Sunday, August 17, 2008

I Blog, Therefore I Write?

I once attended a writer's conference where the food was absolutely scrumptious. Actually, the food at most conferences is scrumptious -- at the snack tables if not at the meals themselves. Anyway, at this particular conference I was part of a group sitting around a table eating juicy, fresh fruit, and one person said, "Y'know, if this writing thing doesn't work out, I think I'll be a writer's groupie just for the food." We all had a great laugh, but that concept of "writer's groupie" has never left me.

Writing has lots of facets, many of which aren't actually writing. Most of them are either extremely helpful or downright necessary -- doing market research, doing topic research, attending conferences, planning and doing author visits, reading how-to books on writing, visiting blogs and message boards, keeping financial records that will square with Uncle Sam, setting up a website, and more. But if we throw ourselves into these things with gusto yet find the writing itself is just kind of piddling along -- are we in danger of becoming mere groupies? We hang around writing, but we don't really do it? "Oh no!" we may cry. "I write! I write every day if I can. Even if I get only a line or two done on my story, I email my friends. I write old-fashioned letters to Great-Aunt Helen who doesn't have a computer. I send cheery notes written on pretty cards to my family. I journal. I blog. I . . ."

Wait a sec. I fully agree that any and all writing improves our writing skills. But those of us who blog and visit blogs know what a time suck blogging is. More so than most other forms of non-WIP* writing.

Not long ago I visited an agent's blog; he had just begun posting again after a long hiatus. His explanation for the gap was along the lines of "I wasn't sure what the point was." Meaning blogging was peripheral, it "hung around" his real purpose. It wasn't the main thing, but it was feeding off the main thing.

So what do you think? Does your blogging play groupie to your writing? Does the sheer time element of blogging make it a gigantic step forward in self-delusion about how much writing you do? And finally, am I making any sense? :)

* WIP = work in progress

9 comments:

Anne Spollen said...

I think blogging connects me to other writers. When I read their blogs, I get a sense of what they are like, and hopefully, what their writing might be like.

So is it worth all the time for a handful of folks to possibly buy your book? Probably not. It doesn't pay off directly like that.

But for those of us (like me) who never go to conferences or writing events (other than signings), it's the only time I get to peek at what other writers are thinking. And it serves the purpose of letting me know I'm not alone in doing this. ("this" being writing)

Tabitha said...

I'm with Anne in that it connects me to other writers. Writing is a lonely business, and I've found that other writers are the only ones who really "get" this whole process. So it's really, really nice to find other writers so we can discuss the thing I love to do most. :)

But that's not why I blog. I started my blog as another step in my writing. I had all these concepts crowding my head, and it was sometimes difficult to concentrate. Plus, I wasn't sure how much I understood vs. how much I thought I understood. I figured the best way for me to find out was to try to write it down in a coherent form. If others understood what I was saying, that means I get it. If others look at me funny, or simply laugh, that means I need to do some studying. :) I figured a blog was the easiest way to do this, so that's how it started.

I'll probably keep going this way. I use my blog as a way to sort out the things I've learned. It may sound like I'm trying to help others, and I guess I kind of am, but really, it's for me. :) Not sure if that made any kind of sense...

PJ Hoover said...

I blog to get connected with the community. I never truly view it as a writing exercise, though in the strictest sense it is. I also view is as a low pressure activity. Nobody will lose any sleep if I don't post on Monday (with the exception of my mom, but I can call her).
So can I come to the writing conferences you go to? I love the good food!

Marcia said...

Anne -- I agree that blogging connects writers. When I started out, eleventy-seventeen years ago, I didn't know a single other writer. This way is much better!It's a form of networking that's inexpensive, done any time of day or night, and viewed in that light it's hard to beat.

Tabitha -- I once heard this quote from a writer: "I don't know what I think until I see what I say." I hear you saying that you're clarifying your own writing knowledge by putting it in written form. How brave of you to do it in a public forum! It's working, by the way. You have some great insights!

PJ -- I blog to be connected, too. I could too easily be a recluse, and "word of mouth" never seems to reach me. I simply need to make the effort to connect. I'm a pretty new blogger, and I must confess I haven't viewed it as particularly low-pressure. I don't want to peter out, get it wrong (agents and editors don't appreciate you blogging about some things), run out of stuff to say, or in some way make a mess that'll mean I have to start over again. But I'll get it all balanced out. I just need more experience.

Live anywhere near Wisconsin? The conference I referred to isn't held any longer, but our SCBWI fall retreat features a fantabulous snack table!

Tabitha said...

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what I'm doing with my blog. Glad I was making sense. :)

Mary Witzl said...

I think that if I were only blogging in order to spread my name around, it would not be worth it. But I am in this for the same reasons Anne and Tabitha are: because I long to connect with others who understand what I am trying to do, and, like Tabitha, I have all these ideas that I want to make sense of. There is another reason why I blog: for the sheer discipline of having to turn out posts regularly. Somehow knowing that there are people out there who will read what I write gives me the will to keep trying.

Marcia said...

Mary, the discipline is a great point. Blogging is one way of imposing goals and deadlines on ourselves. When people begin to check back periodically to see what else we've posted, we don't want them to give up and wander away because it's been weeks and weeks without a murmur. Blogging regularly is in a sense small-scale practice for hanging onto the audience for our next book.

Brenda said...

I feel bad if I don't visit everyone's blog everyday and I really have to put my foot down and force myself NOT to check them so I can write...

Although, there are those days when I put my foot down and it lands on my other foot and I end up easing the pain by blogging...grin...

Marcia said...

Yeah, I'm having some trouble with this too, Brenda. I guess it's like everything -- priorities and perspective.