Thursday, January 27, 2011

Guest Blogger Joanna Aislinn

I'm thrilled to have my first guest blogger with me today. Joanna Aislinn is talking about a subject very close to my heart...


THE BLOG:  Lovin’ It, Hatin’ It, Lovin’ It…

Good day, everyone! So happy to be here! Thanks to Jana for this wonderful opportunity and to all of you who took time out of your day to stop by!

My blog and I have this love-hate relationship. I love connecting with readers, writers and all kinds of other folks in cyberspace. I love that someone gets to know me through my web pages. Guest bloggers and being hosted at others’ sites rules. I love when I run into someone I haven’t seen in a while and she tells me, “I love your blog.” My day is especially made when an e-mail comes in stating the same thing, from someone I hadn’t heard from before, and I know another subscriber has joined those who have already been kind enough to follow my mental meanderings. I love writing a post when I have a clear idea of what to say and even enjoy letting the words take their own course. And since I’m not big on checking stats—they can be very depressing to those of us who do not post consistently as we’re advised to by those with bigger followings—I love every comment that shows up, proving that someone actually does read all this stuff that spews from my mind and is channeled onto the virtual page via the tap dance my fingers have learned to do on the keyboard.

Then there’s that flip side. (Sigh.)

I hate feeling like I should always be doing something blog-related. I visit other blogs and leave comments and subscribe to a few, but I hate that time is so limited and I can’t read everything out there. I hate that I find it hard to implement so many of the phenomenal ideas available. I hate trying to come up with thoughts to expand upon and don’t like when my blogging software won’t do what I need it to do. I can’t stand how long it takes me to format a post because I can’t manage to keep it simple and not worry about it looking perfect. (Professional appearance counts, right people? I also can’t believe I think about writing so much, I now automatically write ‘write’ instead of ‘right’ on too many occasions, lol.) Promo gets on my nerves, but it is a necessary evil that I enjoy once I’ve gotten past the annoying background work that goes into it.

Finally, I (sometimes) strongly dislike how, in so many ways, writing has consumed my life. I think about it all the time: stories, blogs, promo ideas, the next story, revisions, synopses, e-pubbing, self-pubbing—WHY AM I DOING THIS?! Then something comes together: a scene, a blog-post; that one sentence in my query I couldn’t get right before. Helping someone with the skills and knowledge I’ve acquired in the years since I got myself into this gig. The joy and satisfaction that comes from a reader who ‘got’ what I hoped to convey in any piece I’ve written. And there it starts again: I remember why I truly love it all way more than I can ever hate it and will probably stay with it for a long, long time.

Thanks, again, Jana, for air-time here—and for letting me vent, lol!

Joanna Aislinn’s day-job is taking up too much of her time and energy these days, but it’s teaching her to re-invent herself there and at the writer-end of her life too. (Thank God her husband, two teenage boys and three cats are willing to put up with her!) She’s put more finishing touches on her next story and hopes the day it makes it to the readers’ hands they’ll love it as much as she does. She’s also spending a lot more time learning about craft and promo (the dreaded P-word), but finds herself incredibly inspired at the blogs she follows fairly religiously: Bob Mayer’s Write It Forward, Kristen Lamb’s Blog, Jenni-Holbrook-Talty’s The Glamorous Life, Anna DeStefano’s How We Write (alternating Wednesday series with Jenni Holbrook-Talty), Selling Books and 1st Turning Point. (I know: when does she make time to write?) Get to know Joanna and her writing quirks at her website and blog. Her debut novel, No Matter Why, is available in digital and print formats. 

7 comments:

  1. I feel Joanna's pain. I have the same love/hate relationship with my blog!

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  2. I'm so with you on this! And I'd probably extend the feeling to all the other promotional things I do as well. I love to connect with other writers (and maybe even the occassional reader) but when I can't think of anything to write about, or I'm stressed out by deadlines, the last thing I need to think about is my blog! Sometimes I just want to write fiction.

    Jana

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  3. Amen! So much more fun hanging out in that world of my own making :)

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  4. My blog thoughts exactly! I often wonder if it's worth the effort. So many blogs out there and so little time.

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  5. A real conundrum (?), especially the more I read about promotion, social networking, etc. I remember going to Stephanie Meyer's website. What jumped out at me was this: she stated on the home page that her website was IT. No blog, no anything else. Wouldn't that be awesome? I will, however, go on record saying this: I do enjoy writing my posts. Usually, it's a fun way to break away from my project and feel the free-flow of first draft for a very short period. I find it energizing.

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  6. I agree Joanna. I enjoy blogging, I really do. I've learned so much by doing it and I really enjoy connecting with people. But to me it's sort of like cooking. I enjoy cooking, but when faced with what to make for supper every day, it can get overwhelming and tedious. I find the hardest part of blogging is trying to figure out what to write. I stress over whether my topics are worthwhile and interesting for readers. I don't usually expereince writer's block - except in this area!

    Jana

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