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.

 

It fills the hole …

By Johnny D. Boggs

Frank Luksa was a longtime sports columnist when I joined the Dallas Times Herald staff in 1984. And I have used one of his sayings a lot over the years.

It even came to mind now and then after Charlotte Hinger talked me into blogging for Type M for Murder every other week for six months. As many of you know, it’s hard to tell Charlotte NO!

Well, six months ends today.

And this Western novelist-magazine writer-photographer-wannabe songwriter-film historian-former newspaper journalist and hack – the same guy who used to tell anyone who asked, “I write for a living. I don’t have time to blog.” – figured something out.

I can blog.

Well, maybe it was never provocative, awe-inspiring or halfway good, but I hope you got something out of it once in a while. A laugh. Or … If This Guy Can Write For A Living, Anybody Can.

Shucks, I even told Charlotte to hit me up again if she needs to. Just let me get through the projects I must finish this year. Including one deadline that, oh boy, is tomorrow.

Sure, I didn’t always figure out how to get the blog posted right. But that’s because my college-junior-techno-savvy son wasn’t around to help. Hey, I started out on a manual Smith Corona. (Sometimes I wish we still used typewriters.)

And I found myself reading Type M For Murder blogs, too. Learning. Laughing. Nodding. Blogging has a purpose.

You folks have talent. Keep it up. I might not be posting, or even commenting, but you can bet I’ll be reading when I can.

Back to Frank Luksa.

Frank had also worked at the Fort Worth Press, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (where I went after the Times Herald folded). After the Herald was being turned into a parking lot, he moved to the Dallas Morning News, where he kept sharing his opinions till he retired in 2004. He died at age 77 in 2012.

He covered the Dallas Cowboys, beginning with their inaugural season in 1960, and kept writing about them throughout his career. It didn’t take me more than a year in Dallas to grow to hate the Dallas Cowboys and loathe football in general. Frank covered the Seoul Olympics in 1988. He would file his column, call in, and if I happened to be editing his piece, as soon as we had OK’d everything, he would have me transfer the call to his home so he could talk to his wife.

When the newspaper closed three years later, I wondered if those long-distant charges had something to do with it.

But I always liked Frank. Hey, I liked columnist Skip Bayless, too. Both were professionals.

Skip was a wordsmith. You went over any changes you made with him. Frank, well, he had seen just about everything. And often, when he filed a column, he would tell me:

“It fills the hole – if not the need.”

Borrowing Frank’s saying and the newspaper symbol -30- (for END OF STORY) is a good way to sign off. 

-30-

Piggy-Backing

I'm frankly piggy-backing on Rick's post. He did his best to advise a beginning author about social media. I'm lucky. Most people simply ask me how to get an agent or how to get a book published. My advice is always the same on those two issues. Write the book first! Then hunt for a publisher or an agent.

I always look trapped and desperate about social media questions. Truth is, you can work into infinity and not begin to tap everything you could do on social media. My original word choice was "should" do but I think that's where the problem comes in.

Pick and choose. Despite all the bad publicity it has received lately, Facebook is one of my favorites. I love hearing what friends and members of the writing community are doing. Contrary to a lot of criticism I hear about the site, I want to know about events that are affecting their lives. Good and bad. I'm deeply grateful for all my Kansas contacts who have kept up with my books and my career. I still feel a special bond to Hoxie.

I rejoice with friends in the writing community who have receive special recognition. It's even sweeter when I know they have struggled to keep their career together.

Specialized blogs--such as Type M-- are pure gold. It always surprises me how many people read this and never comment. They know about it because I mention a new entry on Facebook. I'm grateful for Rick Blechta's faithfulness in tending to this site. A log of blogs go under because the owners aren't faithful to the task.

So here is the advice I would give to Rick's beginning writer:

1.  Make a list of all the organizations you belong to. Check out their websites.
2   Make a list of all the sites related to the non-fiction elements of your books.
3.  Make a list of the people who would really like to know what you are up to.
4.  Pick 10 of these places that appeal to you.
5.  Make a check list (just for tracking) of how often you would ideally contribute to each site. Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly?
6.  Learn to GET OVER IT if you can't or won't make yourself do it.

Personally, I avoid politics and controversaries. Plus I assume people don't want to hear AGAIN about my technology problems that prevented me from posting last week. Or the fall that nearly prevented me from posting today. Or . . .well, you get the picture.

The Weary Blogger

I’m tired tonight. This blog will be very short. It’s not that I can’t think of anything at all to write. It’s that I’ve learned to be frightened of what I will write.

For me, writing is a morning function. That’s when words come easily and writing is a joyful experience. I’ve learned to do non-fiction writing in the afternoon because it’s a different process. It’s much more analytical, but even then it’s easy for me to become careless. When I blog, things can go wrong in a hurry.

Some time back,  I completed a post for BlackPast, the premier go-to site for those interested in African American or African history. The editor, Dr. Quintard Taylor, who invented this site caught a really embarrassing error I had made regarding a date. Normally I would have caught it at once. This site is approaching 3 million readers!! During last year's Black History Month we had over 50,000 readers in a single day.

Because I am a morning person, whenever I have written a really sensitive email where the wording is important, I always always let it rest overnight. Often the wording could be altered or more explanatory. Occasionally, this kind of communication survives the cold scrutiny of daylight.

I’m convinced that social media can be one of the most dangerous trap of all. Twice now, in a state of fatigue, I’ve let some little zinger go. I can’t remember one, but the first had to do with stupid comment during the last presidential election. I do not hesitate to let people know I’m a Democrat, but it wasn’t necessary to incur the wrath of the whole Republican Party. Especially a particular niece. If I had had all my wits gathered around me it wouldn’t have happened. It's easy to be careful during this election because I don't have the faintest idea what is actually going on.

A lot of writers just hate to blog. I don’t. I enjoy reading them and I love making friends with the reading public. However, I have not made one whit of progress on one of my stern New Year’s Resolutions. That was/is to blog ahead of time and to have some other blogs saved back for emergencies. I need to discipline myself to have some blogs in reserve.

Working tired takes another toll. I’ve noticed that I’ve developed a inner scoldiness (yes Spellcheck I know that’s not a word) when I’m not working. A nagging inner voice that insists I shouldn’t be enjoying myself when I could be working.

Sourness expands!