It's My Nickel
The other day my niece wrote to update me on her upcoming wedding. She sheepishly admitted that the reception was going to be held at a local no-frills restaurant. She explained further that she and her intended were paying for both wedding and reception and this was the best they could afford. Then she asked me not to discuss it with the family yet as they would insist on giving her grief over her decisions.
Her email came on the tails of a blog post by the lovely and talented Josephine Damian. (The cuter half of our doppelganger existence.) Josey mentioned once before that Donald Maass looked at blogging as scratching an itch. She further cited Robin Hobb and her rant about blogging, who described blogging as literary pole dancing.
So this gives me the opportunity to tell both my niece and my readers the same thing.
I don't know about everyone else, but writing does not consume my every thought. I feel perfectly comfortable making time for manuscripts, blogging, freelance work, gardening, cleaning, cooking, traveling, studying, researching, building, tearing down, reviewing, thinking, and even reading. And you know what? That's only the icing on the cake. The 18+ hours I'm awake every day leaves me time for even more wonderful things besides writing.
I adore Josey but we disagree on the advantages of blogging.
Blogging helps me to form opinions, to articulate a thought, to journal my discoveries, to examine ideas and to strengthen my writing. Blogging IS writing. It's not an itch, nor is it literary pole dancing--at least not for me, and not for the dozens of other writers I follow. These are working writers, people who put out quality work as well as blog.
Blogging is also a useful marketing tool.
I don't know who Robin Hobb is, but I might have had she blogged. On the other hand, I've come to know LS Viehl's work quite well and it's entirely due to her blog.
Not only does Ms Viehl educate and entertain, but her well written posts have convinced me that she is worthy of my investment in her books.
So gentle readers, I caution you not to paint each other with such wide brushes. Blog if you want to, or don't. Just don't assume your way is the only right way.
Copyright © 2009 Maria Zannini -- http://mariazannini.blogspot.com/.
Her email came on the tails of a blog post by the lovely and talented Josephine Damian. (The cuter half of our doppelganger existence.) Josey mentioned once before that Donald Maass looked at blogging as scratching an itch. She further cited Robin Hobb and her rant about blogging, who described blogging as literary pole dancing.
So this gives me the opportunity to tell both my niece and my readers the same thing.
Feel free to ignore people who give you unasked for advice. How you spend your time (and money) is no one's business but your own.In the first place, if you chastise others for blogging, bear in mind that it's not your time, it's theirs. In the second place, most of us are adult enough to know when to stop blogging and start working on the manuscript.
I don't know about everyone else, but writing does not consume my every thought. I feel perfectly comfortable making time for manuscripts, blogging, freelance work, gardening, cleaning, cooking, traveling, studying, researching, building, tearing down, reviewing, thinking, and even reading. And you know what? That's only the icing on the cake. The 18+ hours I'm awake every day leaves me time for even more wonderful things besides writing.
I adore Josey but we disagree on the advantages of blogging.
Blogging helps me to form opinions, to articulate a thought, to journal my discoveries, to examine ideas and to strengthen my writing. Blogging IS writing. It's not an itch, nor is it literary pole dancing--at least not for me, and not for the dozens of other writers I follow. These are working writers, people who put out quality work as well as blog.
Blogging is also a useful marketing tool.
I don't know who Robin Hobb is, but I might have had she blogged. On the other hand, I've come to know LS Viehl's work quite well and it's entirely due to her blog.
Not only does Ms Viehl educate and entertain, but her well written posts have convinced me that she is worthy of my investment in her books.
So gentle readers, I caution you not to paint each other with such wide brushes. Blog if you want to, or don't. Just don't assume your way is the only right way.
Copyright © 2009 Maria Zannini -- http://mariazannini.blogspot.com/.
Comments
And, BTW, my DH and I paid for our wedding, too. I hired a fledging caterer to do both the cake AND the reception, which I held for FREE in the church basement. I also "hired" my BIL to be the DJ and used MY stereo and CD collection.
Tell your niece that if folks have a problem, she can suggest they either A. don't attend or B. Pay for the entire reception for her.
She's probably nicer than I am, though...
RE: blogging. Also agree. Lynn Viehl being a point for me as well -- but I've also found a number of other blogger/authors whose books I would NEVER have picked up if not for their blogs.
::shrugs::
If you don't want to blog. Don't. But don't tell me I shouldn't because YOU don't want to.
Ref: blogs
Exactly. I don't browse bookstores like I used to. Nowadays if I find a new author it's because they've gone into cyberspace and posted something interesting.