So, You're a Writer with a Blog… Now What?

First, no matter how tired you are, don't cop out with filler.

Why?

You never know when someone will link to you or when they'll read your blog. Case & Point: I was exhausted last Sunday and just threw a few things up after the Equine Affaire. Now, I get Google alerts whenever someone mentions my name or my business. I was linked to that following day based on a prior blog (by a blogger/agent who I have a LOT of respect for and whose clients & writing I love)… but, now I'm rather mortified that someone followed that link and saw the crappy cop-out on Sunday. That was NOT my best face as a writer.

What do you do?

There are a few options, actually.

Keep some spare, pre-written articles around. Ones you're happy with. I… am unfortunately out of them, so I need to remedy this. But, now I'm much more driven to remedy that situation.

(Once I'm done with NaNoWriMo, that is.)

Another option is to have guest blogs. There are lots of great reasons to do this. In no particular order: it frees you from a day of blogging (though, it probably adds another one if you're doing a fair trade - but it's later, so all's good), it brings a new audience to your blog, it brings a new audience to your guest blogger… and it's just fun.

Besides nixing the filler posts (as I'm now aware) - or perhaps a means of doing so - is to consider your content.

Strangely enough, when I talk to a lot of writers and artists, the biggest fear is "What will I write about?" Now, not all artists write - and writers, well, we write, but we all have a creative streak. On the other hand, we often see this creative streak as just part of our life. It defines us, it's who we are, how do we explain it? And why would anyone be interested in that anyway?

Well, it just so happens people are interested in what many of us think of our mundane lives. It's a grand mystery how we can turn glass into art and jewelry (Renée & Sean, this is for you!), or how we can just string words together and turn it into a saga, a better version of their life, a worse (but cathartic) version of their life. Or a unicorn. Or vampire. Artists are magic, and if we can get even a little of that to show people - it's fun and interesting.

Also, people want to know what we don't know. Many artists & writers just LOVE learning new things. A new way to fuse glass? A new kind of poem? Even (for me) how to network, market, and promote? That's why I tend to slant my Writerly Wednesdays to the business side of writing. It's more "magic" to me, sometimes, than putting the words on paper - because it's NOT second nature to me. I was just at the Worcester Chapter of the Downtown Women's Club; it's a whole different world than my desk and chat boxes. (For those who aren't writers and are reading this because I gave you my card… that's a compliment!) I met so many brilliant women who are passionate about what they do - things I cannot do myself but find utterly intriguing: organizing closets, de-stressing busy people, financial advice, holistic advising, boutique owners… and much more. (Strangely, few if any have blogs/websites - or at least ones listed on their business cards where I can easily see them. Business people take note at the missed linkage opportunity!)

Writers, artists? What do you read? What do you want to read? Feel free to let me know what you'd want to see here… or, why not fill in what you want to read yourself?

Trust me, you're not the only one interested!