Once more I shut down my computer and headed toward the kitchen to begin supper preparations. Once more I thought, Tomorrow I’ll write something for my blog.
I didn’t do it tomorrow–either.
Lack of time? That’s one very valid excuse. My days are so crammed with writing stories, publicity work, and contacts with other writers, booksellers, media personnel, plus–of course, the running of a household–that the non-essential blog keeps slipping off the radar. But I do feel guilty occasionally.
Hello? If anybody is out there, I should at least say hello to you occasionally.
A couple of nights ago I went to bed, thinking: BLOG. TOMORROW. And, sometime during the night, I remembered all the essays I’d written and sold for many years before I turned to writing mystery fiction.
ESSAY! The word comes from French “essayer, to try.” That’s to try a whole raft of things from testing for gold, to trying out thoughts. One of my dictionaries calls the essay an analytic or interpretative literary composition. And I was once so identified with essay writing that, by invitation, I spoke on the topic to several writers’ groups. That was before anyone had heard the term blog.
So, essays or blogs? What do you think? More on the topic coming.
Radine's Weblog 
November 17, 2011 at 9:17 pm |
I love writing essays, but the prospect of starting a blog has sounded horrible to me for years. Why? Because I keep thinking that if I do start a blog, I won’t have time to write my essays. Your comments have just shoved that stumbling block a bit to the side. Thanks. Liz
November 18, 2011 at 8:57 am |
Liz, you got the idea perfectly! Realizing what I consider to be a strong resemblance between blogs and essays sure awakened me to new interest in the once dreaded task of keeping up with a blog. (I still won’t post really frequently but at least I feel much better about the whole process.) True, I sold my essays for a goodly sum, but still . . . blogs do keep me in touch with nice folks like you.
November 18, 2011 at 11:14 am |
Interesting post. And yes, I think that many blog posts are essays. Some are articles and some seem more like a sort of ‘slice-of-life’ piece. I love most of these. They’re informative or fun or both. It’s a great way with keeping in touch with people you know and making new online buddies.
Loved this post.
Jackie King
November 18, 2011 at 12:10 pm |
Somehow thinking of blogs as essays makes me more inclined to want to read and write them — even though of course I do recognize they aren’t the same most of the time!
November 19, 2011 at 3:36 pm |
I’d been wondering about this too. Thanks.
November 20, 2011 at 5:20 pm |
I agree, the time element is certainly a factor. I don’t just dash off a blog and forget it. I admit I am a compulsive editor and spend time doing that with any blog post as well as any essay.