posted
does anyone here write in other forms than your usual (fiction, poetry, etc), for example newspaper columns, personal essays, editorials, weblogs?
I got wrenched into starting my own blog not many days ago. I wrote a rather entertaining little article about pets just now. If you'd like toc heck it out and give me a spot of criticism feel free.
cynicalpen.blogspot.com
I'm new to the art form of personal editorials, which, I guess is what these things are. I'd like some feedback as to whether I'm as funny as I think I am, or if I'm just an asshole and need to tone down my writing style.
posted
I've never done a personal editorial, but I think I would be unhealthily addicted to it, once I started. I avoid trying because of that.
I do have a form of hobby writing that I use for light practice, which is a game. Some other writer friends and I play a D&D style game in a forum, but the focus is not on "adventure" so much as on character and story development. It turned out quite well once I found the right group. It keeps me typing.
posted
I've done some here and there---it's an inevitable byproduct of writing, I think. I did several articles for Kathleen's Workshop over the years. I did some short essays for my union local's magazine. There's the art and practice of letters-to-the-editor, too.
There's personal diary writing, but that's more in line of keeping a record of my life than writing. Dull stuff. "I got up at this hour, went to work, did this and that, and went to bed at another hour." Very dull stuff. (All handwritten, too---I do it right before I turn in for the night (or sometimes the next morning) and I'd have to get another computer for my bedroom to type it out.)
[edited to correct typographical problems (I couldn't get something to underline and switched it to italics...)]
[This message has been edited by Robert Nowall (edited April 03, 2007).]
posted
Should've also mentioned stabs at non-fiction articles, a lengthy foray into poetry in the early eighties, plus the time I wrote a fifty-thousand-word Harlequin Romance.
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Theres a fine line between sophomoric and witty. Finding where the line is has less to do with finding the right writer as finding the right audience.
Posts: 370 | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
I keep a personal journal (computer-based, though, not pen and ink anymore) where there are no rules. It's mostly just a diary - what we did, thoughts, emotions, reflections on kids' progress, etc. I've journaled in one way or another on and off since at least high school. I recently found my high school journals and it's really interesting to look back and see the kinds of things I thought about, cared about, wrote about. So I continue to keep a personal journal with the hope that I can regain those kinds of insights about what it was like to be me *now*.
It's good that my personal journal has no rules (no one ever sees it, though I might share it with my kids at some point - I plan to share my high school journals with them when they get closer to those ages.) I find that with my public blog, I'm way too conscious of what others might think, and thus I post very infrequently. I mostly post on parenting for my public blog. I feel like it should be funny and interesting, not just another parent's poop stories, and as such, I think I wait until I have just the perfect moment to blog about. That never quite comes, though the day my 5 year old said "You know what? Don't run naked with scissors." was close.
I did write an article/story (non-fiction) for my son's Tae Kwon Do school recently, and it's on their website. I have some ideas for some non-fiction magazine articles to write too, but haven't started them yet.
The blogosphere is a really interesting place, but be warned - it's very easy to get sucked into the vortex! :0 There's so much to read out there that I don't get as much writing done.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
