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Ever wonder what it's like to be in that moment between struggling artist and published author? Read on and find out.



Tuesday, November 29, 2011

With A Little Help From My Friends

            Thinking of topics to blog about can be a chore. It might be less problematic if I wrote about the daily events in my life or allowed my inner musing to freely flow with whatever whimsy takes me. Instead, I’ve focused (primarily) on subjects related to the life of an unpublished author. And I would like to continue to do so.

            When I paused to think about what I wanted to write this week several ideas came to mind, but as they did I realized that many of them would change the nature of this blog. I hold no illusions (or delusions) that I am a great font of knowledge about writing. So far, I have attempted to direct the wonderful people who my blog to where they can be properly instructed. And I don’t intend to stop doing that.

            What I would like to do is involve all of you on deciding the direction of this blog. After all, I write to be read. As my audience your opinions can settle the conflict of ideas that I am having.

            Please, take a few moments and comment on what you think should be included in this blog.
 

            Thanks.


Movie Reviews – As much as I love writing movie reviews, it doesn’t have much to do with the writing craft. At least, not in the format I’ve used so far. It does reflect one aspect of my nature, but does it really belong in a blog for authors in training?
  

Writing Prompts – These undoubtedly fit in with the interviews and posts about writing. They flow freely from my ever-active creative center. Coming up with more is never a problem. At first glance this seems to be a natural to be part of the blog. Will devoting more time into creating writing prompts significantly change the tone and feel of the blog?


Random Silliness – On occasion, I have included some random bits of silliness. That’s pretty much me in a nutshell. (Get it? Nut – Shell.) But like the movie reviews, it doesn’t really seem to have a place with authentic authorial aspirations. Once again, this is another aspect of my nature, but does it belong here? And is any of it funny?
 

That covers the elements I’ve already incorporated into the blog. Here are a couple of ideas I have for something new.
 

Short Fiction – Some of my short fiction is posted on my web-page. (Which I don’t spend any time promoting.) I originally feared that including samples of my writing on a regular basis would detract from the aspiring author theme I want for this blog. What do you think: will posting some free fiction change the focus of the blog from “Us” to “Me”?
 

Artist Community Podcast – I had the opportunity to work across the table from a talented singer and song writer. A good friend of mine is a comic-book artist. My oldest friend writes screenplays. If I take the time to really look around me I’m sure I can dig up quite a few more people with artistic talent. How would a regularly scheduled podcast like that fit into my blog? Or do you think the sound of my voice will scare people away?
 

Absolute Bonkers Madness – As if one podcast concept wasn’t enough, I considered doing an actual comedy bit. It would be called Newz Crazy and I think the name says it all. It certainly doesn’t feel like it fits with the theme of this blog. Should I create a separate blog to subject the public to this lunacy?
 

Suggestions Anyone – The blog is eight months old. That should be enough time to get to know me enough to make some suggestions at what I might do here – and do well. Tell me folks, what else should I be doing?



As a final comment, I want to express my very sincere appreciation for all of you who take the time to visit my blog and especially to those of you who are so loyal about posting comments. I really treasure it. Thanks.


4 comments:

  1. Goodness, I dunno.
    I think a little bit of random silliness creates character, so I wouldn't abandon all the tidbit, random, goofy posts.

    You like movies so much, I think it's great to have a place to put your reviews. It might be best if you had a page to keep them all on or maybe even created a list on the sidebar so we could see them at a glance.

    You are really good with interviews as well.

    I think that if you try to make it too complicated you will give up. Give yourself permission to post an occasionally short- random- informative- link- quick review- etc. We just don't want you to quit.

    If you WANTED TO you could probably even do interviews every week, giving yourself permission to occasionally interview your mailman or a child for variety.

    Good luck!

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  2. I was just thinking the same thing about trying to come up with a topic for this week. I'm still learning as I go along, and I'm at a much slower pace than many other bloggers, but I don't think there's anything wrong with writing about what you like. You have lots of interesting ideas, so keep 'em coming! P.S. Thanks for the email! Julie

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  3. Even though movie reviews may not have much to do with writing per se, I enjoy yours. If you want to make them more writing oriented, maybe you could add a couple sentences about how they succeeded in terms of story - character, plot development, etc.

    I love your interviews and would encourage you to continue those if you're so inclined. You ask great questions in a conversational way and the interviews are both informative and enjoyable.

    I'm always up for writing prompts!

    I think you could post bits of your work from time to time, especially if you want input on some specific aspect of it.

    And a little random silliness never hurt anyone!

    I think you're doing a great job - keep up the good work :)

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  4. Oh goodness! I understand your dilemma, and it's so hard to choose.

    Hmmmm - I like the random stuff and bits of silliness. I think people like to read that stuff, and it helps with getting to know you.

    I don't LOVE writers blogs, that go away from writing stuff too much. Something here and there is fun, but I like the writing prompts and interviews and other fun stuff like that.

    Reviews are fun and a vlog would be fun to throw on sometimes too! Really - anything you come up with would be great. You always have fun posts. :)

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