Today I got through the toughest chapters in the first section of the historical novel I'm writing. I've put so much thought and effort and time into these chapters that I haven't felt very inspired to write here.
If I'm going to take the time to write here, I'd like it to be heartfelt or meaningful or useful because those are the kinds of posts I like to read.
Against my better judgment and at the risk of hurting peoples' feelings, I have to say I'm not seeing a lot of those kinds of posts floating around out there. Maybe I'm skimming too much or not reading the right posts on the right days and am missing fabulous posts that would stick with me all day.
Everyone's posts are well-written and all that, but not much stands out as different or risky or nakedly honest. Most everyone - with a few exceptions and you know who you are - seems protected and safe in their posts, which makes me want to protect myself as well and not be as open. I realize many people post in an entertainment-style way, which is fine. For the rest of us, if we're not going to go to a risky place or simply a place that matters when we write, why bother?
Is it just me?
I'm not trying to be critical, I just noticed something has radically changed since I started blogging. Is the recent trend in blogging to write safe posts? As more and more of us get published, does that impact the content of our blog posts - maybe in an effort not to be so personal or to avoid offending potential readers?
If you have recently read or written a heartfelt or meaningful or useful post, please share in the comments. I'd love to read it. If not, could you please write one? I'm going to write one or two or a dozen over the next few weeks, and don't want to be standing here completely naked all by myself.
Tonja
Erm, well, I do get my hackles up a bit in tomorrow's post. :P
ReplyDeleteAnd I do see your point. So many blog posts seem to be about book marketing and promotion. But, hey, that's got to be done too, though I don't know if blogging actually leads to a lot of book sales.
I have to laugh a little at this Tonja. I've been around the blogs about 5 years, and I have also noticed the change in blog content. It all seems so geared to marketing, writing for a cause to raise charity money, or in reporting how sick/disabled everyone is. And yeah, my own posts have become less productive as I just try to keep the content current enough not to lose too many followers. Can't blame the loss of viewers though, as I've lost interest in this marketing-blogging community.
ReplyDeleteThere are still plenty of good writing blog posts, but you have to troll a while. Hmm, I just realized, this comment might be a bit risky due to its negativity.
However, I think you have the right idea about posting something with substantial content. I'll try to create a post or two like in the old days, before marketing and charities took over the "safe" content.
And by the way; Nice to see you posting again Tonja. I think I've missed a couple of your posts as I've been hiding in my procrastination cave. The world goes in phases, right?
Sorry, I'm all about the entertainment...
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot about marketing and about books. I skim the blogs I don't visit on a regular basis and most are about those two subjects. I'm thinking I need to branch out and follow some new blogs.
Once I'm officially resigned/retired -- or whatever you want to call it -- from teaching, you can expect to see me write some heartfelt posts about what is wrong with public education today. Perhaps even some political posts about my own theory why politicians are shoving Common Core and standardized testing down our throats.
ReplyDeleteBut mainly I write about writing, with some family-related stuff thrown in. Yes, a little marketing, but when I write about the process of writing itself, that's usually when I get the biggest response from readers.
What is heartfelt to one person is shallow and uninteresting to another. That's why I follow a lot of blogs. I'm looking for the same thing you describe. When I read a post, I like it to be meaningful to me in some way and not just rah rah my book is out, or rah rah my friend's book is out. There are a million books on Kindle, why do we care any more, really? As writers, we should be posting about more than our next book or anything to do with writing actually, because too much of anything makes it cheap and boring. I limit my writing/book posts to just once a month if that, and even then I try to have something of worth in there besides the obvious "Yay, I'm writing" post.
ReplyDeleteMy posts are generally on whatever strikes me in any given week. Sometimes heart felt, sometimes entertainment. However, I find that more and more I just can't bring myself to comment on someone's cover reveal or even certain author interviews. I want to be supportive of my writing community, but I'm trying to find other ways to do it that don't feel like they suck so much of my writing time.
ReplyDeleteSo that I'm not a great big hypocrite, I think I will start posting something reader-worthy on Mondays, and then on Fridays I will celebrate the writer that had the best post of the week.
ReplyDelete