Do you use blogs?

Status
Not open for further replies.

WritingChick

Hi Everyone,

When writing, do you keep a blog for yourself or on your website for others to read? And if so, do you write only about your writing and the process you're taking to write? Thanks :)
 

Fresie

Blogging

I do keep a blog, but it's strictly for my own use although some of my friends visit it sometimes when I ask them for advice. It's just a way of motivating myself to stay on track with my WIP, some sort of report. A few years from now it might read funny and nostalgic, and I like this kind of stuff -- reading old diaries. That's mainly why I keep it.

And yes, I only write about writing stuff (style! :\ ). If ever I mention anything else, it's always in connection with my WIP.
 

EGGammon

Re: Blogging

I am going to have a blog on my upcoming website and I am not going to limit the entries to just about my writing. I think that people are interested in the PERSON behind the writing, too. I think this is especially good for an upcoming writer. The people who visit the blog read about the writing but also about your life. They start to enjoy it, and maybe even start to like you, making it HARD for them to not want to read the writing you put out there. I know when I read a good book, I am always curious about the person who wrote it. What are they all about? Where did this idea come from? So, blogs shouldn't JUST be about your writing, unless you don't feel comfortable telling personal stuff. But I think that if you put yourself out there, people will think it is fascinating and get drawn in, knowing that you care enough about the people who read your writing that you would share such deep thoughts and feelings. They will not only follow your blog but probably your writing career, too.

E.G. Gammon
 

arainsb123

Re: Blogging

I've kept a blog regularly for almost a year. I switched from Xanga to Blogger back in October. It's strictly a writing blog, though my Xanga is more personal.
 

pepperlandgirl

lj

I have a livejournal that I use for all my fanfic, a very few pieces of original work, and day to day thoughts.
 

WritingChick

Re: blogs

EG, you make a good point. I find myself wondering more about who wrote the book, not just their writing style and ideas, but about their life in general. And Bruce...I've read some of your blog entries :) Pepperlandgirl...what's your livejournal addy?
 

Jyndral

Re: blogs

I find myself wondering more about who wrote the book, not just their writing style and ideas, but about their life in general.
Click to expand...

To that end, I have a personal one on LiveJournal. Have had for a while. It's full of just about anything under the sun, even big rants.

The one I have on blogger is just for writing-related things, not necessarily just about current WIPs, but writing and related activities I'm involved in. The link for that one is in my little sig-file here.
 

katdad

I don't have a blog per se. I do however update my website with news and other stuff from time to time:

Sam's Website

I just don't think that my daily mindless musings are anything people would care about reading.
 

NicoleJLeBoeuf

I started keeping a blog my second year in NaNoWriMo, mainly so I could have an appropriate URL to put on my profile page. Also to give myself a place to "brain dump" and thus not be tempted to bore people with it over dinner. The only audience it has really is my husband, a few friends, and - during November - a couple of fellow 50K-words-in-30-days maniacs who are curious to see how their comrade in writing misery is coming along.

Now that I'm actually revising one of those drafts for agent submission in the spring, I find it's pleasant to have somewhere specific to whine about that process too.

I know most folks grab a copy of MT or get a LJ account, but I'm a bit of a computer geek, so I ended up writing my own PHP/MySQL "software." I was also trying to get up to speed with CSS2, so I tried separating out the blog by which novel each entry pertained to, and giving eack subblog its own distinctive "skin." Each entry also shows how many words the draft is and how many hours I've spent editing it. The result is, this blog has become more of a record of my progress than it has any kind of forum.

It's kind of neat to look back and go, "Wow, I wrote half my 2003 novel in five freakin' days, but in 2004 my progress was a lot more even. Whatever I did in 2004 worked."

www.littlebull.com/nanowrimo/
 

DarkHaven80

I don't use a blog. I suppose it would be good for strengthening writing - but I'm already so pressed for time. I'm spread out between multiple groups on different topics (all important to me on different levels), contribute to two groups as a 'staff member', have been designing, construction, and writing content for a personal site I've been working on a year and a half, learning new programs, etc. Besides that, have to do the writing of course ;) And that's just computer time. Besides that there's a three year old, work, and a relationship to keep up :eek: Yes, my place is a mess as a result.

