But honestly, when you write for a living, and when you write horrible, depressing, terrifying things for a living, well, it's really taken all of the joy out of writing. I have seen things that no person should see; the horrible, gory, bloody reality of some peoples' lives in places other than America. The video you see on TV of bombing aftermath has been carefully screened so you don't see the blood on the sidewalks, and charred bodies in burned-out cars. Reuters and AP photogs have no qualms about shooting everything, death and all. A reporter in Jerusalem I was working with one day emailed me aftermath pictures from that seminary bombing in Israel she wanted to use in her shot -- but she wanted me to screen them and pick out usable photographs. It was horrifying. Of the 8 or so photos she sent, only 1 was usable. One. It was a close-up of a bullet hole in a window. Everything else was bloody and full of death. When I worked in Washington, we sent our chopper to check out a report of a body found in a bank parking lot. There was. I saw the guy's brain splattered all over the pavement. Now write about that. And write it so people don't gag over their breakfast. It takes the joy out of writing, it really does. So yea, I have a motivation problem.
But...I am also a lazy ass. I only have 1 child, and I still don't have time to post. She took a 2 hour nap yesterday. So what did I do? Sleep. (In my defense, I am an insomniac. A true insomniac) Then in the afternoon we went outside and I weeded for 10 minutes until she got bored and started eating the grass
so that was that. And that was my day, people.
So how do people like Iowa Mom do it? Seriously! How do you raise your children and work and blog? All in one day. I'd love to know.
No worries my dear! Apparently posting daily is passe (I'd totally put that little thing over the e if I knew how) or so I've been told.
ReplyDeleteBlog what you want, when you want. That's the joy of this blog being YOURS. :)
Well, I certainly don't blog every day.... I do read blogs (mostly) every day though. To be honest, I find blogging draining sometimes. Other times I find myself with a plethora of things I want to rant or vent about. Those days I usuallyl end up writing multiple posts and storing them away for later...
ReplyDeleteI'm not into the every day thing, myself. The reason? Because who the hell wants to read my bullshit every day? Certainly not me. lol
I do like to (sometimes) participate in weekly post stuff. It gives me a focus. I just don't hold to them rigidly. If I'm in the mood to do a music post on Mondays I do. If I feel like being wordless on Wednesday I do. Otherwise. pfffft.
To be honest, I'd love to hear (read) about your issues at work. See, *that* I'd find fascinating. I tend to stay away from "mommy blogs" or "daddy blogs" because I have enough issues with my own kid (about whom I almost ever blog), I certainly don't want to read daily updates about Johnny or Suzy.
Wow, could I be any more cliche that those names?
And on that note, this comment is turning into a novel, so I'm stopping now.
I post pretty much every day -- but my fulltime job is flexible in the sense that I make my own hours much of the time, particularly in the summer, so that helps. I only have part-time daycare, though, so I have gotten good at the compartmentalized focus. On task for short, intense periods, then change some diapers (naptime is over) or grade some papers (class is over), etc. I only write at night for the blog; daytimes are for research writing. I read stuff in my reader when I can snatch spare time here or there. But to be honest, I don't think there's any magic about the schedule; it's mostly that I no longer watch TV (which, before the writers' strike was my two hours of brainless time before bed). Now I blog instead.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about the professional life interfering, though. I don't read anymore. I got a PhD in English in part because I adore books, but I do so much reading for what I teach and what I'm researching that when it comes to free time, I don't want to read anything except blogs, news, or fluff. Writing, on the other hand, is my creative outlet, so it's easy to make time for that for my own blog.
Wish I had more magic answers...
I do agree with Honeybell, though: blog without obligation, or you won't enjoy it anymore.
I truly get the nap thing... when my kids were younger, whenever I had the chance I got some zzzz's. I understand about the writing too. I worked as a reporter for years covering crime in a small town in Middle Tennessee. Nothing like big city crime, but life draining nonetheless. I got out of that and really do enjoy writing again.
ReplyDeleteQuality is better than quantity!
ReplyDeleteBradie
I post when Dora is available to babysit!
ReplyDeletedraft.blogger.com lets you post in the future so I'll get an inspiration and a run off 3 or 5 posts and then I'll go a week without anything. Thats how I get by my laziness; in spurts all at once.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine some of the awful things you've seen in those pictures. That just sounds terrible.