Blogs ‘N Websites

Writing blogs can be a little tricky because sometimes the wrong people will read them and get the wrong idea. You’ve got to be a little careful. It’s so easy for someone to pick up one of your feet and shove it in your mouth even when you know there’s absolutely no reason for it to be there.

Here’s an example of what I mean. I was once asked to write a guest blog about my memories of Christmas and because it’s my nature I gave it a slightly different spin. I claimed that my family celebrated the holiday in a very dysfunctional manner and then went on to describe a very traditional and conventional Christmas experience. It’s just that I gave it a sinister air and made everything seem dark and disturbing. For example, I likened my dad and me hunting for a Christmas tree to the actions of a father and son serial killer team. I also described how we would later prop up our Christmas tree (the trophy of our hunt) in the corner of the room and then sit around and watch it die a slow death.

As far as I can tell 99.9% of the people who read that blog realized right away that it was a joke and that its underlining theme was that my memories of Christmas were actually fond ones and the same as the vast majority of others that celebrate the holiday. But of course there was that 0.1% that read it and found it outrageously offensive. I think the email exchange went something like this:

Gregory, What do you mean our family was dysfunctional! I’m VERY offended and deeply hurt!

Mom, Please reread that blog! It was a joke! Really! I didn’t intend to offend or hurt you! I love my memories of Christmas!

So here’s a little free advice. If you write a blog, beware of family and friends. What they see might not be what you intend.

Since the topic this week is Blogs AND Websites, I’d like to comment on a type of website that I predict will only grow in popularity. It’s the web-based comedy show. They’re normally about three to five minutes long and some of them are really very entertaining. They’re perfect for quick little diversions during your workdays. I also like that they can be done on a small budget which means a couple people with a good idea can compete with the big guys. So for all you creative types out there, here’s another opportunity knocking.

This is one of my present favorites. It’s a show called Decision/Decision.

What do you think? Fun, huh? Why not make one? I bet you could come up with a two-minute show using only a deck of cards and a couple voiceovers. There’s a big world out there…catch it by the tail and take it for a ride.

Also let me know if you’ve ever had something you wrote in a blog taken the wrong way? I’d love to hear about it.

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web sites that tell me to get off the web

Now you know I love the Internet. Basically I am nothing without it. But, there are times when one needs to unplug and let the old noggin' run wild and free outside of screens. So for my contribution to blogs'n'websites week, I offer a few links that have helped inspire me to get away from blogs'n'websites:

Freedom: This site offers a shareware download for your Mac or PC called...Freedom. Freedom blocks you from the Internet for any time period you choose, up to eight hours. You can't get back online unless you do a total reboot of your system, and let's face it, that's a pain in the butt when you're in the middle of working and also it feels a bit shameful to go that far just to see if anyone mentioned you on Twitter in the last 20 minutes. It's especially great for writers. Set the deal for a couple of hours and get to work. (This works best if you don't have your iPhone or BlackBerry a few inches away. Maybe you need to put it out in the car, or bury it in a dresser drawer. Not that I know anything about that.)

43 Folders: Time, Attention, and Creative Work: My friend Mike turned me on to this site, which is run by a guy named Merlin Mann. As if having a cool name like Merlin Mann weren't enough, he's also pretty smart about brains and the things we do to avoid using them. Start here. I think my favorite page on the site is First, Care.

This post from Seth Godin's blog. To the point.

The Artist's Way Basic Tools. Okay, a lot of Julia Cameron's classic book on creativity is a little woo-woo for me, but the Basic Tools---morning pages and the artist date---are really great for grounding your inner life when things have gotten a little noisy. And as much as I love and depend on the Internet, there comes a tipping point every day when I've gotten what I need and want from it and the rest is noise.

I'm always looking for more sites about how not to look at sites all day, so if you've got more links in that category, leave them in the comments!

