Good Intentions

Good intentions gone awry!  I had every intention of posting here at least twice a week, after my last post which was in July.  And as you can see, that was almost a month ago.

Worst part is, I have no excuses.  Except:  let's see, I was busy working on getting my assignment finished;  I had 6 chapters to do an almost complete rewrite on;  I had three query letters I've been working on ( one is harder to write than an entire novel, let alone three different ones);  I had a three-day conference to attend ( okay, okay, so it was online, I still had to be there, didn't I?); and then, well, there's just life in general getting in the way.

Besides all that, I'm still mulling over what one of my favorite agents said ( no, she's not my agent, but she's at the top of my list) about blogging in general.  She said that there is really no good reason for an unpublished writer to have a blog or a website.  According to her, the main purpose for either is to promote our books, and if we don't have one published yet, we don't really need to take time away from writing to work on a blog or website.  Although, she did say that if blogging was just something you really loved, you should stay with it...but don't allow it to take away from your real writing time.

I agree with her a lot, but not entirely.  However, this is just one of those times when one reputable agent says one thing, and another one says the opposite.  I've also read agents say how important it is for a beginning writer to have a presence or a platform for themselves on the Internet.

I'm still not sure what a platform is all about.  But a presence?  I can go along with that.  Then, of course, comes another question and differences of opinion.  The question is:  who are you writing your blog for? Kids? Teens? Teachers/librarians?  Other writers?  Or even, none of the above?  For me, the answer would be, other writers, especially those just beginning.  I try very hard to post some good information and/or tips about writing that I have learned through courses, books, conferences, and other experienced writers.

Kids don't read blogs.  Teens don't either, unless they are by some favorite/fabulous author like Stephanie Meyer or JK Rowling.  And I'm not sure what teachers and/or librarians would be looking for in a blog, so I concentrate on putting out something that will ( hopefully) benefit less experienced writers.

The agents' grapevine also says it is a good thing to talk about your writing: the ups and downs ( not necessarily rejections), how your ideas come to you, how you go about putting those ideas into action, and even posting exerpts occasionally from some of your work.

So stay tuned.  This week I am for sure/absolutely/positively going to have some new stuff on my blog...and it may even surprise you!

Until then, that's a wrap.