Writer's Block and Blogging
August 20th 2009 21:31
There are few things more frustrating than Writer's Block, especially when you are new to blogging.
I think I faced the Blogging version of postpartum depression - I was so excited by my first meeting with my blog, with people admiring my offspring, with its potential, that I began to worry about how it could live up to all the compliments I had received. I also worried how *I* could live up to those compliments. Boom - Blogger's writer's block.
And then there were the criticisms. Or, not so much criticism as advice that I heard as criticism: You're doing that right, but you could do it better if you just did <this> or <that>. If you're a parent, you probably remember the experience of a hundred well-wishers telling you to hold the baby this way or that or explaining the benefits of some approach to parenting that was *just a little* different from what you were currently doing. Boom again - Blogger's writer's block.
So, I've been going back and forth on how to proceed. The best suggestions I received as a first-time blogger were:
Add pictures
Shorten the sentences.
Shorten the paragraphs
Your text goes here
But the ones that I really needed to hear were ones that I have often said to my students in a different context:
Write often
Write first, edit second
and (to quote a rather experienced writer)"To thine own self be true"
Thank you to everybody: I learn from the criticism and I draw energy from the compliments. I'll look forward to your comments of every type and stripe!
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Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
~Dianna
Comment by Dov Nelkin
Teiku
Thank you for your comment.
Comment by Backpacking Dad
Saying someone is using their blog wrong is like telling them they're using paper wrong. Don't let the Man bring you down. Also: fight the power.
I'm running out of platitudes. Rock me Amadeus?
Comment by Dov Nelkin
Teiku