I have to admit, I struggle with blogging. It doesn’t call to me. I’m also not much of a blog reader or a magazine reader, so perhaps my lack of interest in blogging is related to that. I don’t particularly like reading short articles that contain no real substance, so writing something short and fluffy seems pointless.
When it is time for me to sit down and read something, I almost exclusively choose novels. The only other things that tempt me these days are articles on writing and promoting books. I tend to soak up the ones on writing. The ones about promoting books leave me in a state of bemused wonder. I know I need to do a better job when it comes to book promotion, but the process feels overwhelming. I’d rather write.
Yes, I’m a writer, but I’m also a reader. I love immersing myself in a new world inside the cover of a book. Given the chance, I willingly suspend my disbelief and accept that my heroine can use her powers to control minds or manipulate space and time. I dive into the repressive society of Victorian England, happy to immerse myself in that formality of the time, but also happy I didn’t have to live there. I cry at losses and grin at jokes. Books transport me. Books enrich me. Books educate me.
I choose books based on a combination of reviews and my interest. I sometimes choose a particular book because I’ve met the author. With nearly every book I read, I learn something. Sometimes I learn what NOT to do, and sometimes I see glimpses of authorial brilliance that I hope to achieve as well. There is a LOT of brilliance out there. The hard part can be spotting it. Something which is brilliantly written doesn’t call attention to itself, because if it did, It wouldn’t be brilliant because it would pull you out of the story.
I mentioned that I sometimes read books by authors I’ve met. That’s one of the big bonuses of being an author… you tend to hang out with other authors! They’re fascinating people. I’ve found that the authors I’m drawn to on a personal level are also ones whose books I tend to like. I suppose that shouldn’t come as a surprise since a book is that author’s creation. It can’t help but have bits of that person’s heart and soul embedded in it.
So I’m a novelist, not a blogger, but I feel compelled to blog (remember that comment I made early about promoting books? Yeah, that). I suppose that means this is something I’ll continue to struggle with throughout my writing career. I’ll keep searching for a way to blog, and to blog about things I find worthwhile. Maybe I’ll get better at blogging the more I do it. As the blog (hopefully) grows, I should start to enjoy it more. Some of my friends who saw me struggling told me to take inspiration from other bloggers. Since the popularity of blogs has risen nowadays, there are many (like me) who are considering this option. My friends gave me an example of this blogger called Dora West (those interested to check out her website can search for Dora Flood online) who happens to blog in her spare time. I have been recommended to look at her sample posts and take some inspiration. Now, that can be a good idea. I mean getting ideas can really help people like me in writing better, can’t it?
Furthermore, one of my cousins was actually telling me that some bloggers do use companies, like Victorious, to help them increase website traffic to their blog. This ensures that more people are reading the blog, which can give the blogger an audience to blog too. Maybe that’s what I need. Perhaps an audience reading my blog posts would inspire me to be more creative when I’m writing them. It might be worth a shot!
Do you struggle when it comes time to blog? How do you handle it? I’d love to know!