Hitting the Books

Okay, as my husband (who blogs much, much, much more than I do–he has over 5 blogs going right now) pointed out last night, all bloggers are writers.

What I should have said was, “Should those who want to write full-length novels, and who have extremely limited amounts of time, use that limited time to blog?”

Is that better?

Should writers blog?

Back in 2005, when I first started up this blog, I had a relatively regular schedule for posts. However, as the Punkin got older and more demanding, and as I branched off into the world of quilting/sewing, my posts appeared less and less often. I’d look at the site guiltily every day, but be unable to sit down long enough to post on something interesting.

Added to my problem was this: To have a successful blog requires not only good content, but also good comments on other people’s blogs. I used to spend hours reading other blogs, then even more time commenting on what I read. You know, that whole interaction/traffic thing. So by the time I was done my nightly surfing, my eyes were crossing, my yawns were splitting my head, and all I could think of was bed (I get little enough sleep as it is–my doctor has actually ordered me to get more). Worst of all, my own writing was sitting there untouched.

I eventually took a sabbatical from all blogging, writing and reading, in order to focus on finishing my first novel. That finished, I tried to get back into blogging, and instead got side-swiped by NaNoWriMo. Then sewing projects one right after the other. Until recently, working my way back into the thick of the blogsphere has been near impossible.

I now have two blogs that I attempt to post to on a semi-regular schedule, without much success. This one gets new posts only when I’ve a book review to post. Hitting the Blocks gets new content only when I finish a project. And I’ve got the insane idea of adding a third to chronicle my attempts at homeschooling. I’d love to get my blogs up to the level they were that first year, but somehow I just don’t see that happening. But when to add all this content? The small amounts of time I do have for writing (usually from about 11pm to 1am), I now hoard for working on my books.

So I ask again–should writers blog? Yes, it can be a wonderful place to trade thoughts, receive criticism and support, and find new ideas. But it can also be a terrible time-suck. In the time it’s taken me to write this one post, I could have gotten two or three pages of my book(s) written (possibly more, since it’s still early and I’m relatively coherent).

That being said, I’m off to work on a skirt. And then to write. Hopefully.

And that says it all.

Now back to our previously scheduled life…

It’s been three weeks since NaNoWriMo started, and despite slacking off several evenings, I am well on track to finishing on time!  Hit 70% tonight, which translates to just over 35,000 words.  Whew.  And that’s with having to develop a whole new plot line, since the main plot just was not going to fill the full 50,000 words, and having to redraw the floor plan of Summerford Park.  I’m one of those writer’s who has to have maps and pictures and whatnot to be able to write properly, and the set-up I had for the house just was not cutting it.  I had to be careful though, since I love drawing house plans and could easily lose myself in them for hours on end.  Which is not something I have time to do right now.

Well, my eyes are crossing, so I’m going to go crash.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

25,067 baby!

Past the half-way mark!