Lackluster bloggishness
I’m thinking about retiring the blog.
I’ve kept this thing going for over three years now. It’s gone through several iterations, chronicled the ephemera of my life, and I don’t regret what is, after all, an exercise in narcissism. But these days, it just feels pointless–and frankly, I’m not having fun with it anymore. More to the point, I have the sneaking suspicion that blogging is keeping me from working on the novel.
I don’t know; maybe this is just a phase. Maybe I’m just depressed.
Comments
Zia, I sympathise with all those sentiments. I’m only a year into blogging and still quite enraptured with it, but sometimes I ask myself what, apart from some lovely navel-gazing, it’s all about. I know for sure it distracts me from my creative writing, which now only seems to take place when I have no access to my computer whatsoever.
I would miss you if retired Nom de Plume, but I would understand.
(Funnily enough you’re the second person on my blogroll to mention blog retirement today – the other person has done so officially in order to give her time to studying so she can start a new career.)
Ahhh. How sad. It’s my window to your world. Maybe I’m one of the few people peeking in your window. But not in a creepy way. If it feels like a part time job, maybe you just need a vacation from blogging. Go on a blog holiday! And maybe you’ll feel refreshed after some time and feel the urge to blog again. I don’t think the internet is going anywhere. Now as far as your novel goes, a friend of mine once relayed a helpful saying: “If the wanting is not followed by the doing, then the wanting was never there.” I’m not really sure of the origin but it’s been really helpful for me. You can apply it to a myriad of things from relationships to moving to Europe to getting those neckbolts you’ve always wanted. So I guess whatever it is that one might be putting off, the real question that you have ask yourself and be honest about is, “Do you REALLY want to do it?” I hope your answer is, “yes” because I would love to read what you come up with. -hugs (not drugs)
Hey, email me if you ever want help placing the novel and getting it published. I have always believed that’s what you need to be doing.
But keep the blog going just a little, because it will help you get a book contract, because you can prove you already have a readership out here. You can do it: novels are written one sentence at the time.
All good,
cynthia shearer
I hear you, and I empathize. To me, the blog is a sort of journaling experience: keeps my hand in the practice, moves the junk outta my head.
I am working to establish a regular routine to get my novel done. I don’t like even thinking of it as a novel–too overwhelming.
So, to sum up: I agree with Cynthia on the sentence at a time. And, hey, you already have someone offering to take a look at it. Get going!
Oh, NO!
Now, I couldn’t hold it against you, as, after a few weeks of techie problems, I’ve considered chucking the old blog too. And I haven’t been writing it for three years (that’s a pretty good achievement already, by the way). You have to do what you have to do what you have to do, ad infinitum, but oh, how I would miss you. If nothing else you’ll have to resurrect it when your novel is published. I’ll take that as consolation…
I like your blog. I’d be sad if you retired it! I find that with my blog, it helps me to get my “writing hat” on. If I can churn out a blog post, I find I’m more able to break down the constant monologue in my head: “my writing’s rubbish” and just get on and do it. Mind you, I’ve not been blogging even for a year yet. I might get fed up with it over time.
I like your book reviews! They’re cool!
THere’s a really good book on the agony and ecstasy the writing process by Anne Lamott called “Bird by Bird.” Check it out!
-ss
(I’m editing myself. Please delete the previous entry, thanks) There’s a really inspiring and entertaining book by Anne Lamott called “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”
“A hilarious and helpful manual that covers every step of the writing process — from gluing yourself to the desk chair to facing the fact that getting published will probably not make you happier, richer or more attractive — the reading of Bird By Bird has become something of a rite of passage for hopeful writers… sort of like the day you impetuously quit your job and decided to make a go of this writing thing.”
http://www.authorsontheweb.com/features/bird-by-bird.asp
-ss
I was just thinking the same thing about my own blog. If the object is to keep my friends current on what I’m doing, alternatives like Twitter and Tumblr might be better. If it isn’t…well, what AM I doing?
I’m attracted to the idea of doing a blog with a fixed purpose, that has an end date or a finishing line. (Like David Plotz at Slate blogging as he reads through the Bible.)
I too am glad you’re not giving this one up.
P.S. Andy’s gone to work for the Gates Foundation!
See, I’m getting old and crotchety–I don’t even know what Twitter and Tumblr are. I like the idea of a fixed purpose too, and that’s been one of my problems. I do book reviews. I do soap recipes. I do house blogging. And all this means, of course, that I am always, always behind on posting. Right now, I’m trying to take a more mellow view of blogging, and really, just do it when I feel like it. I’m about 20 books behind, and I think I’m probably not even going to bother catching up. Sigh. But thanks for the vote of not giving it up!