My apologies for such a brief post. I am overwhelmed, distracted, exhausted, and several other “eds.” So today, I’m just going to ask a few questions of you. A two-part question is in poll form because I think you’ll be more likely to answer honestly, if you can do so anonymously.
Most everyone who reads my blog is also a writer and a blogger. What I’ve noticed is the wide variance of degrees to which you share your writing on your blogs. Some of you share flash stories or poems or link to your online published work. Some don’t display any samples, but you talk about your works in progress. And another portion of you share little or nothing, maybe not even revealing whether you write fiction or non-fiction.
So, here you go. First, one single and one compound question I hope you’ll answer in the comment section.
- What do you write?
- Do you share any examples of your writing on your blog, and why or why not?
And now for my two-part poll question.
[tweetmeme source=”cassidylewis” only_single=false]
Linda Cassidy Lewis 
Hi Linda! It has taken me two days to be able to leave a comment – too many interuptions. (kids,baby…). It’s great to be here! 🙂
Good thing i’ve been keeping up with most posts of all my blogger friends because my goodness it would take a week per blog.
To answer your question on this post, I post my work occassionally on my site. I write fiction mainly, shorts, and articles. I have links to some articles on my website, and I post some pieces of my shorts on my blog – normally just something I threw together and not a piece I have seriously worked on. As for the why or why not? Mainly because I don’t kow who would want to read it, my lack of wanting to share (fear, posession, I don’t know), and also because my blog is about writing, not for showcasing my work. Yet, I enjoy reading the work of others, so occasionally I reciprocate.
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You have excellent excuses for taking awhile, Jennifer. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your view. I think once I’m a published author my view will change, but for now I don’t view my blog as someplace to “showcase my work” either.
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I write science fiction for the adult market. I rarely share excerpts, and if I do, they’re extremely short. I’m not comfortable putting material from my manuscripts online when I know they’re going to change so dramatically over time.
As for short fiction, I write it so rarely that when I do, I want to sell it to a magazine.
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Thanks for participating today, J. I don’t write much short fiction either, so I feel the same way you do about it. 🙂
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I was just talking to a couple of writers today about “what I write.” Labeling my writing is difficult for me, in some ways because I’m still forging my way. But, I guess I lean more towards contemporary fiction, women’s fiction.
And, as you know, I do post pieces of my work on my site – mostly flash fiction – primarily for the same reasons Cathryn cited. It is tricky, though. I’d love to send some of those stories out, but once they’re up on the blog my choices are limited. I did discuss, today, (with the same writers above) about the option of rewrites. One writer friend said if only 10% of the story is published online, it can be considered “new” when submitted elsewhere. That’s something I’ll be checking into.
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Like Catherine’s site every day, I know I’m coming to read a story at your site on Wednesdays and I think it’s wonderful that you two can write so many pieces that you don’t mind sharing some online. I’m not that prolific … by a long shot. Sometimes I think I should get more serious with my blog … or have two: one for serious writing stuff and the other for my nonsense. Then again, a thought like that indicates I’m procrastinating on writing fiction. 😮
So, how would that 10% thing work? Would you take the short piece and fill in 90% more words, or just take the premise and write a completely different story?
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On the 10% thought: If I have an original flash piece that’s 700 words, and I can rewrite it so that it grows to 7000, then only 10% of the story is “published.”
I also love Pamela’s idea to remove a piece from public view while you submit it.
Lot’s of great discussion here, Linda! Thanks for the post.
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Yes, so you would just “plump it up” keeping the original story line, right?
And the problem with removing a story, or poem, temporarily is that it would still show up in a google search. For instance, I removed all the stories I used to have on my blog, but if I search for them, they show up, marked as “cached.” Granted the editor might not search, but what if he/she did?
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I mostly only blog about my personal life, but since the creativity workshop I post just little excerpts of whatever I’m working on. I do post random poems and have a section devoted to haiku…but it’s stuff that I don’t mind sharing. I do hope to try to make a living with writing, eventually…hopefully my blog doesn’t hurt my chances.
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I’m sure your blog won’t hurt your chances, Alisha. Thanks for participating.
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Wow! It would be a simpler question to answer had you asked what I DO NOT write! 😉
I write poetry about the environment, abuse & healing, and about hope. My two of three of my novels are post-apocalyptic settings and the third is a physiological thriller. But, I mix genre and can’t say that all of my works hang to a single spine other than they are speculative fiction. I dabble a bit in short stories but never as part of my routine, which is why I added them as the second set in the Creativity workshop.
I used to share my work online until it was copied without authorization. It was then that I realized how hard it would be to pull back a poem or story that I wished to submit for publication. I can control where I post it, but I can’t control who may copy it. Now I post all of my work to private access pages and occasionally post something that I feel will never be accepted for publication.
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Ho-hum, I seem to be stuck in a rut with my writing. 😀 I try different things, but keep coming back to what feels natural to me.
As for the security of your work posted online, you were the friend I mentioned in my response to agatha82’s comment.
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