A Short Blogging Story 03/12/2005 I have been getting extremely blogweary over the last few weeks. Regular readers might have noticed the slowdown in my production and I can only apologize if this has disappointed them. It will probably get worse, not better, I assure you.It's not just the weariness, you see. I did not realize what was happening at first, but it has become clear that my blog strategy is under review. For a start, I am sick of hearing my own opinion. My ideas are so weird that they may be quite entertaining to others but, since I already know them, to me it sounds like stating the obvious. And I am not interested in sparking controversy for its own sake; there's enough argument in the blogosphere without me adding to the din.So it is unlikely that I will do any more opinion posts. My thoughts on the American experience have also dwindled as I spend more time in front of the computer and less out there in the real world. What am I left with? Fiction.And there is the crux of the matter. Fiction is what I really want to do and is the ultimate purpose of the blog. The trouble is that the blog has taken up so much of my time that I have been unable to work on the books that insist upon being written. The marketing has overtaken production.Obviously, I need to decrease the amount of time I spend blogging and concentrate more on writing. I do not want to abandon the blog completely; it has been useful practice and enabled me to establish links with other writers and friends whose input has been very valuable to me. But a decrease in output is inevitable.At the moment, I see my way forward as posting short stories only. This sounds reasonable but is not quite as straightforward as that. Stories do not appear on demand. They stem from ideas that occur haphazardly and cannot be forced. So, if I pursue this course, posting will become irregular. There might be purple patches where the stories suggest themselves frequently but it is far more likely that there will be long periods of silence in between each post.Understand, I am still thinking about this. It is tantamount to accepting that the blog has failed in its original intent: to attract attention from agents and publishers. I am reluctant to give up on that as yet. My hope is that I can think of some form of posting to intersperse with the short stories and thereby continue to update regularly. That remains to be seen, however.While on the subject of short stories, I must mention that I have heard several times recently that it's a dead genre in the publishing world. This makes no sense to me. I would have thought that the short story is the ideal format for the modern world where attention spans are limited, reading skills poor and the pace of life dictates that people rush from one activity to the next. How much sense does it make that readers are prepared to put in the effort to read a complete novel but not a short story?I must presume that the publishers know their market, however. For whatever reason, it seems that people will not buy collections of short stories anymore. So they will miss the enjoyment I had as a child on reading my mother's copy of The Best Short Stories of O. Henry. They will never discover the genius of Zane Grey through such short stories as Tappan's Burro and Yaqui. And who knows what great modern writers of short stories are being ignored by the publishers and, through them, the reading public?The thought occurs to me that blogging may be the last refuge and perhaps the means to survival of the short story. It is, after all, the only form of fiction suited to so transient a medium. Who reads a novel online? Only the most dedicated and determined of readers, I suspect. But a short story that asks no more than twenty minutes of a reader's time has a far better chance of being read, surely.In the end, it does not matter to me whether these thoughts are correct or not. Short stories are what I want to post and it's my blog so that is what will happen. If they are read, great; if not, what have I lost?This post is partly an apology for irregular posts of late but also a quest for input. If you have any thoughts on the matters raised, I would be only too grateful to receive them through the comments system. Thanks for reading!Technorati tags: Fiction; Short stories; Blogging.
Clive
Michael My agent says the same thing. Said, I should say. Having waited fourteen months for a novel I promised him in two, he's suddenly very excited by the prospect of short stories. Funny how that happens. Date Added: 04/12/2005
Gone Away You promised him a novel in two months? Hah, that's NoNoWriMo stuff. ;) But seriously, you can write (yes, I went and had a look); thanks for your thoughts, Michael. And if your agent is now interested in short stories, it seems there's still hope in the world... Date Added: 04/12/2005
1ConfusedWriter Hiya Clive. I read your post and you make a good point. Blogging on a regular basis can be time consuming and reduce the time (that's already scarce) to write good fiction. I seem to be in the same boat right now. I try to look on the positive side, however, and say that the blogging is giving me much needed practice for what I really want to do, write fiction. Regardless of your choice, whether you decide to continue blogging, or go into short fiction, i'll look forward to reading it! All the best, Vic Date Added: 04/12/2005
Gone Away Thanks, Vic. It's a problem that all writers who blog are going to run into and I guess each of us finds our own way around it. Still trying to co,me up with the best compromise, however... ;) Date Added: 04/12/2005
