Blogging About Blogging

 By Catherine Dilts

Social media blasts out bite-sized tidbits of info with clickbait headlines. The algorithms flood us with posts on the interests we already have and opinions we already agree with. There’s not much genuine conversation.

Blogs allow for more thought.

I read an article recently on The Dos and Don’ts of Blogging for Writers on Writers in the Storm. Good timing. As a contributor to Type M for Murder, sometimes I struggle to come up with interesting articles. “Content,” in the parlance of social media.

I’ve been blogging for over a decade. There’s a temptation to delude myself into believing I already know it all. Still, the article contained helpful reminders. I especially liked Edie Melson’s closing remarks to keep your blog like a coffee shop conversation, or a welcoming front porch, not a performance.

I use my deck more than my front porch.

Shelley Burbank wrote about the pressure for authors to spread the word far and wide about their work in her Friday Type M for Murder post. I share her frustration. Marketing feels like the opposite of cultivating a “welcoming front porch.” The marketplace appears flooded. Some of the competition is stiff, while much of it will likely not stand the test of time. Yelling “buy my book” and “look at me” may sell a few copies, but longevity depends on quality writing.

How much time should authors spend launching a new book? What actually works? Is it worth paying for advertising? How does one make a profit in this business?

My Big Question lately is how much time should I devote to social media? Is it worth taking time away from creating fiction to attempt maintaining a presence? Is blogging worth the time and effort?

At a PPW meeting, Writing from the Peak blog co-editor Deborah Brewer gave her two goals for the articles. The first is Encouragement. How will the article uplift beginning writers, or authors whose careers are struggling? Second, she emphasized Community Building. Writing is mostly solitary. We need to make human connections using our writing organization Pikes Peak Writers. How will articles draw people into community?

Great advice. Is it counterintuitive to write helpful blog articles supporting other writers when our hope is to draw attention to our own work? I enjoy blogging. I don’t like selling myself. I posted a Substack last week that was about fishing for halibut, not writing. I suspect no one interested in ocean fishing went immediately to purchase my cozy murder mysteries set in northeast Oklahoma.

But isn’t that part of creating a front porch atmosphere? Engaging in genuine communication has to involve more of the personal, and less of the standoffish “I’m selling something to you, the customer.”

I’m trying to find the balance.

Deeper communication. I can’t completely abandon social media, but I have to make it work for me. Rein in the beast that can consume way too much of our time with mindless scrolling. I’ll still announce my book and short story publication news. That’s sort of a must-do, making use of free exposure.

Blogging will continue to be my outlet for less sell-sell-sell, and more here’s a cute photo of my puppy, the life-cycle of the cattail, news about record-breaking halibut, or escaped laboratory animals wreaking havoc.  

I’m a writer, not an advertising executive or marketing maven. When the muse is on my shoulder and the writing is flowing, I need to funnel that energy where it’s most important. My writing.