Before I get into a discussion of priorities, I want to let you all know that tomorrow this blog will feature a special guest post by Rebecca Rasmussen, author of the forthcoming novel The Bird Sisters (and I will be reciprocating on her blog, The Bird Sisters: A blog dedicated to artists and writers). To learn more about Rebecca and The Bird Sisters, read some background and an excerpt, and watch this trailer:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGxuPRVtC80]
A Wisconsin setting… history… Rebecca’s graceful prose: I can hardly wait for the book’s release!
“Action expresses priorities.”
~ Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi
I’ve spent this week thinking about priorities. It’s funny how inspiration works. A couple of weeks ago Christi Craig wrote on her blog about her decision to blog less, write more, and she mentioned a quotation by William Goldman that I had posted here:
“You have to protect your writing time. You have to protect it to the death.” – William Goldman
I’ve found myself returning in my mind to Christi’s choice, feeling the rightness of it for her, and it has caused me to take another step in this writing makeover of sorts I’ve begun. Over the past few months, I have found that I love blogging more than I ever expected to. In fact, I enjoy it too much, far more than is good for my priorities at this point. I begin a post with the idea it will take 20 minutes, and two hours later I am deep in the flow of it, enjoying myself immensely but wondering where the time went.
While I don’t feel yet that blogging is replacing the writing I want to do, it is replacing other things: supporting the rest of the wonderful blogging community by reading their work more carefully and commenting more frequently, reading more books and short stories, knitting and crocheting (only other knitters and crocheters will understand why I need this in my creative life). I also want to submit more articles to magazines and journals, something I used to do regularly and that I feel is necessary again for the work I want to do.
Priorities.
The action I have decided upon is to revamp this blog slightly in the next few days to make the blog a tab off the main page, which will be an author website. I still plan to write blog posts occasionally, especially to share resources or guest posts or book reviews, but with no specific schedule or expectations. Time will tell whether that means I’ll post every few days or every few weeks.
In the meantime, I am immensely grateful for the warm comments and feedback I have received here and for the readers and writers I have met. You will see me on your blogs and on Twitter and Facebook. In fact, I hope to feel more a part of the internet writing community now rather than less. And, who knows? In a few months I might miss blogging in the same way I now miss my crochet hooks.
To be quite honest, I don’t know how to end this, so I will simply encourage you all to tune in tomorrow for Rebecca’s post, and to have a wonderful end-of-the-summer weekend! TTFN
However often you decide to blog, I’ll continue to look forward to what you DO write, as well as seeing you on Twitter when you have the time! <3
And I understand the knitting/crocheting need all too well. One of these days, I will finish one of these projects! *hug*
My best wishes and looking forward to seeing how you work the revamp!
Aw, Abby, thanks so much! Your support means a lot to. Why am I not surprised that you are a knitter/crocheter? And how do you find the time? lol Your energy is contagious. 🙂
Hugs,
Lisa
Tremendous! I can’t wait to read Rebecca’s post and hear and read the outcome of your protected writing time.
Victoria, thank you! This has been a process of making small change by small change until now I am ready to make a bigger one. And it gives me more time to follow your blog. 🙂
Warmly,
Lisa
I completely understand. I’ve significantly lessened my online time these last few weeks so I could crank out my first draft. For me, everything goes in cycles and I know I’ll be online more when I finish the draft and hand it over to my critique partners. I look forward to your posts–whenever they may be. 🙂
Kristi, thank you so much. Yes, that’s it: I’m at a certain part of a cycle–in more ways than one, being 46. 😉 I’m so pleased to have met you through blogging.
Have a great weekend!
~ Lisa
Thanks for the mention, Lisa. “Slow blogging” has certainly helped me feel more settled lately. And, the nice thing about having a blog is that we, the author, get to mold it – and re-mold it – in whatever way seems best for us and our readers. I’ve been amazed with the blog posts you’ve published so far; even if those posts come less frequently, I know the quality and thoughtfulness of them will remain.
Aw, Christi, thanks very much for your generous comment. It means a lot to me. I have always struggled with whittling down the always-too-many-things-I-want-to-do list, and this is part of the process for me. I refuse to feel guilty. 🙂
~ Lisa
I’ve just discovered you, Lisa, and look forward to your posts whenever you get around to them. Often, less is more. Sometimes my brain just tunes out on me if someone is posting frequently (even if I want to keep paying attention), or if the posts are longish.
Laura, thank you! Finding the right blog balance in terms of length and frequency is such a personal thing. Part of the problem is that there are so many excellent blogs “out there,” and limited time to read them all.
Warmly,
Lisa
Lisa, I totally get it, which is why I’m just now responding to your post. I’m writing so much more than I was, and I’m so happy about that. I have spent less time online than I have in probably years. Mostly, that’s a good thing, but I have missed things, and I haven’t kept up with as many of my writer friends as I would like. My writing is pretty much all blog-related (though you can’t see the results yet — I’m hoping to (re)launch The Pine Meadow Pond Journal on or about Monday, 9/27), and I’m okay with that because nature writing and the like is what I do and what I want to do, and, hopefully, my blog writing will serve a larger purpose in time. I’m going to stick with my writing schedule for now; I’ll probably need to re-jig it once my blog goes live again. Prioritizing takes all kinds of different forms, doesn’t it?
I cannot believe that I didn’t know that Virginia Woolf was a knitter. I knew she was a migraine sufferer, but not a knitter! The hours upon hours I spent on that woman in undergrad, and I did not know that. Sheesh. I knew I liked her. 😉
I’ll be looking forward to your posts whenever you get them out there. The beauty of RSS feeds and email subscriptions is that I won’t miss any! I’ve only recently made your acquaintance but already feel a kinship. It seems that you’re really figuring out what works for you. Each of us must do that for ourselves. Good luck!
Beth, I didn’t know Virginia Woolf was a knitter, either, until just before I posted this entry! Tres cool. I wonder if there is a knitting/migraine connection. 😉
I feel a kinship, too, and look forward to seeing the changes you make on your beautiful blogs. Yes, prioritizing does take many forms! When I blogged a lot this summer, it definitely was the right thing to do. Now, not so much. Who knows about the future…
Hugs,
Lisa
I understand where you’re coming from. Blogging was clogging my writing time 😉 Okay, I’ll stop being clever. I’ve had this weight on my shoulders since this summer when I started blogging. I had to write fantastic blogs and get 2,000,000 followers (give or take), and I had to be the best of the best. All this so that I could get an agent and publish a book. That idea wore itself out, eventually, and I felt a little depressed that I loved blogging so much, but I rarely had time to write as a result and I didn’t think I was doing anything productive.
After I decided to see if I can publish in Iceland instead, this heavy weight has been lifted. It also unclogged my writing rut and I’m nearly finished with my first story written in Icelandic (I’ll re-write and translate my YA sometime next year – this one is MG). I really have a good feeling about this one, and it probably never would have been written if I’d still be spending two hours a night blogging.
In other words: I whole-heartedly support you in your decision 🙂