I've written something called "The Vocation of Blogging" that I think should be discussed on a writer forum. But I understand that I could be perceived as just promoting my blog if I posted a link, so, if anyone wants to read it and discuss it, please contact me and I'll provide the link to you in an appropriate way.
I'm not particularly interested in reading your blog, so I won't PM you, but I do have a question, and I think others may benefit from it's answer. Do you blog as your vocation? and have you monetized your blog? I'm interested as it seems that blogging is slowly dying, and there seems to be a real dearth of blogs by writers showcasing their short works. Most successful (vocational) blogs seem to be on vapid topics like fashion and politics, is there any chance of a writer eking out a living via a blog?
You can always copy the blog post and publish it on your forum blog. I too used to blog, and I think the 'vocation' of blogging is what destroyed blogs. First all the politicians and fashion editors, d-list celebrities etc opened blogs, then shops and businesses and finally media houses. Then they started paying bloggers or giving goods for 'sponsored posts' and advertising popups and overlays started first cluttering and then overtaking blog pages completely. One used to be able to trust a blogger opinion as authentic, these days, most of the time, it's some form of advertising. It's become meaningless.
jazzabel, Not sure what blogs you read, but I haven't found that to be the case at all. The small community of bloggers I've interacted with pour their hearts into their blogs (although few with as much dedication as I do). But I agree that part of the problem is the usual corruption by having money enter into things. When someone doesn't care about writing, only about making money off writing, then the practice of writing itself is going to get corrupted. I choose to keep my blog post on my blog because that's where my true readers are. Aside from the few dozen readers who drop in casually once in a while, I have already, in twelve days, built up a hard core of about a dozen readers who read everything I write and often comment on it and discuss it with people they know. Meanwhile, on this forum, no one could care less about my writing, so it would be a total waste for me to repost the blog post here.
@friendly_meese : Forums and blogs are two totally different platforms. Forums are places where people come to talk. Any readership you'll get on the forum are people who critique your writing. Writers generally couldn't care less about other writer's WIPs and while there are some forum members who are kind enough to beta for others with nothing in return, most either don't participate or they find partnerships with people who get on with them literally, and exchange work in that way. I had two very popular writing blogs from 2006-2010. Thousands read them religiously, I had fans and haters and I even got a book offer out of it. I know exactly what you mean about a small blogging community, I started in one as well, later moved over to a bigger one. I've noticed over the years, as blogging became more mainstream, blogger independence diminished. Communities fell apart at the onslaught of spam blogs, advertising started to encroach. It's not the same, and the subversive nature of it is long gone. I'm glad your blog community is still going strong. Personally, I lost interest in blogging and that sort of interaction a while ago, and now crave a more concrete writing success, but having a successful writing blog went a long way in giving me a lot of confidence that I can do this.
My only reason for starting this thread was because I thought I had said some things in my blog post that were worth discussing on a writer forum. Contrary to the conclusion everyone seems to be jumping to, I wasn't just promoting my blog. If I had been I would have just posted the link. I'm actually quite offended. I don't agree that there is anything "concrete" about being after money rather than enjoying the please of writing. It's simply a more financial focus than a writing focus. I'm very glad I rediscovered the joy of writing instead of beating my head against the commercial publication wall until my skull was fractured and my brain oozed out my ears. You're free to keep pursuing cash, and I'll stick to doing what I love. Have a nice day.
What a strange reply. I had no intention of offending you, I was just discussing issues you raised. Anyway, there'a a good reason why the forum doesn't allow promotion of member's blogs. Let me get this right, you'd like us all to go to your blog, read what you said and then come here to discuss it? No thanks...But I hope you find someone who bites.
People are too sensitive. We put our emotions on the line and when the feedback is less than our expectations, we get offended. You clearly had the urge to showcase your blog - if it was truly about the discussion, you could have simply started a thread and discussed the subject of your blog post in other words. Instead you provide us with this display of exhibitionism and react sourly to people's opinions.
Then why not simply paraphrase specific points you wish to discuss? No need to take offense if you had no ulterior motives, but it's the kind of tactic that has been used many times before to promote blogs, products and malware sites out of view of moderators. So you can understand if someone might have some doubts, not that I'm assuming anyone who responded did suspect your motives.
