So many blogs so little time

There are many reasons writers participate in blogs. Blogging is primarily a way to connect with readers, librarians, booksellers and even other writers. It’s also a way to advertise our work and even ourselves. But how much is too much. How much information do we really need to share and how many blogs do we need to participate in.

Well, I think that’s a question that needs to be asked on a regular basis and it’s an ongoing balancing act. I have a few blogs that I haven’t updated in awhile and that’s a big no-no in the world of blogging. I plan to rectify that soon as some major energy drains in my life are nearing resolution - a great big yeah!

Ah the joys of being a writer when life gets in the way.

Anyway, blogging also helps writers keep their minds sharp and their writing skills developed, even though we sometimes do not have the luxury of a lot of edit time, so you will find some mistakes along the way. Although, one could say this just shows that writers are human - to err is human, anyone? (Just in case you don’t recognize it, this is a quote from Alexander Pope - To err is human; to forgive, divine.)

In some ways blogging is like writing a column. Granted columnists have more editorial input and many, many blogs have none, but putting our thoughts out there helps to connect bloggers to readers in a similar way, and that can be exciting and a bit scary at the same time.

It’s important to know how much information to share because once it’s out there - it’s out there! A more recent technological example of this is “sexting,” where people send explicit photos of themselves to someone and either by design or unintentional button pushing, the image often gets a wider distribution than originally intended. A number of just-turned-eighteen adults have found themselves in front of the law for spreading child pornography because someone underage person sent them a photo and then they forwarded it to others. Guess their barometers for acceptable, even legal behavior is still not fully developed. Of course, we have enough recent examples in the news of much older, more responsible “adults” doing similar or even worse things.

So, just because we can do something doesn’t mean that we should. It’s almost too easy to post information on the world wide web (www) frontier, and like any other frontier, there are predators and legal authorities still struggling to see who gets to be in control. So, arm yourself with at least some protection in the form of common sense when it comes to not only blogging but posting comments as well.

Maybe I’ll let my characters do all the talking for me.

BTW I’ll be blogging tomorrow at www.romanceuniversity.org. So come on by and watch me behave myself. However, my characters might not.

Why Blog?

I've been blogging daily since last August at my personal blogspot, http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/, but before that I blogged weekly right here at Acme Authors Link.

Blogging takes a bit of time, not only in thinking up a topic, but also in making it sound intelligent and appealing to readers. Preparing the blog isn't all there is to it. After that, there's the business of getting everyone in cyberspace to know it's available. Depending on my subject matter, I send short messages to egroups I belong to, as well as ping.fm, mybloglog.com, and pingmyblog.com. Sometimes I don't get to all of the spots due to time constraints.

Right now I'm getting Killer Career ready for publication. With a full time job, my time is really limited. After it's ready, I still have lots of marketing ahead of me. I keep thinking I'll forget something important and it will be my downfall.

I've got Book Place to maintain and am a bit behind on that score. Also, I have a Library List to get out for MWMWA. With all that going on, I still take time out to blog here, at Make Mine Mystery and my daily blog, as well as at The Blood Red Pencil.

Why? For one thing, I enjoy blogging. I like visiting and meeting new friends and commenting on their blogs, although lately I haven't been able to do that as much as I'd like to.

Blogging is a great way to maintain discipline and keep up a writing habit. I believe that any type of writing helps develop skills and keeps the brain moving, sometimes in unexpected directions. Also, blogging gives me lots of Googles and lots of web presence.

The downside is blogging does take away from my manuscript writing time. Because of that, sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the wrong thing by blogging so consistently. Other times I think I'm doing the right thing because I'm doing what I want to do and when it's time to finish a manuscript I'll know it.

What about you? Is blogging a good or bad thing? Why do you blog? Please share