Tag Archives: blogging

A Salute to the Failed Blog Posts

I can’t even begin to tell you how many ideas I have for blog posts that never make it onto this page.  And the rough drafts are endless.  There’s no telling if even this will earn the honored status of “Posted.”

I’ve started to write reviews of movies that I’ve seen, but then I forget about them and they become irrelevant.  Or I feel as though I’m not doing a good job of reviewing a book because I don’t feel like picking apart every literary element of it.  Sometimes, I just like a book.  It really can be that simple.

Sometimes, I have really great ideas.  Epiphanies, even.  These undoubtedly occur while I’m in the shower, or driving, or cleaning dog poop out of the yard, or any other situation where I just can’t drop what I’m doing and write it down.  Or I make the mistake of thinking I’ll remember it.  You’d think I would learn from that mistake, but I haven’t yet.

Perhaps the worse attempts are when I think I have a good idea, but it all just melts into sophomoric mush when it hits the screen.  A topic that sounds truly amazing, like it could really be something special, comes out wooden and dull.  Bluh.

So here’s to the failed blog posts.  Here’s to the bad ideas, the good ideas gone wrong, the half-ass reviews, the drafts that just never get finished, and the ideas that simply get forgotten.  Because without them, the good posts wouldn’t be nearly so good.

 

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Filed under Blogging, On Writing

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

Let me start off by saying how very truly sorry I am.  I’ve neglected you.  It’s been three weeks since you’ve seen a post.  As I type that, I think, “Surely that can’t be right!”  But it is; the date stamps don’t lie.

I’ve been so consumed with these classes that I’ve been taking, the massive amounts of homework the kids drag off the school bus every day, and harvesting a few fall crops out of the garden.  Don’t forget that recent book release, my Girl Scout Daisy troop, and the fact that I’m trying to purge my house via eBay.  It’s no excuse, I know.  Just because my education, my children, and my garden are thriving on the vine of life doesn’t mean you can’t.  There’s always room.  I just need to be better at finding it.

I will say that I’ve carved some time out in the mornings that is purely for writing.  The kids aren’t here, the house is quiet, and thanks to Sam’s Club I have a few pounds of coffee close at hand.  Most of the books I’ve read about writing (cause you can never learn enough!) say that you have to train your creativity through a writing routine.  I was doing really well with that for awhile, and it does work…As long as you stick with it.  So I raise my coffee mug in salute to forming good writing habits instead of playing Farm Heroes Saga and watching old reruns of The Golden Girls when I have the house to myself.

So anyway, Blog, I just want you to know that I’m going to make a better effort.  I know you are what inspires me to stay fresh with my writing.  You are what allows me to take that really tiny writing idea and still get to use it, even if it doesn’t fit anywhere in a book.  You are truly awesome.  I look forward to being addicted to you once again.

Love and Hugs,

Ashley

Blog concept

 

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Signs You’re Addicted to Blogging

Even though I’ve always loved to write, it’s been a little over a year since I started blogging.  It’s been an interesting roller coaster of writerly emotions so far.  You know, you start out, get your page all set up and think “Now what the hell am I going to write about?”  You get a few posts under your belt and realize, “Hey wait a minute.  Is anyone ever actually going to read this shit?”  This is swiftly (you hope) followed by getting your first follower and first “like” on a post and you think, “Holy crap someone actually read my shit!”  It’s all down hill from there folks.  You start hankering for likes and follows like a drunk needs his cheap beer, lurching along and pretending to be a functional part of society.

Are you a blogging addict?  Here are some signs you just might be:

1. You find yourself saying things like, “Wow, that was so fun!  I can’t wait to blog about it!”

2.  You take a college level English composition class, with the thought that it will improve your blogging skills.

3.  You think of a weekend getaway as an opportunity to catch up on your blogging.

4.  Your spouse says things to you like, “You aren’t going to blog about this, are you?”

5.  You take a picture of your adult beverage on girls’ night out so you can blog about it later.  (Addiction is severe if you go ahead and do the blog from your phone.)

2014-02-22 17.20.18Proof of my addiction.

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