "-"
+	}
 	return &Path{
 		name:   MakeSafeName(name),
 		parent: p,
diff --git a/path_test.go b/path_test.go
index 0ae4ce0..fcf060d 100644
--- a/path_test.go
+++ b/path_test.go
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ func TestSafeNames(t *testing.T) {
 		"one ",
 		"alice/bob",
 		"alice bob",
+		"alice[bob]",
+		"alice{bob}",
+		"alice=bob",
 	}
 	for _, n := range unsafeNames {
 		if IsSafeName(n) {
diff --git a/tag.go b/tag.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0692b8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tag.go
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package blammo
+
+type Tags struct {
+	key    string
+	value  interface{}
+	parent *Tags
+}
diff --git a/text.go b/text.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79f7a46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/text.go
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+package blammo
+
+type TextWriter struct {
+}
diff --git a/writer.go b/writer.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..293aa53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/writer.go
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+package blammo
+
+type EventWriter interface {
+	WriteEvent(*Event) error
+}