When I was at Fencon in Texas I met a young (well, compared to me) writer who said that she was given an allotment of words everyday. If she used too many of them, then she wouldn’t be able to write. So she wouldn’t even answer the phone, if she hadn’t written her quota of words.
While I don’t think I suffer from this problem – I think she was excessively visual and/or mathematical, and verbal must be an effort, hence the “allotment of words.” I tend to think in words, and often I end up having to talk through something to reason – as must be obvious from some of my posts.
That said, I’ve been noticing a weird effect, since I’ve tried everyday blogging, and it’s weird because it’s the same I had during the famous, never ending blog tour. If I write a blog post, it seems to sap my ability to write fiction for a day or two.
Now, in terms of allotment of words, this makes no sense.
Even my most wordy blog posts take… 2k words, tops. My top production in fiction, revised, was 40k words over a weekend. So…
I think it uses different parts of my brain and that, having engaged one, I have trouble switching over.
No, this is not an announcement I’m abandoning the blog. For one, I really think it’s important, at the present time, for people to try to think of what’s ahead in publishing. For another, (see under bad influences <G>) my agent and several editors have told me I need to have a web presence. Mind you, my agent (who is a smart woman) also told me “Not at the expense of your writing.” Which makes me wonder if she’s found this before.
However, another thing that bugs me about writing these posts is that I usually come at them an hour before bed, when I’m exhausted. (Believe it or not, sitting in front of the computer unable to write is more exhausting than writing.) This is obvious in the rambling nature of my posts. I’m one of those people who writes long when she doesn’t have the time to make it short.
So, here’s what I’m going to try to do – I’m going to try to do my blog posts on one day a week and schedule them. At the same time, I might try to con my kids/husband into doing a post a week, to relieve some of the stress.
What else can I do? As readers of this blog, what would you like to see? Reviews? (Keep in mind because there are tangled relationships between myself and other writers in this field, most of the time my reviews will probably be outside the field. Most likely non fiction and books-for-writers, but possibly, occasionally, romance.) Interviews? Slice-of-life as in “What I did today”? Pictures of stuff from my walks? Little things about my favorite places? (Mind you, those might silence the fiction, too, but they seem to pull less than the thought-out opinion pieces.) Recipes? More cats? (I got cats. I got cats like you won’t believe!) Stuff on Portuguese (and other) history? Funny quizzes? Guest posts (other than my family)? Occasionally snippets of the day’s output (with a note of what it is or what I think it is)?
Do any of these sound even remotely interesting?
According To Hoyt 
I like the idea of snippets on the day’s (or week’s) production.
I actually use my blog to warm up the brain to write. I don’t know how much it helps, but since I’ve made certain that every day I blog I have to write creatively as well, my production has increased.
But then again, we all know I’m weird…
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“Do any of these sound even remotely interesting?”
I’m afraid I’ll be as helpful to you as I am to my wife or mom when they ask “what do you feel like eating?” I have no sense of smell, so I like almost every kind of food, and nothing really jumps out at me in the taste category (though hamburgers with tomato, ketchup and buns have a slight edge)
In other words, I’ve enjoyed every post you’ve made, regardless of the subject. I guess that’s because you make things interesting when you write about them.
So I can’t help you choose what to write about, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll find whatever you choose will be interesting.
Meanwhile, you may find Human Task Switches Considered Harmful to be enlightening.
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You could always have brief updates in the Cat Soap Opera, “As the Tail Twitches.” Will D’Artagnan ever regain his place in Euclid’s affections? Will Miranda succeed in her evil plans to monopolize all the catnip toys? Given the speculative fiction/cats trope, it would cover a lot of the obligatory web presence material ;-)
I’ve been thinking about your suggestions on how to move into the brave new ebook world. I think we already have a kind of validation setup but it isn’t codified or official. I first heard about your books through Instapundit. Because he has established himself as reliable and with similar tastes as mine, I was willing to seek out and read your work. Something like a “seal of approval” from an established arbiter of taste would help with the filtering process. A reader could perhaps go to the “favored reviewer” and see what ebooks are recommended, or see a list of ebooks with the stamps of approval by different reviewers. Agents could still serve as garbage filters to the reviewers to minimize the TV show knockoff mss ;-)
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Any of the above sounds good. I like the ‘future of writing’ posts but I don’t need them every day
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I have a weak preference for “How to write” posts. You might consider doing one a week, possibly recycling MGC posts to give yourself a break.
A totally-without-context excerpt would be fun. Old or new material.
How about a “what I’m reading now” list every month, ratings for the fiction, and let us guess why you need to read the non-fiction?
I enjoy your family stories, whether old memories or new occurances, but it seems so nosy to ask for them.
Pictures are always good.
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I love the line “one of those people who writes long when she doesn’t have time to make it short”
Goodness can I relate. Somewhere I read that an idea blog post should
1- fit on a single screen
2- allow white space
3- absolutely be less than 400 words.
Now I run an average of 500 when I’m doing a brain dump, easily 1000 to 1500 when I’m trying to make a point… so 400 is hard, really hard.
As for what I’d personally like to see, it’s hard to pin down, the cats made my day (odd, but I’m a dog person so..?), and seeing posts about daily life and writing snips is priceless, it creates a human side to an author that is otherwise lacking in today’s world. I love your writing style, so just about anything is engaging and entertaining. But to be able to connect to the author behind the words is truly a treasured experience. I may or may not like the book, but I can respect the work and the accomplishment if I have a feeling of knowing about the author.
I do hope that wasn’t too circular or unfocused, see the comment about too many words to make a point…
Cheers.
Dan.
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I like the ongoing commentary on the state of publishing and ebooks, it’s a subject I take an interest in. And whatever happened to our post on Heinlein flame wars? Someone promised me a post on Heinlein flame wars. WELL, I’m WAITING. (BEG)
As for snippets – I hate tiny snippets. Please do as you see fit, in this as in anything.
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“I’m going to try to do my blog posts on one day a week and schedule them.”
This might be the same notion, but what I do for my writing list on occasion is simply to write a series of posts (not posted yet), then post them over time? I.e., if I write something long, I may break it up into several posts. You don’t have to post immediately, and scheduling the posts can help.
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I have the same problem. I write almost every day, but whole weeks go by where it isn’t fiction. When I realize that, it’s startling. I think if I weren’t writing other things–nonfiction, blogs, even emails–it would be more obvious to me and I would feel the need to write *something.*
Tara Maya
The Unfinished Song: Initiate
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