In case any of you writers out there don't know about it, WriteOnCon - a free online conference for writers (focused on YA, MG, and PBs) is going on right now!! It's awesome and full of lots of great opportunities to get feedback on queries/first pages from fellow writers/authors AND from ninja agents.
Yesterday, the below vlog on using social media was posted as part of the conference.
And one piece of advice for writers was to blog (yay! doing that already), but to blog about something other than writing (oh...crap). Meredith advised writers to blog about something else they are passionate about.
This advice is something I heard a week or two ago from an agent on Twitter, too and hearing it reconfirmed made me panic a bit. And then, I started to feel a bit upset, overwhelmed even.
I mean, I understand the idea behind the advice - a blog on writing is going to speak to other writers and other writers aren't necessarily going to be a novel's/author's fan base - and I totally appreciate industry professionals actually taking the time to share their knowledge and tips with aspiring authors and writers out there.
It's just, this time, it felt personal - I suppose that's because it pokes a hot iron right into an insecurity of mine. What if I don't have what it takes to be the super writer/blogger/promoter/human being the publishing world seems to expect me to be?
Blog about one of my other passions?! Am I suppose to have time for other things that I'm as passionate about as I am about writing/reading/critiquing/Beta-ing? Because honestly, I would have to give up my day job, my family, my friends, this blog, and all the side hobbies I wouldn't blog about, but which I still enjoy (ex. reading other people's blogs, interacting on Twitter, going to the movies, watching Breaking Bad, snuggling with my cat, baking the occasional pie) to make room for another serious passion. And that is not something I am willing to do.
As soon as I finished freaking out on that level and came to terms with the idea that I am not going to quit blogging about writing, I thought about what this blog means to me and why I feel so strongly about it being a good choice for me.
Being an active part of the writing community already takes up more of my life than I had intended it to - not that I'm upset about that :) And I really can't imagine what this journey would be like without all the writing friends I've made along the way - which I probably wouldn't have been able to do without this blog. So, for me, the benefit of blogging about writing has been so HUGE, I just can't imagine advising fledgling writers to forego the experience. I've learned and grown so much as a writer through blogging about writing - I wonder where I'd be, and how long it would take to get to where I am now, without it.
So, for me, at this point in my writing journey, I don't feel the need to stop blogging about writing and start blogging about something else. I'm comfortable with my choice, though it may go against current advice from people who know this industry better than I do. And that's because I know ME better than they do - and without all the amazing support of the writing community this blog makes me a part of, who knows if I'd still be writing with the intent to be published one day?
So what about you? What do you think about Meredith's advice? Do you have a writing blog? Or more than one blog?
