I sometimes ponder the viability of this blog. The page views are typically a few dozen; comments are uncommon. The frustration always passes and the blog continues. Why?
Because I don’t write the blog for anyone except myself.
What about interviews? I do them because
I enjoy doing them and
I like helping other writers get
the word out, even if only to a few dozen people.
The core reason I do interviews is because I love to talk
about writing. Just because we’re not doing it in real time does not mean I
don’t enjoy it. I ask questions I am curious about and look forward to the
answers with the hope of learning something every time I get a response. I am
rarely disappointed and I am not above sending follow-up questions if the
initial response opens the door.
As for the other posts, this blog is where I work things out
for myself. Some topic will strike me – or, more often, gnaw at me – and I’ll
form an opinion. Opinions being like assholes (Everybody has them and they all
stink), I like to work mine out. Try to develop my own counterarguments and how
to either address them or change my position if I find myself to be mistaken.
Several draft posts a year never see the light of day. I
either abort them partway through the first draft or they cannot support their
own weight through the editing process. I do not consider any of that time
wasted. I learned something, even if all I learned was that my initial thought
was not worth airing.
It’s also gratifying to receive the occasional comment of
appreciation, such as when I list my favorite reads of the prior quarter and
someone thanks me for bringing a book to their attention. Or when I review a TV
series or movie, or build a list, and people thank me for pointing out
something they had not known, or felt was underappreciated. Writers often
operate in vacuums, me more than most, so that is how I keep my finger on the
pulse of what is going on around me.
So the blog continues. (This is Post 1,094.) I promise not
to engage in too much navel-gazing, or too blatantly shameless self-promotion.
I am always happy to help others, so feel free to hit me up for an interview or
guest post if you have something to promote. If I’m full up, I’ll tell you, but
I try to be as flexible as possible with scheduling my posts if it will help to
accommodate someone else.
(* - A tongue-in-cheek homage to Peter Moskos’s fine and
thought-provoking book, In
Defense of Flogging.)
I enjoy your blog!!
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear it, Alan. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I really enjoy reading it because I hear it in your voice.
ReplyDeleteAw, shucks. (Draws circle in dirt with toe.)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ef.
I enjoy your blog posts too, Dana, although I admit that I am kind of a random visitor to yours and many blogs I like. I just read a post by Neil Gaiman when I was searching out something and he said I write a blog post because I don't keep a diary. Which is a good enough reason in itself.
ReplyDeleteI have sort of let my own blogs lapse, but have some intention of getting at least one of them going again, if only to see what new posts from friends and other writers pop up in the sidebar. But I think there are always gratifying experiences to have from them. The other day, I got a comment on a very old post from a father who said that even though I had written it in 2009 (!) he and his child had gotten much satisfaction from a post I had done on 'corkindrill', which I had written while reading T.H. White's The Once and Future King. Just in itself that makes it worth my while to have written it.
Thank you, Seana. I, too, get a lot of satisfaction from certian comments, often for things I am a little surprised somoene took note.
ReplyDeleteAnd being mentioned in the same sentence as Neil Gaiman has to be considered a win. I guess my reasons for blogging are a little like his. I have thoughts, and I don;t keep a diary. Once in a while I go back through old posts to see what I was thinking about years ago. It's always fun, and often eye-opening.