I've been meaning to get back into blogging for a while, and recently did a guest blog (here and here) for Shortbread Stories. While this did remind me of how much I enjoy blogging, I've struggled with what to write about when I've tried to get started again. When I was asked to do an Industry Insider blog for Shortbread about my NWD editing experiences, it was relatively easy to come up with a topic and go through the writing, editing and publishing process with Rachel (who's got a blog of her own up today*; go check it out). Rachel and I have known each other for years and we've collaborated on a few projects, both creative writing and academic, so it was an easy rhythm to fall back into.
In stark contrast, when it came to writing for my own blog my mind was as blank as the page and staring at it didn't seem to help. I tried to write a post on all the reason's I haven't blogged but the mundane reasons were just that and the not so mundane reasons dredge up emotions that are still too raw to write about. I started a proper, private diary for those and I might write it all up here one day but that's far in the future. Apart from life having been being a bit crazy since November (oh yeah, NaNoWriMo was a failure of epic proportions, but that's for another day as well) trying to force myself to write a blog post when I didn't have anything to say wasn't doing any good and so I let the blog fall by the wayside and took it off my mental 'to do' list.
In the same way that plot points and ideas for academic papers bubble up to the surface while I'm thinking about other thing, so too have some ideas for blog posts. I found myself reading about issues in the news and on twitter and for this first time in a long time I had the thought "I should write a blog post on this." This reminded me of the point of the blog and why my attempts to schedule specific posts, on set days wasn't working. This wasn't supposed to be yet another chore to add to my 'to do' list. It was supposed to be a creative outlet, to write about everything and anything that came to mind and that is how I intend to use the blog from now on. No more schedules, no more themed posts and no more book reviews unless its because I just can't wait to write one.
Hello blogosphere, it's nice to be back.
*Yes, I started writing this the day Rachel's blog went up and that was now a while ago.
In stark contrast, when it came to writing for my own blog my mind was as blank as the page and staring at it didn't seem to help. I tried to write a post on all the reason's I haven't blogged but the mundane reasons were just that and the not so mundane reasons dredge up emotions that are still too raw to write about. I started a proper, private diary for those and I might write it all up here one day but that's far in the future. Apart from life having been being a bit crazy since November (oh yeah, NaNoWriMo was a failure of epic proportions, but that's for another day as well) trying to force myself to write a blog post when I didn't have anything to say wasn't doing any good and so I let the blog fall by the wayside and took it off my mental 'to do' list.
In the same way that plot points and ideas for academic papers bubble up to the surface while I'm thinking about other thing, so too have some ideas for blog posts. I found myself reading about issues in the news and on twitter and for this first time in a long time I had the thought "I should write a blog post on this." This reminded me of the point of the blog and why my attempts to schedule specific posts, on set days wasn't working. This wasn't supposed to be yet another chore to add to my 'to do' list. It was supposed to be a creative outlet, to write about everything and anything that came to mind and that is how I intend to use the blog from now on. No more schedules, no more themed posts and no more book reviews unless its because I just can't wait to write one.
Hello blogosphere, it's nice to be back.
*Yes, I started writing this the day Rachel's blog went up and that was now a while ago.
So very happy you're blogging again. And thanks for the shout out, although my blog's looking quite sparce as well. It's so easy to put blogging aside. Perhaps we should make a blogging pact, right here online, or start blogging more reguarly.
ReplyDeleteIs it still a valid pact if its not strictly consensual (i.e. are you going to hold me to this anyway, whether I agree or not)?
ReplyDeleteYou're right though. I think we should agree to update our blogs at least once a week. What do you think?