Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Writing and blogging

It has been an interesting few months for me since I discovered blogging for myself back in January. On the whole, I am very happy with what I have done -- over 110 posts, some of them not all that bad. I have read more words in that time than I would have without the benefit of blogs. I have written more words, too, probably. And that is where my thoughts are today.

Back awhile, Bud asked how long it takes to develop the habit of blogging. and then he reflected on the coments he received in another post. I was, at the time, concerned about the fact that perhaps I didn't blog enough anymore. I guess, looking back at it, that really isn't my concern. But maybe you need some background to understand where I am coming from.

Prior to blogging, I was pen-and-paper journaling for an hour a day, every day. It was a practice I developed in a summer institute with the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project. For about a month after the start of my blog, I kept up my journaling, but then it began to taper off. I told myself it was OK because I was still writing daily. But as I saw my blogging drop off, I began to wonder if I was giving up on writing. And that concerns me. It took me a long time to develop any real confidence in myself as a writer, and I wonder what will happen if I lose my momentum and stop writing for extended periods of time. Will I come back to it? What worries me, then, is giving up on writing. I don't think it matters to me right now what kind of writing I do, as long as I am writing.

In that connection, I am reading more about writing again. So don't be surprised if you see some posts about writing here over the next few weeks.

1 comment:

Lesley said...

I didn't journal before I started blogging so I can't compare. I was wondering what you get more pleasure from when you look back — the blog posts or the journal that you can actually hold in your hands? This summer when I'm away from my computer I was thinking about keeping a sort of collage journal with photos and drawings and a bit of writing just to keep up the habit.