Ain't that the truth... I often wonder about that myself: shouldn't I be *really* writing instead of blogging. But then, with my blog, I find I'm less and less inclined to write and more and more inclined simply to share photos, which I don't have another venue for and they're not good enough to publish as a book.
Ah well, it's the age-old argument: Do I write, or do I write about writing to get myself writing?
Or, in my case, do I just try to woo 'em with pretty pictures...?!
It's weird, the dank dark cave of fiction. I can post and talk about my poems, but I don't ever talk about the fiction I am writing or post it anywhere online (I've finished two novels, am still editing the 2nd). Fiction is different. If I tell the story it's like letting the air out of a balloon. Once the story is out there, I'm done. I even have to write fiction in a different room. It's a different animal, and takes a lot of sustaining, you know? That might not be the right word. xor
Blogging gave me the boost (and some of the courage) I needed to begin an MFA in poetry, over 20 years after I was first accepted into a program, and 15 years since I'd written anything more complicated than a grocery list.
Rebecca's post has gotten my interest up--I want another room in my house, just for fiction. Heck, I want another house.
Suzanne, belated congratulations on your manuscript being a finalist. That's great news.
Suzanne, re: other people's blogs -- exactly! I spend maybe half an hour every three days or so actually blogging, but you people are all too damned interesting for my own good. *grin*
(And yet, the sense of community I get feels important right now. Maybe it won't always. But right now, I think I'm getting something that I need.)
S, Thanks for posting this. The article is full of the same thoughts I have about blogging. I spend a lot of time reading other people's blogs and not getting much stuff done. ie. this post!
I think the 'sense of community' is right on. I feel like I really am part of a community of other poetry bloggers, and there's a real tangible value to that. Frankly, I'm quite thankful for it, because it's a community I didn't have before and, I think, have wanted for quite some time.
8 comments:
Ain't that the truth... I often wonder about that myself: shouldn't I be *really* writing instead of blogging. But then, with my blog, I find I'm less and less inclined to write and more and more inclined simply to share photos, which I don't have another venue for and they're not good enough to publish as a book.
Ah well, it's the age-old argument: Do I write, or do I write about writing to get myself writing?
Or, in my case, do I just try to woo 'em with pretty pictures...?!
It's weird, the dank dark cave of fiction. I can post and talk about my poems, but I don't ever talk about the fiction I am writing or post it anywhere online (I've finished two novels, am still editing the 2nd). Fiction is different. If I tell the story it's like letting the air out of a balloon. Once the story is out there, I'm done. I even have to write fiction in a different room. It's a different animal, and takes a lot of sustaining, you know? That might not be the right word.
xor
Blogging gave me the boost (and some of the courage) I needed to begin an MFA in poetry, over 20 years after I was first accepted into a program, and 15 years since I'd written anything more complicated than a grocery list.
Rebecca's post has gotten my interest up--I want another room in my house, just for fiction. Heck, I want another house.
Suzanne, belated congratulations on your manuscript being a finalist. That's great news.
For me it's other people's blogs that are the distraction. *lol*
&
Thank you, Pamela!
Suzanne, re: other people's blogs -- exactly! I spend maybe half an hour every three days or so actually blogging, but you people are all too damned interesting for my own good. *grin*
(And yet, the sense of community I get feels important right now. Maybe it won't always. But right now, I think I'm getting something that I need.)
So very true.
S, Thanks for posting this. The article is full of the same thoughts I have about blogging. I spend a lot of time reading other people's blogs and not getting much stuff done. ie. this post!
I think the 'sense of community' is right on. I feel like I really am part of a community of other poetry bloggers, and there's a real tangible value to that. Frankly, I'm quite thankful for it, because it's a community I didn't have before and, I think, have wanted for quite some time.
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