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Blogs & Websites: Cheating on TFC

It's likely that all the contributing bloggers here at TFC have other individual blogs or group blogs where they post. My own moonlighting gig is at BiblioBuffet, an online magazine for booklovers. I write the "Writer-in-Residence" column there every two weeks; for example, All We Are Saying is Give Pink a Chance, which details my thoughts on hatred for the color pink in the world in general and in publishing in particular. Sometimes the focus of my pieces is adult fiction, or even nonfiction, but there are a few that might be of interest to lovers of YA, such as:

Ah, Dystopia!, which analyzes the current market craving for dystopian fiction.

I alternate my regular essays with something called "The Disrespectful Interviewer," wherein I ask rude and certifiably insane questions of authors. Here's the ones I've done so far with YA novelists:

Dissing A.S. King

Dissing Tish Cohen

Late on the first Sunday in July a new DI will go up in which I take on NYT bestselling YA author Lisa McMann.

I love writing for BiblioBuffet, just as I love writing for TFC, because the pieces I do for each stretch different writing muscles than my fiction does.

So how about you, TFCers? Please tell us where you cheat on TFC.

And for you non-TFCers, please share links to your own blogs and tell us what the focus of those blogs are.

Be well. Don't forget to write.

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blogs'n'sites

This week we're talking about blogs and web sites---the ones we read, the ones we mean to read, maybe the ones we write, and anything else we want to remotely relate to the topic (because we're rebels that way).

When I started networking with the online YA lit community, about a year before I sold my first book, I read a TON of blogs. It was a great way to get an inside peek at the lives of writers---the creative side, the business side, not to mention the tv-watching and soup-making sides! Basically, I was trying to get a glimpse at what I hoped would be my future. Highly educational, maybe even more so for witnessing some not-so-lovely behavior and thinking about how I didn't want to come across when it was my turn to Be An Author. And, leaving comments and participating in the dialog and accumulating blog readers was a huge part of what helped my first book build by word-of-mouth.

In the last year, I've had to cut way back on the number of blogs I read because, let's face it, you can read blogs and Twitter feeds and Facebook updates all darn day and never a) write, or, b) live life, which is totally necessary for writing. But, there are still a good number I do read. Here are some of my favorites:

Debbi Michiko Florence - One Writer's Journey (the bumpy road)
I love Debbi's blog not only because she's a great person, a huge supporter of others, and a thoughtful reader, but also because Debbi has shared her ups and downs with writing and publishing so honestly. She's got a couple of great nonfiction books out, but is also a talented and disciplined writer of fiction who'd love to publish in that category as well, and it hasn't happened yet. I spent about 10 years there, wondering when it would be my turn, and know how it feels. I marvel at Debbi's ability to be so supportive of friends' success, good books, and good causes, while also keeping it real and sharing when she's just. over. it. Never cynical, but never faking it on a bad day. That's why I love Debbi's blog.

Space Station Nathan
Nathan Hale is an illustrator (most recently famous for illustrating Rapunzel's Revenge), and I'm so far out of the illustrator world that I don't even know my cyan from my red dye #5. But, I do know what I like, and Nathan's art is whimsical and colorful and humorous and GOOD. His blog is all about the art, and it's a nice break from all the talky blogs I like to read (and write).

The Bennett Madison Extravaganza
Okay, so YA author Bennett Madison doesn't post all that often, but when he does it really is the promised extravaganza. Where else can you read about Roxette, the hipster grifter, and F. Scott Fitzgerald all on one page? Nowhere, that's where. And look for his latest, The Blonde of the Joke, this September.

Good Letters
If you're of a Judeo-Christian religious tradition, and also a culture hound, this is your blog. Under the umbrella of the quarterly arts/faith journal Image, GL features brief but deep reflections that connect life to film, visual art, dance, poetry, culture, the natural world, and spiritual and artistic disciplines.

So there you have it---four vastly different blogs from my reader. Use them in good health!

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