I just noticed I didn't post yesterday. I've been distracted this week by things happening around here. It looks like the job's a no go. That's the way it happens, sometimes.
Please keep the people in the way of Hurricane Wilma in your thoughts and prayers. I know a bunch of folks who live in Florida or who have friends or family there.
A "homework" assignment
Way back in September, Carter Nipper, posted a homework assignment which interested me, but I haven't had time to write before today.
Here's his assignment:
- Do you post your first draft or edit?
- Why?
- How much time do you spend thinking about and preparing a post before it goes online?
- Anything else you'd like to add?
- I always edit.
- I don't think in an orderly manner. If I posted my unedited first draft, you'd all be wondering what in the heck I'm talking about because I write in a mixed-up order. Now, I'm not saying I'm always clear when I'm done editing, but at least you get a reasonable shot at understanding me. I'm also a lousy typist. It's a paradox. I'm a great speller, but I hit the wrong keys. If I didn't fix it, you'd think a first-grader could spell better than I do. And, I'm a writer. Saying what I mean as clearly as I know how to say it and writing clean are important to me. I don't lower my standards because it's "just a blog post".
- It depends on the post. I don't think a lot about the fun quizzes and silly stuff. They're fillers for days when I'm extra busy or am working on an essay to post another day. I spend a little more time on the recipes because they require formatting. And I hope to teach a little about cooking to people who maybe haven't cooked much from scratch, so I spend time making the instructions clear and adding helpful notes. I spend a lot of time on essays and recommendations and such. It takes me a while to hone in on what I want to say, same as it does in my fiction. I change the order of things and cut the rambles that are really interesting, but not pertinent to that essay. Some of them become topics for other essays.
- I'm really enjoying blogging. I was afraid one of two things would happen if I started a blog. One--I'd blog so much I'd neglect my novel. Or, two, I'd run out of things to blog about. Neither has happened so far. I limit myself to one post a day, which keeps number one under control. I pay attention to things going on around me, which gives me things to write about, so number two hasn't been an issue, either. I plan to keep doing this until it's not fun anymore. I hope whoever's reading it enjoys it, but that's a bonus. I like that people are reading my blog, but getting a bazillion readers isn't my reason for writing it, nor is it a particular goal of mine. I want that audience for my books. (grin)
