Personal: To blog or not to blog
May 22nd, 2006 § 7 Comments
blogged about the newest trend which is people shutting down their blogs. She linked to a Romancing the Blog article
which is really interesting. It made me reflect on my blogging experience and the struggle I’ve faced in finding my voice.
As most aspiring authors I started blogging for the creative expression, to motivate myself with writing and to promote myself as a author. On the first two fronts I think the blog has suceeded. Logging my wordcount really made me push ahead. Even though people reading probably aren’t interested in how many words I’ve written having the bar made me get my arse and finish the sucker.
I’ve enjoyed the creative expression aspect of the blog but have struggled to find my voice. I’m pretty up front and very open but when writing on my blog I’ve found myself holding back. Because the blog is under my name and I’m hoping to be a published author I don’t want anything to come back and haunt me down the line.
I originally had the idea that I was going to blog about all sorts of things but then reality stepped in. Can’t blog about my job because I can get fired. Don’t want to talk about sex because I don’t know who’s reading or what context it will be taken in. Don’t want to talk about my marriage because it’s too personal and not something I want to share with the world. Don’t want to write bad reviews because there are some seriously whacked people out there who will track me down. Don’t want to include too many personal details because I need to protect myself. While I’m not interesting enough to be stalked anyone can google me and know more about me than I feel comfortable them knowing. In this day and age it’s always a good idea to be wary.
Then what do I talk about? At the moment I feel very isolated and cut off from the world. I’ve been living in Sydney for the past three and a half years and haven’t established any sort of a social network. It’s been great for my writing, but not so good in other areas of my life.
I’ve noticed that when I write something that I’m passionate about then there is a reaction from the handful of people who read my blog. So the solution would be to get passionate about more things. I’m hoping this will settle when I move to Melbourne. I’ll have my social connections and hopefully become more interesting to myself and others.
In terms of self promotion my blog is a total and utter failure. I’ve made no effort to learn all the handy little techno things to track how many people read my blog or to establish some sort of a web presence. While I love reading other people’s blogs I’m picky and there is only so many hours in a day I can dedicate to this endevour.
Overall the blog has been great for my personal development as a writer. I have become more committed. It has helped fill the void from my lack of a social network. I have tried to use it to promote myself by listing my achievements and linking to them and including my current novel in the profile. I do have some readers.
While I can improve the self promotional aspect of it I think my time is better spent writing at this point then promoting something that doesn’t exist, but still the time is coming when I will need to create a website and learn all the stuff I’ve been avoiding up until now. What about you? Why do you have a blog and does it fulfill your goals?
When you write from passion, the words resonate with many.
You’ll be fine Amra! Your blog posts are interesting, news related, personal and yet not too personal.
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten hate mail off my blog. Off the odd post on a forum, but not my blog. And you likely know almost anything goes over there.
Except I don’t like trashing authors or books. I’d rather talk about what I do like. TDC is more of a hate against the hype than anything, because I haven’t read it.
Hi Kathy and Sandra-thanks for the feedback.
Sandra, I agree with you about the hype and that’s one book that it’s safe to trash. He’s swilling champagne and don’t give a fuck. It’s the small-time writer who I worry about more. I’ve seen a few examples of people going off the deep end and it was scary. Made for great reading but that’s drama I don’t need.
J A Konrath says that controversy is good for bringing readers and while I’m pretty good in confrontational situations the thing I’m wary about is the way things explode in blog world and develop a life of it’s own.
I’ve seen a few blogs go silent recently. Not sure why. The novelty wears out perhaps. Or with a few literary blogs, they didn’t have the ambition, or they recognized how far they had to go and they just gave up.
I live out in the hinterlands––there are no writers’ groups Great Falls, Montana. Blogging gives me an outlet and a small network to share thoughts and get as much feedback as I can handle.
I have to say I’ve felt the urge, usually when I can’t think of anything to say and my self-imposed deadline of three posts a week won’t happen.
Great questions, Amra. I started the blog as a place to post photos and travel snippets when I went to visit the divine Ms G. And then it just kept rolling after that. Now I guess it’s more a ‘snippets of life’ blog where I talk about house, dog, family, work and occasionally writing. I can’t seem to bring myself to reveal too much about my writing because it’s still intensely private, and I’m learning my voice. I guess that will change when I get published because it will really be out there:)
I hear you loud and clear! I have debated with the exact same issues. Just recently I changed my blog over to an essay format. It has really made a difference in my writing. Except for my last couple of entries. Those were more for fun and reviewing a CD I love.