Cliff Beaman, artist

 

The cartoon is right! I have been blogging nigh onto nine years. Also right: My hair is often a mess when I blog. (I don’t see myself at the computer, so I have to trust the artist’s rendering here.)

 

Blogging is fun for me.

I don’t hate blogging, as the cartoon may suggest; in fact, it’s usually an escape from housework or longer writing projects. So, while I may look intent, I’m not pulling out my hair. Or feeling mad. At least, not often.

 

What I Like about Blogging: Some Secrets

  • Provides a link to the world outside the four blue walls of my writing studio.

 

  • Offers me space to explore interests: family heritage, current events, recipes I’ve tried, books I’ve read, or authors’ books I want to promote. It also feels like a safe place to vent emotion (hassles and hilarities) or report on travels.

 

  • Builds community: I cherish connection to readers and bloggers in both hemispheres: South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Spain, Canada, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States. There are more! *Β  You are my friends and I try to reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blogs too.

 

  • Hones my writing skills – I aim to compress my thoughts into fewer words.

 

  • Provides a short break from a longer project. Blogging is a sprint; writing a book, a marathon

 

  • Feeds into a longer project – Some of my previous blog posts could be modified into book chapters for my memoir. The same will probably be true for Book #2.

 

  • Secures a permanent record of my thoughts in a particular time and place, as I did in my fifth year blogging.

 

When I get tired of blogging or want a break, I may go on hiatus for a week or two. Some bloggers pause for months, but when they return, their audience is still there. Thanks for your loyalty here.

 

Ambience:Β My writing studio is north facing. In the wintertime, I see slices of sunlight from the east, but light rays do not flood my writing space most of the time. I sometimes spice up the room with a string of party lights and light a candle.

 

Or, I steal space from the artist-in-residence whose south-facing work space has a two-window view. When he’s out and about, of course.Β 

Doing so, I would mimic the writing process of visual artist and writer Audrey Niffenegger, author of The TIme Traveler’s Wife. According to my son, one of her former students, the author moves her computer from room to room during the day, following the light, infusing her with energy and inspiration.

 

 


 

 

*Β  If I missed naming your country as a commenter, tell me here! If you are a blogger, what benefits can you add to my list? Or what pitfalls to avoid?

How do you create ambience where you work—writing, cooking, reading?

If you are a reader here, what blog topics especially grab your attention?

 

 

Please accept my gratitude for your steadiness over these 9 yearsΒ  Β  Β  Β 

~Β  Huge Thanks!