Blogging Versus "Real Writing"

If I'd never begun blogging in 2006, I would not be a fiction author today. Believe it or not, I clung exclusively to my music blog for almost ten years before the thought of writing a novel even crossed my mind. I never consciously strived to improve my writing (or blogging), but I know now that I did improve. It's almost impossible not to improve as a writer if you do it consistently. And I was definitely consistent. Most weekends I published two posts, and they weren't quick dash-offs. Granted, my music blog includes a lot of music videos, but they're accompaniments, not replacements for words. Videos are the punctuation.

All that being said, blogging and writing prose are different disciplines, and a writer's approach to each is certainly different. (At least mine is.) Once I began writing novels, I considered blogging to be my exhale. I could relax, let go of the pressure. If I was struggling with a scene, I could switch over to my blog and do something just for fun. I guess it beats drinking, although I wasn't averse to that, either. Nursing a light beer and immersing myself in music ~ what could be better?

I won't claim that I don't edit my blog posts. It may not look like it, but I do. 😀 Because I don't plan them, other than having a specific theme I want to write about, I sometimes have to move sentences around due to my stream of consciousness thinking. Editing a novel, however, is super-serious (!)  That's one of the reasons why editing a novel is no fun.

Authors are often advised to blog, whether on a separate platform or on a dedicated page within their website. I have a news section on my site, and I hate it. I never have anything to write about, plus I feel like whatever I do write needs to be vital. I know that's silly, but maybe there's more gravitas in trying to advance a writing career, and that's why I put so much pressure on myself. 

I'm not sure that blogging and fiction writing can be cross-pollinated. There are some potential downfalls:

1. Your novel-writing style might be perceived as fake. "Hey! She's so fun in her blog, but this book isn't fun like that at all!"

2.  "All she ever blogs about is her book!" (Hello?)

I struggle with straddling the line between my "serious" work and blogging about it. As I said, I enjoy blogging because it's stress-free, but having a distinct goal (selling) when composing a blog post paralyzes me. 

Maybe having specific topics to blog about would help. With that in mind, here are 100 suggestions for authors. I'm going to try those that spark my creative juices and stop pushing my novel so much. If that is boring to me (and it is), it's gotta be boring to a visitor. "Okay, okay! I get it! If I buy your book, will you please stop?!?"

I might even throw caution to the wind and try a more casual approach, like I do here.

After all, if you've got a skill, why not flaunt it? 

 

(Just for fun, here is the first blog post I ever wrote.):