Big W the eleventh - "Blogs are fun?"

I entered into the world of blogs for a couple reasons.  To promote my books certainly was number one.   The second reason was that I viewed a blog as a fun outlay of words and thoughts.   A blog is a writer's canvas to be able to muse, vent, rant, and express their opinions.    Quite an interesting public area where one's words can be viewed, commented on, castised, or loved. 

I wrote one blog, Loving Deeply/Slowly.   It is still my most viewed post.   The comments and reactions to it promoted me to start writing a romance novel.   Quite a switch for a guy who has written two mystery/detective books.   Did I let my target audience sway me into writing a romance?  I don't think so.   To be honest, I think that the idea was already within my synapsis's.   

I have learned a lot of lessons so far in blogging.   Some personal, some professionally related to my future novels yet to be written.    Stereotyping, even within one's own blog is bad.   And good I suppose.  Bad, because it is not how I am in my day to day life.    So why does it come out in my words?  Well, perhaps it is just because everyone out there has differnet opinions.   Which is healthy.   Good I suppose, in that a blog full of assertions, opinions, and even stereotypes fuels conversations, and actually gets people to view the blog.    Many a writer has told me that you haven't 'made it' as an author until you start to get some negative reviews on your books.    I'm not there yet, as all of my reviews are positive.   I guess I have to be a little more controversial, or scathing, or something.  But that's just not me.  

I like learning lessons.  It makes one grow as a person.  Sappy I suppose, but true.   I actually listen to those around me, and try to assimilate their opinions.  Pulling sometimes valuable things out of conversations or thoughts.   That's just me. 

The romance book?   Well, guilty pleasure or not.  I am writing three times as fast in it as I ever have before while drafting my mystery novels.    Who knows what will become of it, although I have been told that 50% of the readers out there read romance novels.   Wow.   quite a stat.

So... blogging is fun....  I find it a way to organzie my thoughts, goals, and center my focus.     That is all cathartic.    I actually deleted two posts that I wrote over the past week.   They weren't good posts, in the simple matter that I wasn't proud of the writing.    First time that's ever happened.    But I know why.  I had felt pressured to post something, anything, to keep the blog fresh.    But really I didn't have anything worthwhile to say.   My creative thoughts have been on writing of late.   My book.   Not my blog.     Interesting lesson to learn with respect to blogging.   Only blog when you have an entertaining series of thoughts that will invoke others to read all the way to the end.    Food for thought.

In the future I doubt I will blog as much.   I will do it for me.   Not because I should post something.   I have no desire to put my name to something that I am not proud of in the written word.   The word 'proud' is an interesting one.   I feel that it's my blog, my opinion.   Yet, as a writer the prose should be written in such a creative manner that I'm proud of it.      The pride similar to that when I received the first copy of my book, and looked upon the bright cover.    The pride of knowing that someone who had read my first novel kept after me to write a second.  

Lessons to be learned in life.   Who knew blogs were so helpful...

w.w.w.