Which is only fair, because writing has made me a lousy blogger.
I guess I should be grateful to blogging -- when I started, a year and a half ago, I had no idea I'd be recording events I'd need to refer to later. I mean, I write almost every day in my notebook, but I don't always cover everything; sometimes all I'll find in there is a tantalizing reference to a major catastrophe, in between complaints about how hungry I am and how much I don't feel like writing. Without blogging, I wouldn't have gotten to know my audience so well, and if I didn't have the support of my online friends, I know my enthusiasm for writing this book would have flagged long ago. I often recommend to writers who are rediscovering their practice that they start a blog. "The deadline really helps," I tell them. "And the feedback. And the instant gratification of publishing as soon as you write. Blogging helps you find your own voice, it leads you to your best material, and it encourages honesty in your writing."
And yet, as I go through the revisions on this manuscript, I see the evidence everywhere -- blogging has made me a lazy writer. The short, punchy paragraphs, the italics and the exclamation points and the ironic asides; the jokey "kickers" or "punchlines" I keep throwing in everywhere -- my editor's green pen has caught most of them; the rest I'm trying to catch myself. I use the simplest language, the most repetitive cadence, the gimmickiest gimmicks. I have become a hack.*
I recently read this book by [post edited here, because I don't want this person to hate me], and the book was weak. It read like a blog. It was very of-the-moment, very pop-culture-reference, very strings-of-words-linked-by-hyphens-to-form-adjectives. You know what I mean? The chapters were short and unrelated, except for the ones that redundantly mentioned things the author had already talked about; the word choice was unexceptional; there wasn't a single emotional moment that was surprising or deeply affecting or caused you to think about something in a new way. It was certainly not the kind of book you could see people reading in fifty years.
Then again, few are. Who's writing for the ages anymore, when we're all pretty sure we're going to be wiped off the face of the earth in about ten minutes? Not me. I'm rushing this stupid book out to beat the apocalypse, and so I can stop thinking about Samantha already, and so I can get to the fun part of writing -- the publishing part. Can you believe it will take a year for this thing to hit bookstores, once I've turned in the manuscript? Why suffer all that, why try crafting and drafting and racking my brains, when I can just blurt out the basics and then hit a button that says, literally, "Publish Now"?
Oh, and strings of rhetorical questions -- another cheap habit I got from blogging.
Which doesn't mean I'm giving up blogging; my ego would never let me. I'm just noticing how one form of writing affects the other, and it's not how I thought.
Next week, I start posting only obtuse, finely-honed poetry. You're welcome.
(*I know, I know, like I was ever NOT a hack.)
But, do you still think blogging is a good way to find your voice as a writer - especially for someone like me that's just getting back into it?
I agree from all the Online work I do (tutoring, chat hosting and moderating), I do write like I chat Online - it's a hard habit to break...like the two -'s I just put in and the infamous ...
Sigh.
Posted by: DonnaD | Oct 24, 2006 at 05:15 AM
Oh yes. I find this so much--the writing style is so different, and when you write in an online voice on a regular basis it's hard to break it when you're writing for print.
I blogged about this a few weeks ago--that blogging is so different from writing that it's lousy writing practice unless you are conscious of the differences--it wasn't, as I recall, my most popular entry.
Posted by: Beanie Baby | Oct 24, 2006 at 07:31 AM
I've had similar troubles with my dayjob as a "technical writer," where I'm encouraged to use certain stock phrases, where metaphors are not allowed, where every move of the mouse has to be meticulously cataloged.
Posted by: M. David Hornbuckle | Oct 24, 2006 at 08:49 AM
I can see how blogging could impact your writing the way you describe, but I don't think all bloggers write that way. I've read plenty of blog posts that were examples of absolutely great writing, and that would be right at home on the printed page. I think a lot of it determined by how you approach your writing for the blog--if you want to treat your blog writing as true writing practice, then you hold yourself to a standard that will translate beyond the blog. I don't think all who read blogs are looking for just fluff and exclamation points. Many of us appreciate good writing that isn't short, punchy and suffused with pop culture.
Posted by: Traci | Oct 24, 2006 at 09:01 AM
Well what do you think of the Sandra Bernhard, Fran Liebowitz trope? The confessional, social diarist thing. Maybe sink some dough into a smart Calvin Klein pinstripe suit and we take some pictures of you at the typewriter with the flared collar showing a little cleavage and chain smoking. Writing about your dinner last night seated between Mayor Bloomberg and Paris Hilton.
Sort of the da-sein and mitt-seing thing. ;>
Posted by: chris lee | Oct 24, 2006 at 09:30 AM
girlbomb!
your blog makes the world go 'round! thanks for taking one for the team...
love,
florence :D
Posted by: florence yoo | Oct 24, 2006 at 11:32 AM
Blogging are fun. Me write pretty witty nasty bitchy essays that get publish someday, better than Fran Liebowitz. Might learn grammar and punctuation too.
Posted by: Jennifer Glick | Oct 24, 2006 at 12:15 PM
A YEAR?! A whole YEAR before we can read the next book?! Damn.
I know, that's not the point. Still, a YEAR!
'Blogging is a great way to warm up for the longer tasks of writing; but sometimes the brevity, immediacy and informality necesary for the small screen can wreak havoc on your style for longer pieces when you have to get down to business. You have to shift voice a bit.
Overall, however, a blog just keeps you moving forward in writing, keeps you in practice, which is sometimes the most difficult thing. That instant gratification of self-publishing is really a great motivation.
The blog is instant gratification for your readers, too. A year. Sheesh!
Posted by: Clio Bluestocking | Oct 24, 2006 at 05:01 PM
And without the blog, I wouldn't get insights like these, which are much appreciated.
I do still recommend blogging for writers, and I definitely recognize that many bloggers don't resort to hacky or gimmicky writing -- it's not the form, per se, that's problematic; it's getting into the routine of writing for one form and then switching to another.
And I definitely need a pinstripe suit.
(Clio, it could be worse; my first book took a year and a half to make it to shelves, which is standard. I'm lucky that Random is talking about putting this one out next fall -- I hope it'll happen!)
Posted by: girlbomb | Oct 24, 2006 at 08:54 PM
And here it was I thought starting a blog made me a writer.
Dammit.
Posted by: DannyO | Oct 26, 2006 at 01:34 AM