Much of my Sunday was spent in my pajamas, in my bed, messing around on M’s laptop.
Some of the resulting evidence (please excuse the wet, tangled hair; I was post-the only shower I took all weekend):
The weekend was non-eventful. I did get out of my pajamas a few times – to go shopping in SoHo, to eat lobster rolls in Nolita, to see (and laugh very hard at) Superbad, to inhale Mexican on the Upper East Side, to spend $54.98 at Duane Reade when I only went in for paper towels.
But mostly, it was me and the laptop and M beside me, with his books.
Mostly, it was me staring at a blank screen, waiting for divine inspiration to come and possess my hands and type the sort of short story that brings prizes and accolades and financial independence in the form of feature film rights.
I haven’t been writing. Other than, you know, this thing that I do here. I haven’t been writing fiction, I haven’t been writing the short stories that prompted one of my professors – himself a published author – to tell me mine was the best undergraduate writing he’d seen in years and years of teaching. I haven’t been writing and, as a result, and I know this is going to sound odd, and I don’t really care – my soul feels cluttered.
I have all of these half-ideas and characters and storylines running through my head and they have no home. To paraphrase that song that was very popular as a result of Grey’s Anatomy, if I get them on paper they can stop threatening the life they belong to. So I should do that, get them on paper. Or up on screen. Or anywhere but my head, where the ideas just tend taunt me, upset about the fact that they are just that – ideas.
I’m curious as to how many of you bloggers also write fiction. I know that they don’t go hand in hand, but I also know that in many cases, they do. I know that blogging, for many, myself included, is a form of exercising the muscle. If you write every day, the bicep of your craft is going to be toned, is going to look stunning in a halter. (I think of the writing muscle as a bicep; I have no explanation). Some of you (hi, Pete! How are things in Canada today?) incorporate fiction into your blogs, which I so admire. I’m more terrified of presenting my fiction than I am of laying my neuroses bare to be judged.
So, tell me. Do you blog just to blog? Do you blog to keep the bicep fit, or get it into shape? Do you blog in lieu of fiction writing? Or do you (cough overachiever cough) manage to do both?
Update to a previous post: Oh, and Mike - Molly’s boss and one of my true BlogFriends - has put up his own take on the Great Patriots Garbage Can Debate of ‘07: http://mikesgotnothin.blogspot.com/ It helped me to understand why the damn garbage can is so important to M. I think I’m going to, reluctantly, let him keep it. But I’m going to make sure it is stored out of view, UNDERNEATH the desk. See? Compromise.
I get my best ideas when I’m in the shower or washing the dishes…the exact moments where it is absolutely impossible for me to grab a pen. Maybe I should invest in a tape recorded but I’m sure that will stay blank just like my computer haha
I used to write fiction, but I haven’t in a very long time. At this point I’d be lost without my blogging…it’s a really good outlet for me. I’d love to write a book one day, though. About what I have no idea.
I am. Therefore, I blog. Sounds like the next great bumper sticker, don’t you think? Do people even do bumper stickers any more? Maybe it’s the next great t-shirt. I don’t know. It’s an outlet, this blog thing.
I agree with Mike, my blog is totally an outlet for me. I used to write when I was younger, mostly short stories. Now I probably couldn’t find the time or a subject to write about. Blogging is good enough for right now. Maybe someday I’ll want more.
honestly? i blog because i love to write. someday i hope to write a book, but i know with all of the authors, in all the world out there, those chances of actually happening are pretty slim.
so, i guess i blog because it’s a release for me as well…but i’d be lying if i didn’t say that i also love the ability to connect with people, making them laugh (or cry!) through my stories.
causing people to think about things they otherwise might not have? that’s pretty cool- to make a mark on someone you’ve never even met.
I like Mike’s bumper sticker quote. Good one.
I need to write outside of the blog since the blog doesn’t really captivate all that is creative. Does that make any sense?
I also used to write fiction. That mostly ended after I graduated from college, though not completely. Blogging is a great expressive outlet for me and I haven’t missed writing fiction at all since I started the blog. It’s so flexible! I may, eventually, get back to fiction, but there’s no rush.
I also stopped writing fiction when I finished university! And I agree blogging is a great way to keep the musle toned as you say. But, through blogging I also found Script Frenzy (I don’t know how to link it, but do a google search and its number one) and I wrote an entire feature length screenplay in one month and I didn’t even have a plot! They also run NaNoWriMo every November with the goal of writing a novel in one month. Check it out! Its worth looking into!
Good luck!
This is going to sound crazy, but I actually hate writing. Weird, right? Sounds even weirder when I say that I was a journalism major. (I just love the design side and wouldn’t switch over to editorial if my life depended on it.)
As for why I blog, that’s a good question. I guess kind of like you said - so I can have some place to put thoughts to vacate some space in my cluttered mind. It’s a really good outlet and it’s nice to get comments from people who have been through the same sorts of things that I write about.
Also, I LOVE Anna Nalick and that song you quoted “Breathe.” LOVE.
And lastly, you look like freaking Angelina Jolie in that first photo montage. I want your lips. And that sounds totally psycho-serial-killer. Sorry.
Hi Clink! Things are just lovely in Canada. I hope all is well with you.
I am fairly private (says the guy that blogs under his real name) so I needed to bring in some short fiction or I would have had very few posts. In addition to the half-assed fiction that finds it’s way onto my blog, I also write screenplays. (Though I’ve been a little Slacky Q. Slackerton lately.)
