I have no idea what my subject means, really. I'd love for someone to enlighten me. But I was looking through Elle magazine for the first time in years, or maybe even the first time ever, and only because I'm doing research for my upcoming romantic suspense WIP and thought Elle would be a good place to glean information. I'm using it as research (hey, is that a tax write-off?). I don't read Elle and I'm probably totally the opposite of what Elle is all about. (I.E. Trendy, couth and classy). I enjoyed reading it, though. It was actually quite enlightening and entertaining, and I don't have much time anymore to seek amusement. And that's not a good way to live. I've been "away" from the world for awhile, too busy to even watch the news. I hope to change that.
Okay, to make a long story short (and to stop rambling), I was reading through Elle (or should I say thumbing through it, as it was mostly advertisements) and I came across this Advice "Ask E. Jean" column. She's hilarious! There was a "question" by a writer (name unknown, but it wasn't me, I should have thought of doing this, though) who asked how she could gain publicity for her blog. (I.E. What's the secret?) The reply? Start each blog with what I started with above, only it had another section I wasn't going to add because I'm not brave enough to be totally rude about someone/something I don't even know. She also said to post 5 times a day!
What? Five times a day? I'm lucky if I can post 5 times a month. The other option? Blog in your underwear, blog about things no one else blogs about, or write wikipedia entries because it's less time consuming. ROFL.
That's the truth. Blogging is time consuming. You'd think that as I writer, I'd have all kinds of subject matter to discuss. Not so. Sometimes I have a negative feeling about the whole blog thing. It's like anyone can get online and talk about whatever now. It's almost like free publishing. Sometimes I ask myself if it's causing book sales to slump. After all, why pay $15 for a novel when you can get real stories for free? Why download a $5 ebook when there are thousands about thousands of blogs to read. Yep, that's my pessimistic attitude talking. And I don't mean to be down on blogs. Really, I think they're cool.
Blogging shows me how popular writing is, and how most people love to write, no matter the subject. Whether it's to get their feelings on paper or share a fiction story that's been bobbing around their head forever, I think writing must be one of the most popular, universal hobbies of all time. Blogging, forums, chats. We're writing and talking without ever really having to be right there in front of someone. We're telling stories. And, if people actually visit your blog, we're getting attention.
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5 comments:
Blogging is definitely time-consuming. Not only posting on your own blog, but blog-hopping and commenting - like this! :) I also find it hard to come up with blogging topics daily for my blog. I usually end up blogging about once a week (if I only have so much time, I'm going to be writing on my next book), but I do try to visit a few others everyday.
As for blogs taking the place of books - I sure hope not! I think they are two completely different things. While we can talk about all kinds of topics and share our experiences and opinions, IMO, blogs will never take the place of heartwarming/spine tingling/sensual/etc. stories with characters we care about.
I take these huge long blogging breaks and then it's a nightmare to rebuild traffic. When I do it, I enjoy it. But let me slack off, even a little bit, and it takes forever to get back.
I'm pretty new to blogging myself, but have been watching DH do it for a couple years now. I'm finding it fun, but definitely time consuming. I think consistency (daily/weekly/whatever) is the key. If people know when to expect an update, they'll come check. If you're sporadic about it, then you lose their attention.
Great, thoughtful post, Emma!
I"ve stuck to 2-3 times a week. But I've learned to like it actually. I do a history day, thursday thirteen...and whatever. I guess I don't really have a system.
The biggest time consumption is the visiting. I find the best way to get people to my blog is to visit other blogs. It's like Blog etiquette. You gotta visit.
Never in a million years will blogs replace books... IMO
Think of it this way--if you have funny/strange/amusing/different/downright weird blog posts, then imagine what your books would be like? You could even use your blog to "tease" stories or gain ideas from others. People always want to be entertained, and they'll always pay for it if they want it bad wnough. You just have to make them want it.
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