An MFRW Post – and check out the other blogs on the hop!

 

I want it on record that I left my house this weekend! In fact, I’m even leaving the house today, but that’s just because my laptop needs some love and getting the Genius Bar folks to come to me might actually be harder than getting me to the mall.

I digress. The point, I left the house.

I’m an extrovert. It’s a little odd for a writer to be an extrovert, given our propensity to spend long stretches of time in the relativity isolation of our bedrooms or offices, and the far more dangerous isolation of our own minds, where we will start speaking back to our characters, if we go too long without human contact.

So, if we spend all this time down the rabbit hole, how do we come up with any ideas for the blog? 

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Well, for this blog, I don’t. I’ve been successful on the Marketing for Romance Writers 52 Week Blog Challenge for 40 of the 41 weeks, (this one included) and follow their prompts, ideas and inspirations, though often tailoring the idea to better fit my mood or focus for the week. I get to enjoy a new challenge every week, when I look to the prompt and determine how best to approach it.

Part of the impetus for following this challenge, however, is that I also run two other blogs. It’s challenging enough to come up with topics for two blogs, let alone three, and so the MFRW challenge is a nice reprieve.

But come up with other posts I do! One of my blogs belongs to my other pen name, and addresses issues in the industry, craft or simply the hobby of reading and writing romance. For instance, last week I spoke at length about the latest, and rather rude, article in The New York Times about the romance industry, exploring how the writer’s under current of sexism is a much broader issue facing women both in and out of the industry. Next week I have plans to tackle the news from The Ripped Bodice on just how dire the romance industry is for POC writers and inclusive books.

macbook-336692_1920I also discuss themes. For instance, today’s theme was on the importance of female friendship in romance, though I have discussed powerful heroines, happily ever afters and the evolution of the industry. That blog exists on a heavy analysis of romance and women’s literature through the years, from the perspective of a young writer and reader, and I draw the ideas from things that interest, frustrate or please me about the industry I love so much. In an effort to streamline all of it, I keep a document open for ideas and themes to discuss in upcoming weeks.

My other blog has a broader focus of writing. It mostly pays attention to craft and the challenges I have faced in over a decade of writing in my work as a novelist, journalist and blogger. Often, I will explain tips I have learned over my experiences, and give thoughts and ideas on overcoming problems like writer’s block, research challenges, motivation and more.

These ideas stem from my own experiences. I am a working writer and ideally put in several thousand words a day, more if it’s a productive one, and in doing so I come up across new issues all the time. A recent draft came back from an editor with notes on expanding deep point of view, and so I explored some of what makes deep point of view successful and important. 

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I like to write about things that I like and things I have experienced. It makes me feel like enough of an expert to actually talk about a specific topic, and I truly enjoy teasing out answers and analyzing issues. It’s a fun day when I get to discuss my own writing in a broader sense, and to explore what might have worked or didn’t work in the process.

I recognize that we don’t always get to write about what we want. For instance, I also do marketing copy for freelance work, and that can be just about as dry as the Sahara some days. But if you get the chance to discuss your passions and loves, it’s worth taking! And if you’re interested in running a blog, write about something you spend your time in, an industry whose news you follow, a craft you love or enjoy. When you do that, blogging stops being a chore, and starts being one of your favorite parts. ♦

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