Remember that time when I said I was going to blog more often and be diligent and successful and all that? Well, it’s only been a little more than a month, but I haven’t exactly done that just yet. Before you start “tsk tsk”-ing, though, let me first tell you the very good reason I have for not blogging.
…Okay, well there really isn’t one. But the point is, even though I’ve been really busy with silly things like class and homework, I’ve thought a lot about what I’m going to blog next about (other than in this post, of course), and you can expect a [very fascinating, ruminative] book review! I might also be doing an informational post about my new hamster at some point, just to bore everyone to tears. (Just kidding — there will be pictures!) I also hope to experiment with the visual aspect of the site as well, but no spoilers on that as of yet since I’m not sure about anything at this point.
So all in all, I’ll be trying my hand at some new things in the next few weeks, so keep checking in! Any and all feedback you have on my experiments is welcome as well. (Don’t worry, I’m a friendly mad scientist.)
-Andrea
PS: You’re not fooling anyone. “Stayin Alive” is now stuck in your head.
Remember me? It’s been almost a year since I’ve blogged last, and honestly during that time I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to start blogging again. But as I’ve been writing lately — and struggling to put myself on a habitual writing schedule – I’ve realized how helpful (not to mention fun) it would be to try it again. Let me explain my dilemma a bit: for writers (as well as aspiring writers), taking at least a little bit of time each day devoted to doing any kind of writing is the best way — and perhaps the only way — to get better. Even if you want to be a published novelist like me, blogging about something on your mind or even writing in your diary helps you expand your creativity and think of new ways to say what you’re thinking. So even though it doesn’t get you any closer to completing your 200 pages of science fiction glory, it improves your skills so that when you have time to write more of those 200 pages, the words you’re putting down are loads better than what you would have written after picking it back up fresh out of finals week.
Really, that makes writing the same as anything else. If you play an instrument, you know that taking a few days off means the next time you pick it up, it’s probably going to feel a bit awkward for at least the first few minutes of playing, and your repertoire isn’t going to sound as polished as where you left it. If you exercise daily, you know that after taking a few days off, you might have to ease your muscles back into your workout routine. Even if you stop reading a book for a few days, you might have to flip back a few pages to remember where you left off. Everything you do in life requires consistency and freshness before any true improvement can enter the picture. So that, in a nutshell, is why blogging (and even Twitter) can be one of a writer’s most valuable hobbies.
So why did I quit? I’m not really sure what the answer to that is. Maybe it was because I got busy, maybe it was because I got burnt out. But I think a huge part of my problem was that I was too much of a perfectionist. (I won’t go into this now because I’m bound to write a blog entirely devoted to perfectionism in the future. It’s been on my mind a lot lately.) Like most of the material I write, each blog took me a long time to compose, not because I didn’t have ideas or didn’t know how to say them, but rather because I doubted myself as I was writing. There probably wasn’t a sentence that escaped a scathing edit, whether it was during its composition or after. So in all honesty, blogging was exhausting. I couldn’t stand to publish something until it was perfect, and, as all writers know, being 100% happy with a piece of writing is wholly impossible. (Depressing? Maybe. True? Absolutely.)
Though that statement is true, I’m still just as committed to my future goals as I ever was. Why? Because writing makes me happy. It’s really as simple as that. I love it, even if it means there are bad days when I suffer from writer’s block and look fondly on paper-pushing or cleaning cars. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that mistakes are just a product of being human. The occasional typo isn’t going to gain me a hate club; no little grammar fairy’s light will go out. And as cliché as it sounds, life goes on. Why let myself get stressed when I could put all that energy toward improving my skills, instead of doubting them?
So here I am, blogging again, and this time I plan on being more regular about it. There will be plenty of times when life takes over, and papers and exams and projects for my classes will have to come first. (After all, at this point in my life, they are the things with deadlines.) However, I don’t plan on taking another year-long hiatus to rediscover how important (and fun!) blogging can be.
Stay on your toes! I’ll be back… 
-Andrea
Tags: blogging, habit, practice, routine, story, writer's block, Writing, writing tips
About Me, Andrea, Informative, Life in General, Writing | Andrea February 4, 2011 | 
Comments (0)
Hey, “Happy Father’s Day” to all you dads out there!!! Technically Father’s Day was yesterday, but I was in the car alllll day driving back from vacation — so here’s a belated “Happy Father’s Day”! Even though the day was technically yesterday, the holiday is there to remind all of us kids that we should never take for granted what we have and that we should always remember our dads and all they do for us! Happy Father’s Day! <3
Hey, sorry I haven’t been able to blog recently! I’ve been super busy, because after I finished finals, I had to study for the SAT! It was last Saturday though, and I’m so relieved it’s done! I woke up around the same time the sun did so I could get ready and drive an hour to get to the testing center; then the fun began! Ahh….best four-hour test of my life. 
I’ve been thinking up some ideas for entries but haven’t had the time to actually write much lately. I’m working on a couple of entries right now though, so keep checking and I’ll be posting some new stuff soon! Until I get a good substantial entry that I’m satisfied with, I’ll be posting some Fun Facts and anything else cool that I might run across. Thanks for checking!
-Andrea
As you might have noticed, I’ve already posted an entry for a “fun fact.” I’ll be doing these every so often, just posting something random that you might not have known. These will be quick and fun, but they won’t replace my longer blog entries. Keep checking for more blogs and fun facts!
-Andrea
