Can Blogging Train Your Muse?
Should authors blog? We’ve all seen this question in some form or another. Some wonder if agents expect it. (Not yet but close.) Others want to know if it will help build that elusive platform. (It can.) But I propose another reason to blog: training your muse.
My regular readers are well aware that I talk about my muse like he’s a person. What might not be obvious—as I often comment on my insanity as well—is that I know my muse is just a function of my brain. So I also know “writer’s block” has nothing to do with anything other than my own mind.
About a month ago, Chuck Wendig had a fabulous (although NSFW) post about the fallacy of writer’s block. In essence, he reminded us that we do not work for our muse. I agreed so much that I commented:
It’s the other way around. And if he doesn’t show up to work some days, I just start rearranging things in “his” story (i.e. write anyway) until he starts freaking out about how I’m messing up everything and he tells me how things should be. Heh. Sucker. He falls for that trick every time. Writer’s block be damned.
I was reminded of this recently when my friend, Elisa Jeglin, posted a great analysis of the different reactions writers have to writer’s block. She identified the Denier, the Freak Outer, the Determined-er, and the Cheater. As my comment above shows, I’m a cross between a Denier and a Determined-er.
But it’s so so easy to be a Cheater, to wait for the muse to return. So how do you prevent that?
Write a Professional Blog
Adding to the loads of great information on her site, yesterday Kristen Lamb posted the top reasons an author should blog. Guess what her number one reason was?
Blogging helps you develop skills necessary to be successful in our writing career. … If we [blog] the way we should, we must post regularly. … If we only blog … when we feel inspired, our blog is worthless for our career. When we are held accountable for posting blogs regularly, we begin to work those self-discipline muscles that are so critical to a successful career. Blogging strengthens your skills as a writer and gets you into great habits.
And that’s completely true. Anyone remember my post about when it’s okay to fake it? Over half the time, I don’t have a clue about a topic for my Tuesday/Thursday blog schedule until around 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays. (And here you thought I had a plan… *pshaw* I just blew that perception out of the water, didn’t I?)
If I was going to take the easy way out, I’d skip blogging. I’d rationalize and say that my readership isn’t big enough for anyone to notice if I skipped a day.
But I don’t.
Because Kristen is right. Blogging on a schedule teaches you about deadlines. So I make myself do it, even when my brain feels completely empty of ideas. Writer’s block? It doesn’t exist—can’t exist—in the life of a professional author.
Does your muse work for you or is it the other way around? How do you get your muse to show up for work? If you blog, do you post regularly?
Quick reminder: If you haven’t completed the polls on my previous post, please check those out after leaving your comment. I’ll have the results, showing how people use blogs, for next week’s Tuesday post. (Oh look! A plan. Shiny.)
LOL that’s funny. Mainly because one of my nano warm ups was the blog. I admit I didn’t post as many this year as last (only 18 for the month). However, part of that was due to not wanting to waste the little writing time I had on some days. What I found was this. I do better when I can go through my email, twitter hello, check the DMs and @’s (it’s kind of like answering email to me) and then post a blog, or edit story. I have not really tried to post significant days, like say, every Thursday. I was trying for once a week without a day and found that was very bad. I’m writing my blog to tell the journey of being a mom while trying to start a writing career, as well as the writing career, and the steps I’m going through. Sometimes, being a mom means I don’t get what I want. I have to choose between blogging and writing on my MS. I usually, usually choose my MS unless it has been more than a week since I blogged. For me, the reasoning is if I don’t finish writing/editing my story, then there will be no next step! But, most days, I do better if I blog. Even if it is for a minute with a short hello/good bye 😀 Stretches the muscles, tells my brain, okay it is time. PS of course, my internet connection is so bad, that I have… — Read More »
Hi Leona,
I know you’re doing the best you can, and the purpose of this post isn’t to make anyone feel guilty about what their doing/not doing/should be doing. My point is that having a writing routine with accountability is good for us. This is one of the main reasons people like doing NaNoWriMo, I think. Along those same lines, blogging – if done on a schedule (even if it’s just “once a week”) – helps create that accountability AND helps build our platform at the same time.
Have you ever tried saving a blog post to go live in the future? If you’re only able to blog once a week, I wonder if you saving your post to go live, say, Wednesday morning, would work. That way, you finish it whenever, and it still posts on a schedule. Kristen will often do all her posts for the week at once and just schedule them to go live in advance. (Like how I finished this post at 10pm and scheduled it to go live at 6am the next morning.)
Amen! The great thing about posting three times a week is that if I am really in a pinch I can repost something from a few months ago, LOL. But, I try not to make a habit out of that. You are dead-correct. There is no room for writer’s block in the world of the professional author.
My attitude is that if you are having a block on your novel, then go write a crap-load of blogs and load them in the queue. You are still doing SOMETHING for your writing career.