I started blogging as an outlet for the voices in my head and as a way of exercising the writing muscle. (I see it as a big muscle in my noggin.) The one unexpected downside is that sometimes when I write a post that I like, I no longer feel the driving urge to write anything else that day. It’s like I quieted enough of the voices to be able to function almost normally. If that makes any sense.
I used to write fiction when I was still despairing over a girl. The despair stopped and so did the writing unfortunately. Blogging is great but not as good an outlet for me.
Also, you could try reading this book. It makes me want to write fiction again:
http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/
I do some of both, though admittedly I do much more blogging than fiction writing. It’s just much easier. I do include some fiction and writing exercises on my blog, but not a lot. I use my blog mainly as an outlet, but I do also use it at times as a vehicle for experimenting with storytelling and writing.
One Big Holiday: Me too! Always when I’m in the shower. And I always tell myself “remember that.” And then, of course, some toweling off and drying of the hair later, I don’t.
Molly: Me too. And I don’t have any idea about what either.
Mike: I would put that bumper sticker on my car. If I had a car.
Michelle: I think I’m going to have to adopt the whole “blogging is good enough for now” philosophy and give myself a break from the pressure.
BB: I blog for the same reasons, for sure. But unfortunately it’s not quieting the voices! Damn creative voices!
Courtney: It makes perfect sense. I get it.
Jamy: I stopped when I graduated college too. I guess once the structure was gone, so was the writing?
Hope: I’ve thought about NaNoWriMo before, maybe I should just suck it up and do it! And I’m definitely going to check out Script Frenzy.
KLC: I think I just got lucky with that shot (I spent half of my day creating a sexy screensaver for M’s computer so as to keep away any keen law school girls). My lips don’t normally look so Angelina-ish. But you knew that already.
Peter: I may have to just start incorporating fiction into my blog (GAH!) because the voices, as I mentioned, are annoying. They need to be fed and then they need to shut the hell up.
Jack: My best writing came out of despairing over a boy, I’ll have you know. Now that I’ve snagged one that I lurve, not so much with the creativity…
M: Experimenting is good. At least you’re doing SOMETHING, you know? Something to get the juices flowing. I may start doing writing exercises.
Okay I was about to write “I never knew you were a fantastic writer” but then it sounds like I was saying “because I couldn’t tell from your blog” but that’s totally not what I mean, so hopefully by presenting the phrase “I never know you were a fantastic writer” in this sentence/paragraph, you’ll get what I mean. And what I mean is hooray for you!
I’ve never written fiction. I think up characters and relationships- but never stories with beginnings, middles, and ends.
When you do write something- post it here! So we can all give our laudations!
Clink - LOVE the pics - so hilarious!
I don’t write fiction, although every once in a while I think, why not? I would be soooo good. Then I sit in front of a computer and stare, and inevitably end up on popsugar.com.
that pic function on macbooks = so much fun!
i see blogging as a motivator to practice writing…in a cohesive way. Because I found that my journal was all…jumbled…didn’t make much sense. But blogging organizes my thoughts…lets me reflect on them vs. listing what’s on my mind point form but not really exploring why i feel that way.
Lisa: Don’t worry, I didn’t take it the wrong way! And I don’t think I’m a fantastic writer - that’s part of the problem. The first time the professor called me into his office after class, I thought it was to tell me I wasn’t write for the class because my talent wasn’t up to par. It was, obviously, the opposite but I am still plagued by self-doubt.
DG: Ahh, popsugar and all the rest. Time-sucking vortexes, I tell you. But delicious ones.
Libby: I absolutely agree - my journals were all jumbled. Nothing cohesive. Blogging forces me to make sense of a situation, which ultimately helps me understand it.
I don’t blog to ‘keep’ the writing muscle fit, I blog to get it fit. When I first started my blog, It was nothing more than teenage angst crap, but I feel as if I’ve evolved as a writer because I have to think of creative/entertaining/brilliant ways (I aspire, at least) to tell about the mundane things in my life.
I write fiction probably more than I write in my blog. I just hardly ever post it. Only here and there.
I blog mainly to vent.
I used to write a lot of short stories and poems when I was younger, but somewhere along the line I stopped.
But I have started blogging again
It’s a good outlet, I think.
ohseven.wordpress.com
I was a creative writing major in college and totally stopped writing once I was out of school. One of the primary reasons I started blogging was just to write again, to feel like I wasn’t wasting my major by looking at Excel spreadsheets all day.
I didn’t write fiction that much, mostly poetry and memoir (which fits nicely with the blogging). But I think this is a great way to get some writing out, even if it’s not exactly the story you want to be telling.
I started blogging to let my friends keep up with my life. We all went our separate ways after high school, and it was hard to keep in touch. Blogging made it easier.
I like writing. Most of the time I’m writing about myself and what happened. Every now and then I have a good idea, but I lose it. I like experimenting, though. Playing around with strings of words to try to convey my thoughts is good for me.
[...] I’m feeling a little like Clink right now. I used to be a good writer. I sailed through my college English classes with flying [...]
I was referred to this specific entry via Lil Irish Lass’ post and I just had to read the entire thing. I found myself being drawn into it because I felt like you and I went through a similar experience (college professor pushing your talent issue, spending way too much at a pharmacy). Fiction gets hard for me too because I can’t just focus on one story at a time so maybe that’s why I BLOG. I BLOG because it’s easier than forcing my imagination to work.
I enjoy your journal! I’m looking forward to reading more!