Friday, March 12, 2010

Blogging About Blogging

When I get up around 6, I go to the local online newspaper to see whether Dave had a hard or okay night at the fire station. Then I visit all of my cyber friends (like YOU!). Then I check Google Analytics to see whether that gaping hole in the southeast has filled in at all (come ON, Carolinas!).

After several minutes of that, the green tea has kicked in, and I'm ready to write. Or not.

If I don't have something in my heart to share, I either scramble spinach eggs for my cuties, or I try to make myself a cup of coffee (despite working in an amazing coffee shop for years in college, I can NOT manage to make coffee).

If there's something I dreamed about sharing all night, I quickwrite it up and slap an image on it.

Either way, I try to get off the computer fast, so it's not the first thing my kids see when they hop out of bed.

When they're off to school, and if I don't have teaching or have finished, I make Blog Round 2. Sometimes by then I've actually come up with something to blog.

Oh, and then. I do a little writing. And I mean little.

Right now, I'm revising a YA paranormal for an agent. And I'm thinking/plunking away on an adult sci-fi short story. And on a non-fiction piece on epilepsy.

And in between all that, I talk with Dave about his shift, or about what Reesie broke or Dominic built while he was gone; and I meet my friends for coffee or lunch; and I grade, clean, cook, and grocery shop. I do yoga and walk or run. I spend time in the kids' classrooms and send my brothers and sisters love notes. And I read. (Stephen King's Under the Dome sits on my nightstand like a granite boulder.) All that, so I have something to blog about.

Do you know what I mean?

6 comments:

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Yes. I do know what you mean, but we shouldn't let ourselves feel that way. The blog is supposed to be a way of making connections and building friendships, AND the "I'm a writer" stuff of course. I don't think it matters if every post is awesome or if 1 in 20 is just average. The key is popping in and saying hello, so that we can say hello back!

So relax, blogger buddy. :-)

DL Hammons said...

A blog post that elicits a comment...like this one...informing you about the smile it generated...

...served a purpose!

There is creativity in the everyday.

Unknown said...

Agree with Shannon and DL Hammons. And as we all keep coming back it must mean your blog is quite a nice place to hang out.

Keep it up :)

Jackee said...

It's so hard to find balance. I know! Blogging could take over if you let it, as could any computer time (ahem... writing). I like to think of blogging as occasionally dropping by a friend's house or calling them to see how they are. I can't say hi to all of them all the time, but I can visit with a few at a time.

And the real life stuff is fodder and the color that we document.

Just keep doing what you're doing!

anjie said...

Can't wait to read the paranormal work -- and that epilepsy piece is well-crafted with lots of heart. You've got good juju, Jennie, in your writing life and in your home. It's fun to see it show up in your blog.

Jennie Englund said...

That's all super inspiring, cyber friends.

I love you!