To Blog or Not to Blog?
Sunday, September 19, 2010, 6:48 PM
My good friend Moonrat announced recently that she was retiring her blog, Editorial Ass. Hers was one of the most entertaining and useful publishing blogs on the Interwebs, and I learned a lot from it. Likewise Miss Snark's blog, which was retired about two or three years ago, but is still archived online, and any aspiring author should make it a priority to read through its hundreds of posts. I wouldn't have been published without it.
Anyway, news of Moonrat's retirement caused me to look at my own blog. When I did, I was shocked and embarrassed to realise that I hadn't posted in almost three months. At this rate, I'll be blogging four times a year. It's a far cry from the time when I was blogging almost every day.
The original purpose of this blog was to share my experience of being one of the above-mentioned aspiring authors, and recording my progress as I wrote what would become my second unpublished novel, titled CONDUIT (thus the rather obscure URL for this corner of the Internet). Things carried on through the writing of THE TWELVE/THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST and the extraordinary chain of events that followed. I made many friends through this and other blogs, and learned a huge amount. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say I owe my writing career to the Blogosphere.
But after my first novel was published in July of last year, the blog began to fall off my radar. My postings became less regular, and to be honest, the content became less interesting, both to me and probably the reader. It's been bothering me for some time, and the blog has become a source of guilt rather than an outlet for expressing my aspirations.
Moonrat's stepping down has made me think about this state of affairs, and I'm starting to wonder if this blog has outlived its purpose. Now that I'm a published author, the journey this blog was created to record has long since reached its destination. So what purpose does it now serve?
I can't say it's networking any more because, like most of the Internet population, I use Twitter and Facebook for that. It's not for reporting news because my website fulfils that role.
The question I must now ask is: does this blog have any reason to go on?
Funnily enough, though, I've been thinking about starting another blog entirely. It'll purely be a bit of fun, concentrating on my guitar obsession, whether that be playing, fixing or breaking them. That'll be at http://resignedhobbyist.blogspot.com/. It may or may not get off the ground, but we'll see.
Anyway, that's all for now. If I do decide to close up shop here, I'll post accordingly.
Anyway, news of Moonrat's retirement caused me to look at my own blog. When I did, I was shocked and embarrassed to realise that I hadn't posted in almost three months. At this rate, I'll be blogging four times a year. It's a far cry from the time when I was blogging almost every day.
The original purpose of this blog was to share my experience of being one of the above-mentioned aspiring authors, and recording my progress as I wrote what would become my second unpublished novel, titled CONDUIT (thus the rather obscure URL for this corner of the Internet). Things carried on through the writing of THE TWELVE/THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST and the extraordinary chain of events that followed. I made many friends through this and other blogs, and learned a huge amount. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say I owe my writing career to the Blogosphere.
But after my first novel was published in July of last year, the blog began to fall off my radar. My postings became less regular, and to be honest, the content became less interesting, both to me and probably the reader. It's been bothering me for some time, and the blog has become a source of guilt rather than an outlet for expressing my aspirations.
Moonrat's stepping down has made me think about this state of affairs, and I'm starting to wonder if this blog has outlived its purpose. Now that I'm a published author, the journey this blog was created to record has long since reached its destination. So what purpose does it now serve?
I can't say it's networking any more because, like most of the Internet population, I use Twitter and Facebook for that. It's not for reporting news because my website fulfils that role.
The question I must now ask is: does this blog have any reason to go on?
Funnily enough, though, I've been thinking about starting another blog entirely. It'll purely be a bit of fun, concentrating on my guitar obsession, whether that be playing, fixing or breaking them. That'll be at http://resignedhobbyist.blogspot.com/. It may or may not get off the ground, but we'll see.
Anyway, that's all for now. If I do decide to close up shop here, I'll post accordingly.
posted by Stuart Neville at 6:48 PM
2 comments
