I popped in here the other day to prepare for a blog
tour I’m participating in next week, and was shocked to realise that it’s been
almost a year since I've posted anything! Really? I knew I’d been neglecting my
blog, but a year? That’s just a bit ridiculous. And I can’t claim alien
abduction or being on a secret mission for the government all that time,
because, well, let’s face it, that would be even more ridiculous. I can’t even
claim that I’ve been soooo busy with my WIP that I just haven’t had time,
because, while I have actually made significant progress with my latest WIP, we
all know that there’s always time in the week we can find for these things.
My original plan was to blog about this writing journey, but
it turns out between queries and rejections and requests, there’s a lot of
quiet time. A lot. Quick update on my
querying stats to date: countless rejections (around 7,553,621 – or so it
feels), 6 partials, 6 fulls (none of which have yet turned into an offer,
though 1 is still outstanding – fingers, toes, eyes, intestines crossed).
So, if I am going to bring this blog back to life, how
exactly am I going to it?
Already published authors can blog about their books, or
tours or appearances, sneak peeks of up-coming works etc. And they have a group
of people genuinely interested in what they have to say.
Some aspiring authors do book reviews, but I just can’t
bring myself to go there, for a number of reasons. Firstly, there are so many
review blogs out there, many of them really excellent, I’m not sure what I
could add to the mix. Also, I believe if you’re going to review books, then you
need to be completely honest or there’s no point and I have two problems with
that. 1. The authors I’d be reviewing are published. I’m not. So who am I to
criticise their work? Yes, I’m also a reader and entitled to an opinion, but so
too am I a writer, which leads me to number 2. I’m a writer, so I know no
matter how good or bad a book is, that author has given their soul to that
work, and for that alone I couldn't say a bad word about them.
Of course, there’s always the option of being controversial,
which usually results in high readerships, but I’m not the type of person that
can (or will) be controversial for the sake of it, and I really don’t like
stirring up trouble. The original peace-keeper I am.
So, where does that leave me?
I’m not quite sure. Next week, as I mentioned above, I’m
participating in a blog tour on the writing process, and I’m hoping that gives
me the kick up the proverbial to breathe some life back into this blog. The
next few weeks and months will tell, I guess. Fingers, toes, eyes, and
intestines crossed.
S
keep chasing those pavements
Next week : The
Writing Process Blog Tour
Hi Sandie, I feel ya - sometimes it's hard to think of relevant things to blog about. I was worried about this too. I decided from the beginning to open my own writing blog up wide, to encompass more than just my writing. I also talk about my artwork and my music. Recently, I've developed some themed posts for loose series, such as "Glimpses of me" and "Intrepid Eavesdropper". I figure that readers want to see that I can WRITE, and if I can give them that, on a variety of subjects, it'll help promote me as a writer in the long run. At least, that's the plan! Best of luck with your submissions. From a fellow AW-er, Evelyn Arvey / Gail Bridges
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