Am I blogging?

When I first started this blog, almost five years ago, almost every writer I knew had one. Of course, at that time, almost every writer I knew was unpublished. We blogged our writing progress, our highs and lows in agent searching, our frustrations, insights, and dreams. We visited each other’s blogs and actually left comments—the Like button wasn’t here on WordPress and has never been on Blogger. We also had fun.

I miss those days, but I’m as guilty as anyone for losing the blogging spirit and becoming too busy or inwardly focused to comment—or even read—as many blogs posts as I used to. Also, I think each of us blogging writers found our niche and gravitated to bloggers who wrote in the same genres we did. As we grew in our craft and became published writers, not just aspiring writers, of necessity, we got more serious about the business side of writing.

(I’ve been using the editorial WE. Feel free to opt out of any statement that doesn’t reflect your experience. From this point on, I’ll be more cautious and speak only for myself.)

My view of blogging turned serious. I tried to make sure nothing I said on my blog could reflect badly on my public image. I felt pressured to offer sage advice. I dared speak with authority on the writing craft. I tried to hide my doubts and disappointments, always projecting positivity in hope of creating good karma. (Failed on that one.)

The word blog is an abbreviation of web log. A blog was meant to be a journal, a daily peek into what’s on your mind. As evidenced by my infrequent blogging this year, it would seem that not much is on my mind. Actually, the opposite is true. So many things are on my mind that I’m overwhelmed into silence—mostly because I’m still in the mindset of the previous paragraph.

So, I have this blog. Although about 500 people are subscribed, I think about 10 actually read my posts—and on a good post maybe 5 leave a comment. Essentially, I’m talking to myself—like journaling. The words are still here as a subtitle, but before I became a published author, this blog was titled Out of My Mind. Though some might say it’s debatable, that title did not refer to my mental state. Rather, it referred to the origin of my writing, which is mainly fiction.

Now, I’ve decided to return to blogging out of my mind. This could get scary, but I think it’s necessary for me to avoid the alternate interpretation of my blog subtitle. Even if I’m only talking to myself, it’s better than this dark silence I’m stuck in now.