Blogging has come to mean different things to different people. To Dave Winer, arguably the first blogger, it is a platform for writing short commentary on topics of interest to him. He seldom writes more than four or five paragraphs per topic but he sometimes covers three or four topics per day, more on occasion.
Some people treat it like a stream of links to things they’ve found of interest on the web. That is sometimes referred to as a link blog. I’ve never written a link blog. I have enough trouble maintaining my focus on whatever task is at hand to give myself an excuse to spend more time browsing the web.
My blog has evolved to be a daily essay of approximately 500 words. I write it in Scrivener and then past it into the online WordPress blog editor. It is usually a tad longer than Dave’s typical posts. Not to make any claims about relative merit. I can say nothing of substance in 500 words as well as anyone can. Occasionally I write a piece that I feel is particularly succinct and well organized. Most of the time I’m just happy to have checked the box that says I’ve met my commitment to blog daily.
I believe it is important to write regularly. It is the only sure way that I know of to improve your writing skills. But it is also important to constantly reevaluate your goals. I have been struggling to spend more time writing fiction lately. The struggle has been mostly one of schedule. By the time I write a thousand word journal entry, either in the morning before I go to work or as part of a working lunch, and then write a 500 word blog post every night, I don’t get around to my fiction as often as I’d like.
I think it’s time to try a different schedule. I will post link blog style entries as I run across items of interest. Then on two or three nights a week, I’ll post a regular 500 word essay style blog post. I will continue to write every night but on nights where I don’t post a blog post, I’ll spend an hour working on my fiction.
Of course when November gets here, all bets are off. I probably won’t blog more than once a week during NaNoWriMo. I intend to write a better first draft this year. I’ll have more to say on that subject in December.
I’m also going to have a story included in an anthology published by the Huntsville / Madison County Public Library sometime in the November timeframe. I’ll update here with details when I have them straight.
In summary, I am going to cut back to 750 words worth of journal a day, two or three 500 word essay blog posts per week, and up my fiction writing game. Thanks for bearing with me.
Sweet dreams, don’t forget to tell the ones you love that you love them, and most important of all, be kind.