So nope, no planning to blog.
 

michelle217

I <a href="http://www.strangemuse.com" target="_new">blog</a>, therefore I am. I try, at least lately, to keep it focused on writing only. <img border=0 src="http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" />
 

mistri

My livejournal was set up primarily as a writing journal, though as time has gone on I've found it a useful place to rant and chat about my day to day life as well.

Sometimes I wallow a bit too much in self-pity, but I plan to make it more writing focused again now it's 2005. If I put my goals out in public, even if it's only on LJ, I'm more likely to want to accomplish them, or else be humiliated.
 

WritingChick

Re: lj

Mistri- Good point on putting your goals out there. Thanks for the link Pepperlandgirl and thanks to everyone that commented and posted their blog links :)
 

Medievalist

On Blogging

One of the virtues of a blog even before you've published is that you have a place for "free writing," that is, where you can write about what you want to write, without worrying about those pesky characters. Sometimes it's useful as well to have a place to "think out loud." that said, keep in mind that blogs are designed to be public; you do have an audience.

Some writing related blogs I enjoy:

Making Light from Teresa Nielsen Hayden; she works as an editor at Tor. Teresa and her readers/commenters are interesting people and writers. Lots of practical advice here.

Paper Sky Jo Walton writes SF and Fantasy, and has practical advice about writing, and is another smart and interesting person.

Both of these will lead to others.

You don't have to be a geek to have a blog; Live Journal and Blogger are both free, and easy to use. Live Journal is a bit different in that it focuses on community more than most blog systems do.
 

WritingChick

Re: On Blogging

I went to Paper Sky LJ and got a kick out of the fruit cake entry :)


Laura Hickey is author of Mysterious Chills and Thrills for Kids. Ten Short Stories to Tickle the Imagination. "Spooky" "Awesome" "Unpredictable" Isn't it time you entered the world where shadows lurk and each page turn could be your doom... www.laurahickey.com
 

Greenwolf103

I have a blog but I try to keep the personal stuff at an absolute minimum. I post on it weekly (though I wasn't able to last week) and I focus on one major aspect of the writing life that happened during the week to make that my "topic." Some of it may be helpful to other writers out there (and that's my big hope), but some of it is also meant to explore the writing process and challenges. Writing about these things can really help me to solve problems and gain a better perspective on things.

I tried having a personal journal on my Web site but later decided to turn the theme of that journal into a book (which I'm doing now). Aside from this, I don't feel comfortable posting too much personal info for all to see.

--Dawn
 

publishorperish

I've kept a blog for roughly 3 years now. Its mostly a place were I exercise and rant. No one reads it except for myself and my family and friends. Anyone is welcome to however: www.apocalypsecow.org
 

annied

Yup, I have a blog. I've linked it to my creativity website. It mostly has my musings on day-to-day life and my opinions on topics, and has pics of my family.

Sometimes I'm curious to know about the writer behind the words. What his his/her background and how did it influence his/her writing style? What kind of writing life do they have? What's happened during their writing journey? Knowing that info might deepen my appreciation of their writing.

Blog: kyangelslogbook.blogspot.com
 

MarthaOConnor

I've started a blog about what's been going on with my publishing journey, literary news, etc. I'm kind of new to this whole thing, but I love Neil Gaiman's blog, and I wish more authors would blog. I also like to know the "person" behind the words.

Martha
 

Greenwolf103

My only blog is devoted to writing-related stuff. Sometimes I entertain the notion of starting a personal, sporadic blog, but then I remember there are SCARY PEOPLE out there in cyberspace and get too creeped out to do it.
 

macalicious731

Dawn, I know LiveJournal offers a "friends only" feature where you can "lock" your journal, allowing only certain members to access your blogs. I'm sure other blog sites offer this as well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.