Like a lot of bloggers, I read about how to be a better blogger, yadda, yadda, yadda (yup, decided to bring that back), but then I felt like I was reading the same thing, over and over again. Not only has the message become redundant, it’s become dogmatic. It’s ironic that the Internet has given everyone a voice, but so many are just repeating the same things.
So, I decided to stop reading those kinds of blogs and stop trying to come up with a “blogging plan”. Watching and studying the herd seemed like a good idea until I figured out the herd is trying to sell me the same insurance package.
I also got rid of my Pinterest account because who the hell needs one more social media platform to try to figure out. Then, of course, I saw an article about how it’s the fastest growing social media and laughed. Ugh. I can’t win.
Do I want to win?
It’s been almost a month since I’ve done this purge and I feel myself expanding in better ways. I’m reading more and I have more time to devote to – writing.
Back to the basics, girl. Back to the basics.
After all, the reason why I started blogging in the first place is because I love to read and write.
First, I signed up for a poem-a-day at poets.org because somewhere I had read that you should read more poetry and that sounded like a good idea. Plus, I love poetry. Words are powerful magic and poetry strips down all those words right down to their naked selves. That’s right. It was time to get naked. Brrrrr.
Next, I signed up for How Writers Write Fiction, a MOOC course run by the illustrious University of Iowa. I’ve done a few classes with them and they reminded me that they had another one coming up, so why not? It’s free. It’s a great way to gain new ideas. I go at my own pace and participate as little or as much as I want to.
Lastly, I kicked myself into gear and started working on the second book again. It needed to be done. I had to stop avoiding it. Hey, it’s not like I don’t want to write it, it’s just there are so many excuses to come up with, so I don’t do it! With {the missing teacher}, I pretty much worked in chronological order, even though I played with the structure several times in the earlier phases. But with #2, I’m working with short stories.
It will be my second memoir, and my theme will be on growing up Asian American.
Which actually got me thinking of the first book and the other blog, {the missing teacher} and I’ve been updating it on blogger. It’s a lot of work, but the change has been dramatic because my old theme was REALLY ancient and now I’m in the middle of updating posts. It’s a good blog with a unique point of view so it gets a lot of views through Google searches alone.
Which brings me back to Life, the Universe and Lani…it needs an update, too. I’m thinking of moving it (again) to its own domain name and hosting. My prior experience really burned me and I lost money so I’ll be moving at a glacial pace and if I still feel this way in December (when I have oodles of time), I’ll be doing the move then. Your advice and thoughts on this are most welcomed.
What’s going on “behind the scenes” with you?
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