I hope all my wonderful blog friends had a fantastic Christmas. Luckily we still have another week of festivities. I happen to love the week between Christmas and New Years. This is the time to share with friends we didn't have the chance to see during the rush of Christmas.
Now is the time to kick back, have that glass of wine, look at your tree, and catch up with your lives.
I decided to do a post today about Blogging vs. Writing. Over the past several months, since I began to post and read blogs, I have been warned by new blog friends that blogging will take over your life. BE CAREFUL. So many have warned me. IT WILL TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR WRITING! I can see it now in red neon flashing before my eyes.
YES! I have to admit it has taken away a lot of my writing time, BUT ... let's not focus on that, let's focus on what it has given to me.
How can I express to all of you how wonderful this experience has been. My blogging buddies have shared with me their experiences in life, in writing, and their quest for publication. They have shared with me their hopes and dreams, their resources, their knowledge on so many different subjects. I have learned from them how to become a better writer. How to use those resources to further my career as a writer, and how to share what I've learned with other aspiring writers.
HOW could this be a waste of time? It can't! Every word we read on a fellow blogger's post engrains in our mind and soul to use in our own writing whether we know it or not.
SO today, this day, December 27th, I would like to thank all of you, my fellow blogging friends for enriching my life.
Now with that said.... GET BACK TO WRITING! lol
At some point we do manage to balance our time between the two. It is different for everyone. Some of us like to blog after writing a while. It's a nice break. Others blog the first thing in the morning and then spend their day writing. Or you catch up on blogging before bedtime. And finally, if you are like me, you start the morning with your blogging buddies, then go to your WIP. Stop back after a few hours for your blog fix, and continue to write the remainder of the afternoon until you can't hold out any longer for your the next blog fix. I personally need at least three fixes a day....
Enjoy your day fellow bloggers and don't feel guilty spending time with your friends.
18 comments:
Blogging does take up a lot of time--commenting, following, replying, etc., but I agree that it's a great experience! I've got something like a schedule down these days, but I still have to resist the want to blog instead of write . . . LOL.
Hi Michael - such wise words!
Hope you had a great Christmas too.
What you said totally resonated with me. I have had two and a half months of pretty intensive blogging, which put my writing more or less on hold. The problem is that I have a full time job, so I have a very limited time to share between blogging and writing. Do I regret the time spent blogging? Absolutely not! Through blogging I have learnt any number of absolutely invaluable tips and book recommendations, I have gained a great deal of confidence in my writing, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, I have discovered a whole load of amazing people! I have also developed a new more balanced schedule for 2011, so I won't be blogging as much, but I will be writing more than ever.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas Michael. :) And what a wonderful post! I too have felt like blogging has taken over my life sometimes! But it's a good thing too, I love the friendships, the encouragement and the support. But the best part is knowing that someone else is out there, reading your thoughts and understanding you. Sometimes that's hard to find with 'real life' people who aren't writers or artists. You are a great person and your blog is such a happy positive place. It's a favorite stop of mine.
Golden Eagle,
I know how you feel... I should be writing now, but I an still blogging.
Dom,
I had a great Christmas, thanks. It's great that you intend to write next year, but do come up for air .... we will miss you if you don't.
Crystal,
What a lovely thing to say. Thank you so much. I do believe in being positive. With all the negatively in the world, we all need to know that there is still so much good in the world.
That's a great reminder, and YES, blogging is worth it. For honing our writing, for invaluable friendships and encouragment and inspiration. I agree--not a waste of time. To 2011, blogging and writing on WIPs!!
My full time and then some day job does more to interfere with my writing. And blogging. I find it impossible to get up early in the morning to write - I'd just be a lot later to work - and my evenings get full with cooking dinner and helping my kid with his homework and other mundane stuff.
Sometimes writing posts, comments and participating in blogfests is the only writing I get done for months. I'm finding the older I get the more quiet I need to write with, and that isn't possible until after 10p in the evenings. Not a good time to start a long stint of writing.
But when I do sit down to write - I dedicate a lot of hours to it. :)
.........dhole
what you say is very true, but it's also true that we get so much out of meeting our blogging friends. Balance is tough, but once you start, it's hard to stop! :D happy holidays~
After over a year of blogging, I've discovered it's a balancing act. Sometimes things get out of whack one way or another. But I value the people I've met and the things I've learned here online. It comes down to what is the most rewarding - what fills us as a person?
well, you know how we feel about this topic. i'm really glad i've found the blogging world, but yes, my writing has suffered because of it. yet, of course it has improved as well. i learn a lot from all of you! i only have an hour or two per day to spend on my laptop so when i get overly absorbed in blogs, well, there goes my writing time! i agree. it's a balancing act...that i just haven't mastered yet! :0) christy
I hope your Christmas was great! I began blogging as a discipline....to write everyday. When I got there, I decided to cut back a little bit. I spent over 4 hours a day blogging.....
I'm keeping my nano schedule. Post twice a week (on normal weeks) and visit on Saturdays and possibly Sundays. With the day job, school, and writing, there has to be compromise....
I totally agree about the blogging community. There's nothing like it anywhere else, is there? All the wonderful and supportive people!!!
Finding that balance is the key - but it's not easy to find! I'm definitely still working at it :)
hey, blogging only takes 3 minutes a day. Right? Right!! (totally kidding, Michael).
Hey, you know what I'm busy with (give me an a, give me a b. . .)
WRITE!
erica
Ah yes, exactly what I've been thinking. Great minds. I will have to avoid turning on the Internet router to reduce my blogging times or join bloggin anonymous, but that would be far too drastic. Happy New Year! :O)
What you've said is absolutely true. Every time I think about how I'd most certainly be finished my novel by now if I'd never started blogging, I have to remind myself of all the things I've GAINED from blogging! And thank you to YOU as well for enriching our lives :-)
While blogging does demand a lot of time, I feel that I do learn a lot from other writers out there. Especially blogfest and comments. Have a wonderful New Year!
Edge of Your Seat Romance
Grrr, Blogger just ate my comment. Anyway - yes. Blogging is good! Hope you had a great Christmas! :)
I think blogging has made my writing better. I can't believe I missed this post yesterday. My apologies.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author
I think there is definitely room for both, in fact I would venture to say my writing had sort of plateaued until I found this wonderful system of support. YES, it is time consuming (the visiting as well as the writing, though I confess some portion of the visiting is stolen from my day job time) and I need to learn to balance... practice brevity, maybe... that would help... set a schedule instead of EVERY day maybe... that would help too... but when I look at the tangible things... the book sales because of a loyal army of minions (yes, I believe in mutual minioning)--I look at blogging regularly as laying the groundwork for when the books really ARE ready, and as a schooling system for GETTING them ready.
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