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It's been almost two weeks since I posted, and the main reason has been all the writing I'm doing. Plus little things like "life" taking up too much time. So today, I got to thinking about writing and blogging.
The title of this post says "blogging vs writing." Because I can't seem to do both consistently, I am wondering how other writers feel about it. Let me tell you a little story, first. I have a friend who has been a good writer, publishing some short children's stories because that's what she likes to do best. Then, one of her friends told her she needed to start a website, or at least a blog. She began a blog, and it has been her downfall. Each week it kept getting bigger and...supposedly...better, until the blog has taken over her life. She does interviews with book-published authors, reviews other books, makes up contests and games and puzzles for her readers to get involved in. She writes about her full time job, about her husband, about her kids and what they are doing. She brings favorite recipes to the blog, and describes in detail when and why she served them. She comments long and longer about other blogs she reads, even reading them at work.
My friend is no longer a writer, she is a 'has-been' writer, and now she is a blogger.
My question to you is: do you blog, or do you write? If you do both, do you do both consistently, do you block out time for each? If you are a stay-at-home-mom with children to take care of, or if you have a full time job out of the home, how do you do all the things you have to do just to keep your life at a steady keel, and STILL find time to write and to blog?
My husband and I are retired, so most people would think...gee, you've got all the time in the world to write AND to blog, so what's your problem?? Umm...well, you should be right, but you're not!
I seldom do both on the same day. Occasionally, I blog a bit and then write, but not often. My writing day consists of usually 4 to 6 hours of steady writing...but that's not every day. My husband and I have what we like to call a "life", and so we do things together...we grocery shop together...we take our Corgi to the dog park together...right now, we're Christmas shopping together. Sometimes, we throw Dylan ( afore-mentioned Corgi) in the back seat in his harness and seat belt, and just take off for parts unknown. We may be gone for hours, just driving and absorbing all the beautiful coastal scenery. "Life" has just taken up all of my writing time for the day...or for several days.
There are several blogs that I follow, reading them several times a week but never taking the time to do so every day. I marvel at how "big" they are...all the things that are happening on the blog on a daily basis, and yet the blogger still claims to be a writer. My friend is not the only blogger I've seen lately who appears to spend his or her entire time blogging, and little or no time writing. Does "blogging" make you a writer? Certainly not in the professional sense.
As for me, I'm a writer. I'm a blogger accidentally, or at least, incidentally. How about you? Are you a writer, or a blogger?
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
I blog three times a week. My blog posts take about five minutes to write. That's all. I write them all ahead of time so all I have to do the morning of the post is copy and paste. It works for me. It did take me two years to get to this point though. In the beginning I blogged when I felt like it. I struggled to come up with interesting things to say. Then I read more blogs and got the hang of it, moving up to one post a week. Now, it's easy for me to blog. It doesn't interfere with my set writing time each day, and I think it's helped me connect to other writers, which is great. So, I'd say I'm a writer who also blogs.
ReplyDeleteI hear you Mikki. I am a writer who has to blog (or so I have been told). I only blog twice a week though. The rest of my week is spent writing. I also can't do them both at the same time. My brain doesn't shift that quickly. I can see how a blog can take over though if you aren't careful.
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