why blog
Miss Snark is a literary agent who keeps a weblog. It's an interesting read, with many insights into the business end of publishing. She also answers questions from her readers, as in this case about weblogs: Should a novelist start a blog?
Her opinion: no. Novelists should be revising and not blogging.
So I was thinking about this and trying to come up with a list of reasons why authors (or aspiring authors) might benefit from keeping a weblog. It's a bit of a spin on the old question why do you write? -- which has a million answers, many of them the height of snark, such as: Because I can.
This is my (partial) list of reasons a published author might want to keep a weblog. Which (if any) of them is valid, that's something I can't answer, but it is an interesting question.
Marketing/exposure. Given the saturated marketplace and the lack of money/ideas in how to promote new novels, a weblog seems like a fairly cheap and painless way to find potential readers.
Communication. Many readers like to know about the person behind the books they're reading. Reaching out to them through a weblog is like holding an open house. You invite them in for a while, have a short discussion, learn something about each other. And hopefully the weblog keeps them interested in the pause between novels.
Brainstorming. Some people explore ideas best in writing, and profit from feedback.
Politics. Writers are just as political as anyother group of humans. The drive to divide into groups and set up fences and gates is really strong. Once a kingdom is established, it must be defended. Literary rivalries used to take place in letters to the editor or in salons. Now they blossom on the internet.
Solitary Madness. Those who write full time from home have two choices: write, or let yourself get caught up in the household. And as any writer knows, when things are not going well the idea of cleaning the bathroom becomes oddly appealing. The internet -- weblogs, chatrooms, discussion boards -- provide a watercooler-like escape for writers that has nothing to do with cleaning solvents. I try to imagine writing from home twenty years ago when it was just the typewriter, the telephone, and the blank page. How terrifying.
Exhibitionism. Writers have egos, of course. Sometimes big ones.
Dropping Knowledge.* Some writers like to share what they know, or feel obliged to do so in the spirit of wider communication.
Procrastination. Of course. But here's a newsflash: a writer who needs to procrastinate (and I use this word on purpose) will procrastinate, with or without a weblog or the internet.
I probably could come up with more -- if you have others, please speak up, because I think this is an interesting topic. Or maybe it's only interesting to me. Or maybe it's no more interesting than contemplating your own navel, but at any rate, I've opened up this discussion, I dare you to join in.
Before stopping I want to say that in my own case, I don't have big expectations as far as this weblog's ability to boost sales or widen exposure. I think the internet is still too small a universe for that. In my case, it's primarily solitary madness, procrastination, and the compulsion to share. Of course, if somebody could prove to me that this weblog is repsonsible for selling a million copies of my next novel, I'd gladly add marketing to that list. Either way, I'll stick around doing this as long as it seems useful.
*Dropping Knowledge (the website) has a stated goal:
Dropping knowledge means dropping the assumption that we know all the answers. It means questioning the conventional wisdom. It means figuring out which questions are the most important to ask, sharing answers and then challenging those answers. We call the practice of asking questions and sharing wisdom, dropping knowledge.
Final note: I would have posted a comment on Miss Snark's weblog directly, but you have to have a blogger identity to do that, and I don't.