John Clive, your blog is so enjoyable, I will wait for the crumbs! Maybe its because Christmas is coming up and our senses get a bit dull at this time of the year, because of various demands on our time, so our output gets fuzzy. You have enormous writing skills, and you are one of the few blogs that I read, that has something different to offer each time I visit, and it is always profound whether fiction or non-fiction. Be encouraged my friend, you must have a multitude of blogs up your sleeve! :) GBYAY Date Added: 04/12/2005
Gone Away Thanks, John, your comments are much appreciated. I guess we all need encouragement at times and this is certainly one of those times for me! Date Added: 04/12/2005
ME Strauss I'm thinking like John, Clive. Or hoping so. I hear your words and follow your thoughts completely. The tone behind them doesn't sound like the man who writes this blog. Last week I sent a friend flowers with some crayons and a card that said, "November in Chicago sucks. Make the sky a different color." Leave the blog door open to describing how your writing's going. It would be interesting now that we know you to hear your trials and tribulations as you get back to your authorly ways. Besides, I need someone to rile with my Pollyanna syrup. :) Gosh, what mischief would I be in without you to come around to check on me every now and then? Date Added: 04/12/2005
Gone Away Ah, Liz, there is more to the man behind the curtain than you ever suspected. For one thing, he checks up on you much more than you realize. ;) This may have been just a moment of depression. And, predictably, as soon as I'd posted it, I had an idea for an opinion post. That is so me... Date Added: 04/12/2005
Orikinla Osinachi Who says Short Story is no longer in vogue? What is a novella in contrast to a novel? What makes a novel? Can we call George Orwell's "Animal Farm" a novel or a short story? What of "Life and Times of Michael K" by J.M. Coetzee ? The list will be too long if I continue to give examples of short stories mistaken for novels. What people want to read is a damn good story, whether long or short. Just write a good story. Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" is only 158 pages long and it is more celebrated than his voluminous "Anthills of the Savannah". God bless. Date Added: 05/12/2005
Gone Away It is just that I have heard several times recently that there is no market for the short story these days, Orikinla. As to what is or isn't a short story, I seem to remember that it's generally defined as anything under 10,000 words. It's a bit of a meaningless definition in the context of blogging anyway, since this format demands much shorter stories than that. Most of the stories I've posted have been around 1,000 words long, the longest no more than 2,000 words. But I agree that people want to read good stories - and I wouldn't be posting them unless I thought they were worth reading... ;) God bless you too, my friend. :) Date Added: 05/12/2005
Marti Ah, my friend, you are indeed in a pickle. I find myself equally sour at times. I love reading your work here, so I pray you do not abandon. If I might make a suggestion... If you feel the need to limit your blogging, but worry about the irregularity causing readership to decline, announce that you will now be posting weekly (or bi weekly) on Sunday (or Sunday/Thursday), whatever day(s) suit your schedule. Write your pieces up when the muse strikes, have some short fiction at the ready, and when posting day comes ‘round, drop them in. Readers will know what to expect, you won’t feel pressured to produce “on demand” and you can write more comfortably. I personally keep a backup file of jokes to post when I am too busy or lacking material for an original piece. I always enjoy reading your work. I wouldn’t read the eulogy for the short story just yet. Amazon has recently started a program of downloads for short stories for $0.49 each (I think - I don’t have the facts right here and I am rather rushed at the moment, sorry). Anyway, you could look into that for exposure, even if the monetary reward wasn’t great at first. Best wishes to you. Date Added: 05/12/2005
Gone Away Thanks, Marti; good suggestions. The problem with setting particular days for posts is that I know myself too well - I'd loaf around until the posting day arrived and then panic! But some of sort of schedule is necessary, I know. I'm working on it. ;) Interesting about Amazon's short stories, too - must look into that. :) Date Added: 05/12/2005
Ken You're not alone in suffering this problem, Gone Away. As you say and Marshall McLuhan said, the medium becomes the message, so that to keep the blog alive, one has to write to serve it, which is the industrial, conveyer-belt model and entirely the wrong way about. Perhaps the solution is to regard the demise of a blog as a necessary part of its life? I've been thinking about this myself because I write too much poetry and, if I want it to improve, I have to write less, revise more and publish much more selectively. There's also the issue of the validity offline of work already posted online. It's a hard nut to crack, not least because of the attachment that grows up between readers and bloggers. When I go away I miss the contact and am beginning to wonder exactly how healthy that is! Date Added: 05/12/2005
Gone Away You make some very interesting points, Ken. I have pondered them for a while, hence the tardiness of this reply. As you say, the medium has become the message, yet I am not entirely sure that this is a bad thing. Just as an instance, it has shown me that I can write short stories, something I had never suspected before. The problem lies in the tendency of the blog to become obsession; so we watch its statistics every day, think about strategy and tout for business. Pretty soon we find we have no time left for anything else. And it is this that I want to address. How to get the blog back into perspective so that I can allow it to live without it becoming my master? Not easy, when you love statistics as much as I do. ;) As to the matter of publishing stuff that has already been posted to the blog: you can't do it. It has to be faced that anything put in the blog has gone - it is no longer yours. We can yell about copyright and so on but it's unenforceable on the net. So I accept this and regard my posts as free samples. As you have pointed out, this builds a readership that gives valuable feedback that can then be applied to the stuff you don't blog. And yeah, it's a community; surely there can't be anything unhealthy in that? Date Added: 06/12/2005
