I would have to say that it has affected my writerly life in both ways, good and bad.
Good: I have made wonderful connections through my blog and through reading other blogs; met people I might not have met other wise and realized I liked people that, again, I might not have liked otherwise. It's also served as a kind of journal for me and I love having my thoughts 'contained' somewhere. I recently had the first three years of my blog put into a book and it's been fun to read over it. In that sense of enjoyment, blogging has also been good because I really like it. I like the unisolation I get from being part of blogworld, and through the other blogs I've found I've received great advice and inspiration as well.
Bad: I still have not figured out how to implement the 28 hour day. Time, like money, does not grow on trees no matter how much I wish for it. Time spent blogging takes away from other things--often from my actual novel writing. It's not unusual for me to sit down to blog and an hour later realize I'm out of writing time for the day and I never opened my current work in progress. That can be insanly frustrating. Blogging also makes it very easy to avoid writing if I'm not in the mood. Beyond that there are times I don't want to blog, don't feel I have anything to say, and yet because my blog is partly here for promotion purposes I feel as though it's something I need to do. That sucks the fun out of it entirely.
What about you guys, how has blogging affected you?
6 comments:
My feelings exactly. I feel the same way on every point. Ah well, what do we do?
Blogging makes me feel guilty. I start comparing myself to my writing friends who come up with amazing blog topics and blog consistently. I have to remind myself that I have 10 children and work full-time, so if I can't keep up, it's okay.
Yeah, I love the connections I have made.
But I also feel sometimes like it takes over my life. I obviously read a lot of blogs and comment a lot. I do have a lot of down time at work (will probably have 8 hours of down time today), so that makes it possible.
blogging is an outlet for me. When the kids were babies it was the place I could complain without hearing back about how I'd complained about that yesterday.
It was the place to pour out frustrations and joys. Kind of like a journal I guess.
Now, I love to read old entries and see how right my mom was. You will treasure and miss the times you had a cranky teething baby, and kissing a sweet smelling fuzzy head.
I love blogs. They have helped my reconnect with old friends, keep up with my favorite authors and when there are book signings etc down here in Phoenix.
On my personal blog, I sometimes devote more time to it than I really have, but now that i have figured out how to schedule posts, I can set up posts for a couple of days a week and spend my off work time getting more pressing things done.
I have all the same feelings and have given myself permission to step away from the blogs. I hate stepping away because I love the people I've made friends with, but when my life starts unraveling, I need to refocus energies.
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