When you don’t post regularly it makes it tough for people to follow you and to recommend you. Part of the reason I regularly reference and link to your blog is I know I can count on two things. 1) Great content. 2) You will have fresh posts. I have a very large following (I think I do at least) and I love helping out newer bloggers. But i will only recommend the professional blogs. It would really leave me with egg on my face if I recommended you and you only blogged when you were in the mood!
Blogging regularly helps your peers feel good about promoting you.
Thanks for another excellent blog. Will tweet it when I finally make it into my office, LOL. Having coffee now and yes I have computers all over my house :D.
Hi Kristen,
Thanks! Yes, the point of my blog isn’t to indulge some delusional sense of my self-importance. It’s to help others, build my platform, AND show the industry that I’m capable of being professional. If I come off as unprofessional, then I’m potentially hurting my career. But you explain perfectly how a professional blog can help. And I love your advice for how to deal with writer’s block!
I am a M-F blogger without fail unless the few times I bailed for a spontaneous trip.
I tell myself am an undisciplined writer, but truth be told i am a disciplined blogger. My muse on the other hand hates technology so I am not sure blogging trains her- we’ll see tho’ lets give her time.
Hi Joanna,
I stick to my T/Th schedule because it’s one I can handle without it impacting my writing time too much, and I know lots of writers who do a M/W/F schedule (like Kristen). The point is having a schedule you feel accountable to. I bet if you made goals for your writing and made yourself feel accountable the way you do with your blog, you’d be successful. 🙂 You could also post a word count update at the end of each post to add that accountability.
LOL did that sound guilty? More regretful. I am trying to catch up on technology. I did do one that I posted ahead of time and was set out to roll and it worked. 😀 I haven’t thought about utilizing it for a regularly scheduled blog time. Food for thought. If I can remember how!! I like your blog as it is strictly writing related. I have a few I follow for this reason. Other’s I follow for support in this thing called motherhood that wants to suck up all my writing time by making me feel guilty for not doing A or B because I am writing. My blog is for those types of people. That being said, maybe I will do a couple up a head of time each week, then I can do extra if I have time. As my writing gets closer and closer to becoming more than a dream I’m pursuing, I have been trying harder to have more blogs each week and more about writing on it. And yes, I loved Nano for the daily support and for helping me focus on writing. Ponders for a moment looking at two comments. Maybe for my next blog, I will simply link back to here. Wait, I don’t know haow to do that. Shrugs. Something else to learn… Sigh, and there is my BIGGEST problem with blogging. I can write about writing. About being a mom. About what to do to help, like I did when… — Read More »
Hi Leona,
I’m glad I could give you some helpful ideas. You’ll get it all figured out someday. The great thing about writing is that when we first start, there aren’t any deadlines. 🙂 Good luck!
Thanks for the mention ;p And great post. Blogging definitely helps get me into a writing routine, and even if I don’t work on my main WIP, I’ll at least write a short story that I can submit to help build my “platform.”
Hi Elisa,
No problem! I hadn’t seen a breakdown like that before of the different reactions, so great job. 🙂
Interesting topic! I think regular blogging–whether it’s once a week or more–is important in order to build readership. I’ve been really focusing on my blog the last couple of months, and post six days a week (I take Saturday off). I do try to write blogs ahead of time, especially if my day job is really busy, so all I have to do in the morning is go live.
Hi Suzanne,
And you’ve worked up a great blog too! Wow, 6 days a week? I wouldn’t have time for anything else if I did that. I’m impressed (and a little intimidated). LOL!
Blogging regularly ( I do 2 posts a week) has been very good for me, even though it takes time away from my novel writing. Apart from practice in communicating succinctly, it’s helping me become aware of what my voice really is.
Let’s face it there’s masses of authors blogging, so why would people want to read mine – the answer is in finding what my angle is on things and learning to be confident in sharing that. This translate into my novels as a greater willingness to take risks and go deeper. So the spin off for me is greater than just the practice.
We also have to consider what makes a post interesting and engaging for readers and that’s an excellent training too.
My stats are good for the time I’ve been going, so I must be writing something worth reading.
Hi Tahlia,
Excellent points! Yes, blogging can also train you to get to and make your point in a certain number of words (if you pay attention to word count, which I do) and help you identify your voice. Thanks for the great comment!
Hi Jami!
All good points. During my recent hiatus – I worked out some scheduling details for my blog too. I KNOW! I almost didn’t believe it myself. Me scheduling? Planning? *insert biting nails here* Well, I’m going to try…
M. 😀
Hi Murphy,
I’ll resist a Yoda statement like: There is no try, only do or do not. 🙂 Don’t worry, I still don’t plan my blog posts in advance usually.
[…] why I treat my subconscious like an entity, talking about my muse visiting me in the shower or me dragging him out of bed to get to work, because I-me is my conscious thoughts and my muse is an entirely different voice, a not-me. This […]
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