Everyone should know what a black hole is, but in case you don’t, allow me to describe it in what can only be described as “layman’s terms.” A black hole exists (usually) where a star has collapsed on itself, and all the mass of the star has likewise collapsed into a very, very small volume. The “singularity” thus created maintains considerable angular momentum (“centrifugal force,” if you will); however, the gravity well created by the ultra-compressed mass of the collapsed star prevents anything from escaping that gravitational pull, including light. Hence the name, “black hole.”
Lately, my approach to blogging has mirrored a black hole:Lots and lots of thoughts and ideas about things to write about, all whirling around inside my head, but nothing is able to escape. Talk about your writer’s block! Except…I don’t believe I’m truly “blocked.” No…there is a huge external force also operating on my “blog hole.” In my case, it’s called “inertia,” and is the embodiment of Newton’s First Law: “[An] object remains in a state of rest … unless acted upon by an outside force." Newton’s Third Law also seems to be at work. In my case, that means my desire to blog (f1) is opposed equally by my innate laziness (f2).
Yes, I’m lazy: It’s much too easy to read others’ blogs than it is to work on my own. Or play around all day with blog design just to get my navigation menu to display a transparent background, and get the Twitter and RSS feed links to be on the same line as the nav menu, without resorting to some ridiculous design kludges.1
But the stark reality is, I’m inordinately jealous of some of my friends and fellow bloggers who seem to provide so much more content, while also maintaining a paying job! For crying out loud: I’ve been retired for 18 months, and it seems each month I do less, rather than more. 2
Clearly, the current post is a self-intervention. 3 I’m also hopeful it’s cathartic, in a sense, or rehabilitative. We’ll know in a few days (or weeks) if it’s nothing more than verbal diarrhea.
In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to read TJ’s series on becoming someone who comments (on blogs). Tami wrote a couple of very insightful articles along the same lines, and they deserve your attention as well. I may or may not have had a few things to say on the topic of blog comments myself. In my case, I also discuss WordPress add-ons for bloggers, as well as provide encouragement to readers to converse with the bloggers you read. 4
I know many of you play WoW, and if you still haven’t discovered the mad comic genius of I Like Bubbles, head over there for a dose of gaming reality. (Some may call it insanity, but my retort would be, is there a difference?) Tell Amber, “Birdie sent me.”
Finally, I want to give a huge shout-out to all my friends and fellow bloggers who are taking part in NaNoWriMo. Keep on typing! I promise to have a bunch of stuff to help you out with editing your novels next month. I mean, I’ll post some of it this month, so you can find it next month. Look for the “copyediting” tag.
Notes:
- That was, in fact, my Saturday—pretty much all of it. To be fair, I learned a little about php and CSS. Go me. ↩
- By the way, I have a degree in psychology from UCLA, so I know my jealousy is irrational. However, knowing is only half the battle. ↩
- Is there such a thing? Well of course there is: It’s called kicking oneself in the ass. ↩
- Seriously, are there any readers of mine who don’t read either of these two ladies? If there are, you have a lot of catching up to do! ↩
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{ 15 comments }
<3 I've been there – stymied by a flood of ideas rather than a lack of them. I'd say you've got the right idea here. Just bull through – the only wrong answer is to do nothing.
Also, thanks for the link!
Tami´s latest blog post is The Slippery Slope of Pen Pals
The difference is, your f2 is much weaker than your f1, and you commit your ideas to print.
Yes Kestrel! I appreciate your support on the NaNoWriMo Front! My goal is fairly ambitious with this particular project, since it’s gotten quite a bit attention on the internet. This time around, I am taking measures to ensure that the copy that goes out to editors and agents is the right one: properly edited for prose and plot restructuring.
Somehow, I imagine that Strunk & White’s Elements of Style may not be enough to get me through it all. I look forward to what you have to say on the subject of polishing a draft.
Just a tip: Strunk & White, and the AP Style Guide, are the last things you want to be using to polish fiction. They have their place; but fiction generally ain’t it.
Oooh, as expected from grandmaster Kes! I must learn more! I am a blank slate ready to take in the writings of the many and the lessons of the wise.
Well, my earlier comment was a bit dramatic.
However, think about it: When you write fiction, it has a completely different “tone” than, say, a newspaper or magazine article, or a biography, or a textbook.
For those things, then absolutely, S&W and AP are the right resources to use to be sure your prose is “proper.” And certainly in the newspaper business (and probably in magazines too), there are conventions unique to each publishing group.
For instance, the New York Times always uses a title before last names: Mr. Obama, Mrs. Pelosi, Dr. Brothers. The NYT also properly abbreviates, with periods: U.C.L.A., N.F.L., which drives me nuts. Personally, I think the Times retains that particular convention just to piss off people. (See what I did there? In your novel, you’d probably type “piss people off” and it would be perfectly acceptable.)
Oh oh! That reminds me. When you have time, I’d like to go over the Wenches appearance, to make sure we have some planning and structure. ^_^
I know what you mean, I’m a lazy bugger when it comes to blogging, so I end up doing it last thing before I go to bed – I guess that’s my deadline. Only problem is I usually end up staying up later than is good for me.
Once the kidlets are in bed the last thing I want to do is actually use my brain! I’ve been vegging out watching tv, chatting on msn/skype and twitter, oh – not to mention playing Farmville and such on Facebook. Procrastination is my middle name don’t you know? *sigh*
Softi´s latest blog post is Guilty Pleasures
Yeah, but you HAVE been writing, and posting. At least you’re DOING something. And your excuses (kids) are a LOT better than mine for not posting. You go, girl!
Actually, there’s Hawking Radiation which is emitted from black holes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawking_radiation).
Go. Hunt. Kill Skuls! Write some more lines. You can do it.
Hah! Yeah, I forgot about that, and I was just recently watching a couple of documentaries on Hawking, and on Black Holes. Thanks for ruining a perfectly good analogy. *grin*
Ohh…the “Recommended Reading” articles every Monday? Think “Hawking Radiation.”
I wonder, when you do a self-intervention…do you actually sit yourself down and start to have a conversation with yourself. Hmmm. Scary image actually.
And thank you again, good sir for your continued punts to the butt in the nano chat room. We, who are woefully behind in our word counts, need those kicks rather desperately.
<3
No; I just cuss myself out in my mind. Seriously. Not language you are liable to hear/see me use normally.
However, the one advantage to conversing with oneself (generally) is that one is highly likely to have an intelligent audience.
And what is this heresy? BEHIND IN YOUR WORD COUNT? FORSOOTH! Add more adjectives.
@Tami: When do I NOT have time, lady?
Email, Wave (Wave might be great; need to get Bre on that!), whatever. Sounds like you want “structure” and all I wanna do is gab with a couple Saucy Wenches!
*grin*
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