ME Strauss Ah Gone, now you underestimate me. I suspected. For sure I suspected. The Pollyanna that you see has many more dimensions. I await that opinion. I have been thinking about you all day and can't believe you are going to take this short story thing lying down. Of course there are short stories and essays everywhere. I'm also not convinced that things on blogs can't be published in books. Publishers are lacking content it is a matter of finding the publisher who wants what you have to publish. Work. yes. Impossible. No. Not for a writer like you. Date Added: 06/12/2005
Gone Away I was merely repeating received wisdom, Liz. But you know me, just because the experts say it is so, doesn't mean I accept it. I will continue to write short stories for the blog as and when they occur (ever had that feeling when you finish a story and you think, "That's it, there are no more, I'll never write again:?) And, in the same way, just because "they" say that things published to the net won't be taken up by traditional publishers, I don't have to believe it. If I ever manage to get a few things published, I won't hesitate to offer them stuff from the blog; a bit altered and filled out maybe but still blog posts originally. ;) Date Added: 06/12/2005
Scot Clive, Your frustration is clearly evident, and I have often argued with myself along the same lines. When I started blogging, I first tried a two to every three day approach to posting but soon realized I would burn out quickly not just trying to keep up with the output, but also with trying to keep up with the commentary in response to others, as well as their responses to me. I'm still not sure if blogging is a viable occupation that will lead to future success. The only way I have succeeded with having my work published is by sending out again and again and again. Editors are a damn fickle bunch, and it just happens to be whatever particular mood their in when your work lands on their desk. I've collected enough rejection slips over the years do paper an entire room with, and should I ever find eventual success, I might still do just that. Never be discouraged in your abilities. You write well, my friend. Who knows, but a thought occured to me the other day about how grand it would be see an anthology published that contained some of the best writing being done today by bloggers. Merry Christmas and good cheer. . . Scot Date Added: 06/12/2005
Scot Clive, Your frustration is clearly evident, and I have often argued with myself along the same lines. When I started blogging, I first tried a two to every three day approach to posting but soon realized I would burn out quickly not just trying to keep up with the output, but also with trying to keep up with the commentary in response to others, as well as their responses to me. I'm still not sure if blogging is a viable occupation that will lead to future success. The only way I have succeeded with having my work published is by sending out again and again and again. Editors are a damn fickle bunch, and it just happens to be whatever particular mood they're in when your work lands on their desk. I've collected enough rejection slips over the years do paper an entire room with, and should I ever find eventual success, I might still do just that. Never be discouraged in your abilities. You write well, my friend. Who knows, but a thought occured to me the other day about how grand it would be see an anthology published that contained some of the best writing being done today by bloggers. Merry Christmas and good cheer. . . Scot Date Added: 06/12/2005
Gone Away Thanks, Scot, I appreciate all that you've said. When it comes to the traditional approach, I really need an agent. I'm hopeless at coping with rejection. The Gabbler came very close to publication in England but ultimately the editor sent me a letter that I construed as rejection. I couldn't even read the letter again for six months, let alone send out invites for more rejection, I was so destroyed. When I eventually steeled myself to read the letter again, I realized it was not rejection at all but a very badly worded suggestion for a few changes. By then it was too late, of course. I console myself with the thought that, if that editor was so incapable of writing an intelligible letter, who was she to judge my book? Small comfort, I know. So now I look for an agent to be my buffer against rejection and find that they are just as difficult to find as publishers. Hence the use of the blog as an extra string to my bow, even though it was never likely to work anyway. But now I like the blog and am grateful for the things it's taught me along the way, so I won't abandon it altogether. I really must learn to ignore the statistics, however... ;) I like the idea of an anthology of the best blog writing - there's an idea to put before a publisher! Who will do the choosing, however? :D Merry Christmas to you too, Scot. Up there in the frozen north you are more or less guaranteed a white one; I shall think of you clearing the snow from your path as I look out on Oklahoma's dry, dead lawns and frosty landscape but not a lot of snow! :) Date Added: 06/12/2005
QueenBitch I've just discovered your blog, and am so incredibly in love with your writing. You can't stop now. This is one of the few times that I've actually taken the time to go back and read original posts...and couldn't stop. I'm looking forward to reading more. Date Added: 06/12/2005
