Blogging Issues

Where I talk about inconsistencies, timing, and a little bit of hypocrisy...

When I grow up, I want to be a writer. Really and truly, a full fledged, profitable writer. It's something that I started kicking around (actively) back in middle school... but I think I had some interest before then. I have, however, been a bad student of the trade. I have not actively pursued writing (stories, poems, etc.), despite getting a degree concentration in Creative Writing.

Which is where this tangent comes in. I am frustrated. Partially with myself, and partly with "the system". Maybe it's because I am spoiled by some of my "daily routines." But the point is this: A writer writes. Damn near every day, even if it's something brief. And if they don't (or can't), they make a comment about it.

So, I am frustrated. First off, with myself - sort of. When I resurrected this blog in late 2006 (more like "actually started using it", but I digress) I tried to make sure I at least posted something on it, during the work week at least. I knew I wouldn't get a lot of things put up on the weekend, so I wrote it off. And that is still the case. But the discipline to at least put that something down.... that it's almost there.... I think about it all of the time but get sidetracked when it comes time to act... that's where I am frustrated.

The other points of frustration, which has more to do with the fact that I know some of the people that I am now going to describe. I have some friends that are writerly types. A couple that have actually written a lot (but no mainstream publishing credits), and a couple more that want to write, but don't arrange the time to. We all work, we all have a ton of other things that we would rather be doing, or that seem more fulfilling, or that just plain have to be done. But to be a writer is to write... something...

So the frustration point here is: blogs that are stagnant. Back in the days of personal webpages (I'm thinking 10 years ago, or so), having to write the information and then code the same information, I can understand random updates. Today, with "mobile blogging" features, and so many different places that people have sites hosted, there really is no excuse.

I used to be someone wholiked the idea of writing, but I never really focused on it. Over the last couple of years, though, it has slowly started working at me... a slow torment, or tease - like an excited lover constantly calling at me from the bed. I'm constantly seeing things - not real things, but opportunities for stories to be written. And I am reading outside my "type". Growing up, I was pretty much just a SF/Fantasy reader, but now I am a lot more broad (in case my "reading list" isn't obvious of that).

While I am guilty of the "sporadic updates", I do try to write. As I complete this, which actually started as a thought about three weeks ago, I know there is a bit of hypocrisy to my words. I used to be a "muse" writer - having brief flashes, when "inspired by the muse". After years of hearing/reading it from others, I have reached my own conclusion: That style is bullshit. Writing is work. The muse is a high-class whore, walking the streets, waiting for someone willing to pay the price for her services. The "inspirations" are just that - a kiss, a glance, a wisp of perfume that makes a man excited. But she's only interested someone that is willing to be tantric, to keep the relationship slow and passionate, eventually leading to multiple payoffs before needing a rest.

Find time to write. Don't wait for inspiration - it will never come. The more you write, the better the payoff, and the easier it is to lure the muse your way.