How many blogs do you read every day?
If you're like me, you would like to keep up with more blogs, and yet I feel guilty about the amount of time I spend on the computer. The challenge has always been to keep up with the RIGHT blogs--and once I've found a great blog, to be able to find it again.
Blogging has changed a lot since I started here at Author2Author over 2 years ago. Back then, I had a list of favorite blogs in my Internet browser bookmark, and I checked each one over lunch at the office. But it got too big, so I moved to a blog reader, Bloglines. That went under and then was purchased and relaunched recently.
In the meantime, I tried to migrate to Google Reader, but by then I was also trying to keep up with Facebook and Twitter. I found myself reading more and more blogs I had never read before, sucked in by intriguing Twitter "headlines." "I should promote Author2Author on Twitter," I think, but I'm not chatty on Twitter. I use it more to get news. And who wants to only hear from someone about promotion?
Lately, my personal and work life have both been super busy, so I've had less time online than ever. There are a few blogs I check on a regular basis no matter how bad it gets:
http://migwriters.blogspot.com/ My online critique group, MiG Writers. I love this group because we have such varying life experiences and viewpoints.
http://andrea-mack.blogspot.com/ I really need to plug Andrea Mack's extremely thoughtful, well-written blog on writing, That's Another Story.
http://writebadlywell.blogspot.com/ How to Write Badly Well. It will cheer you up immensely.
http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/ Bookshelves of Doom. If it's going on in YA lit, the very funny Leila Roy knows about it.
http://joshreads.com/ The Comics Curmudgeon. Comic strips commentary. Really. The highlight of my lunch hour.
Now I used to follow a lot more: Editorial Anonymous, Nathan Bransford, Live Journal accounts. (Hey, I still try to check in on my LJ buddies, but LJ is becoming increasingly incomprehensible to me.) But lately I rely on Twitter buzz to let me know when someone's blog is especially hot. And I suspect I'm not alone in this sea change. So I feel more pressure to be interesting. Look at me!! I'm interesting!!
Then I see a link to a blog post of mine from a year ago, and I realize that these entries are semi-permanent. This seems to be happening more and more with the increase in blogs: people link to old blog posts "on topic." Blogging has changed a lot since the LJ "what I did today" days.
Regular blogging doesn't seem to mean as much as hot, topical content. Do you agree?
-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages
I follow way too many blogs. I should prune them down one day. I love reading most of them!
ReplyDeleteI try to keep a balance of reading blogs related to:
ReplyDeletepublishing as a business;
the craft of writing;
connections with other writers;
and a couple of blogs just for pure fun.
I read a lot of blogs--I still like them better than Twitter, and I've never gotten into Facebook. But because a lot of people blog for a while and then drop away, the blogs have never gotten unmanageable.
I agree, Jenn, a balance is good. I think I do the same thing without realizing it. And Liana, why prune things down if you enjoy reading them all? I wish I had more time to follow a few more blogs.
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning my blog, Kate! This one is one of the ones I check often too!
ReplyDeleteI follow a lot of blogs. Since I'm not into Twitter yet, I check the titles and first few lines in my reader to see if I'm interested. Often I am. I find I learn a lot from reading blogs, they can give me a new take on an old topic, which often inspires my writing.
Other blog topics that seem to be popular in the writing world: controversial issues in publishing, and full confessions on the struggles of writing from authors. Off to write my post for tomorrow on how my blogs of choice have changed!
ReplyDelete