melly Gone, it is interesting how I've recently heard from several writers-bloggers that they have come to the same conclusion as you. I can totally understand and relate. Since I like blogging too much I'm trying to find balance. (Isn't balance they key to everything in life?) I'm sure you won't leave us hanging and stop blogging altogether but find a way to do both things. As for short stories. As far as I understand the business, usually it is successful novel writers who publish short story collections. Yet, it doesn't mean that this is written in stone, it just means that things would be harder for you. But it strikes me that you often take the more difficult route or the less travelled road, am I right? Date Added: 06/12/2005
Gone Away Thank you, Queen (may I call you Queen? I don't like that other word - it's a female dog :D). My problem is really how to get the blog to take up less of my time - I have allowed it to become an obsession. So I don't envisage giving it up completely but perhaps posting a bit less frequently. The blogosphere doesn't get rid of me that easily! ;) Date Added: 06/12/2005
Gone Away You're quite right, Melly, balance is the answer. I have this tendency to give everything to my latest obsession and that is what happened with blogging. Like you, I love it! So I must discipline myself and apportion my time more sensibly. But give it up completely? Nah, not me! :D And yes, I do seem to have a habit of always choosing the most difficult route possible. They gave me a map of life when I started out and it doesn't seem to have any of the easy roads marked on it... ;) Date Added: 06/12/2005
Deborah WordPress and Movable Type (along with others) allow you to predate posts to publish in the future. Does your software allow this? If so, then you write as many posts as you can stand and put your blog on autopilot. Then schedule an hour per day to post replies to the comments. You're not alone in your obsession. I think most of us fall into that trap at one time or another. As Melly pointed out, keeping a good balance is important. Date Added: 06/12/2005
Gone Away Hah, if I could write posts ahead of time, I would, Deborah. I seem to need the pressure of a deadline (even if self-inflicted) to force myself to write even one. Now that I have granted myself a little break from my normal routine, I'm finding it even more difficult to write posts, starting them, dawdling and then deciding against them halfway through. Only this morning I began a huge theological treatise and am now debating whether I should finish it (it's a bit controversial). So really I need to establish a new routine with less bias towards the blog. Balance, that's the answer, balance! (said he as he fell off the tightrope...) Date Added: 06/12/2005
Deborah "Balance, that's the answer, balance! (said he as he fell off the tightrope...) "
LOL! Isn't that the truth!
As for your theological treatise, go ahead and finish it. Then go pound out a chapter of your novel. That's the only way you're going to ease that annoying itch. Date Added: 07/12/2005
Gone Away Thanks, Deborah. Excellent advice. :) Date Added: 07/12/2005
Broken Messenger I am sick of hearing my own opinion. My ideas are so weird that they may be quite entertaining to others but, since I already know them, to me it sounds like stating the obvious.
Yes, but Clive...that's why we read! ;o) Date Added: 07/12/2005
Gone Away Hmmmm, good point, Brad. Perhaps I might still do the occasional opinion post... ;) Date Added: 07/12/2005
Miladysa I think that a blog is a great medium for short stories and when the book is published you can always use the blog to help promote it. Good luck :) Date Added: 08/12/2005
Gone Away Thank you, Miladysa. I especially like that "when the book is published"... ;) Date Added: 08/12/2005
QueenBitch Oh please do call me Queen! ;) Date Added: 08/12/2005
Gone Away Queen it is then! :) Date Added: 08/12/2005
Ken I agree with what you say about what is effectively the loss of anything published on the blog and about the value of the kinds of spontaneous micro-communities that grow up as a result of the contacts brought about via the comments system, but ... do we see ourselves turning out relatively readable poems or short stories at the rate of one hundred plus a year indefinitely? Are there infinite numbers of diamonds in the mine? This does concern me because I know the answer, in my own case, at least. Date Added: 08/12/2005
Gone Away This has to be a major concern to anyone as non-prolific as I am, Ken. I suspect that the cache of diamonds is getting pretty low. But, having said that, I do keep surprising myself with the discovery of completely new stuff. I have thought for months that I was all mined out but always something else seems to arrive when least expected. And I console myself with this thought: Many of these stories have been in existence in my head for years but, had it not been for blogging, I would never have written them down. The genuinely new ones would not have been thought of at all, in all probability. So, as long as I keep discovering short stories, I'll blog them. It's really a matter of not allowing the blog to get in the way of my primary purpose - the writing of books. Poetry is different, of course, particularly as it is your primary purpose. And I can see your problem; post the weaker or unfinished poems whilst keeping back the best stuff? Hardly the way to advertise your abilities, I would have thought. Keep churning them out in the hope that the well turns out to be bottomless? Scary, at the very least. I don't know what the answer is, but look at it this way: how much has your output increased as a result of blogging? It's not all bad, is it? Date Added: 08/12/2005
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