This is an exposition of Why I Haven't Been Blogging (Though No One Cares) and Why Perhaps I Should. I'm fully aware of the annoying and amateurish nature of "Sorry I haven't posted!" posts. But this--hopefully--is more than that.
I keep coming back here and drafting posts, with things to say, wanting to write, but rationalizations my mind obligingly produces scare me off. To illustrate my point: Counting this one, I've published five posts here, and I've got seven unfinished, unpublished drafts sitting there, many of them only titles--the Reasons scared me away before I could go beyond translucent, shimmering concept.
Here:
Here:
Some of the Reasons Against Me Blogging:
1. I'm sixteen. I don't have anything to say that's worth anyone's time.
2. I'm just a partofthemain.wordpress.com and threelittlepeppers.wordpress.com knock-off. Minus the possession of adorable children, which knocks off a large segment of potential source material. Also, minus years of life and wisdom (see point #1).
3. No one reads this blog anyway. (And why should they?)
4. Much of what I have to say is pointing to other things that have impacted me--books, ideas, music, movies, experiences. Is that a legitimate thing to blog about?
Well, then. There you have it. I'm feeling much chipperer. If you write through the junk, the words often drag you through, too.
Matter of fact, I'm feeling perky enough to write out a happy list now.
To Blog Well
1. Define your space. Write your book. Establish your language. Be yourself.
2. Include pictures. Because they are nice and interesting.
3. Don't take yourself so seriously.
Have a picture:
Insert: I've been experimenting for a long time (years) with a sort of magazine/journal/bulletin board blog (known under the name 'Spotlight' on my old Wordpress blog, and briefly as 'Good Stuff' various other places [mainly places I haven't published]) that is just a place to highlight such "things that have impacted me". It was hard, though, to separate merely 'Spotlight'-type post items, and all-out post items. Because usually when I'm thinking about something, it's because something made me think of it. And when I'd want to share something, it's because it made me think. So I got rid of the 'Spotlight' and 'Good Stuff' templates, and made this new blog, on which to happily marry the two.
And promptly stopped blogging.5. Much of what I find myself wanting to say demands excessive context. Not back-story, but a context of language and expression--the kind of self-referencing a book can indulge in because of its establishment of a language, a set of terms and shared experiences.
Insert: Granted, the reason books can do so (and the two blogs I mentioned above, which I love) is because enough's been said to establish said dialogue. Implication: If you write it, this will come.
Well, then. There you have it. I'm feeling much chipperer. If you write through the junk, the words often drag you through, too.
Matter of fact, I'm feeling perky enough to write out a happy list now.
To Blog Well
1. Define your space. Write your book. Establish your language. Be yourself.
2. Include pictures. Because they are nice and interesting.
3. Don't take yourself so seriously.
Have a picture:
Nope, you got me. I didn't take that picture. I did, however, find it. (here)
