Are you Chuck Norris? I think you know the answer to that. 

I can’t believe I’m about to write this. 


Not every writer should blog. 

There. I wrote it. It feels good to get that off my chest. 

As writers, when we do our research on how to sell our books we get this idea. We start Twitter accounts, and Facebook pages, and blogs and we believe that that’s enough to sell a bunch of strangers a book or two and build our author platform.

You’re kidding, right? 

Writers are moody creatures. We like to complain often about how we don’t have time to write. How, if we didn’t have to do whatever, we’d be writing. I agree with that to a certain point. Though it would be nice to wake up with few responsibilities other than crafting fantastic prose, I know that the reality is rent is due every month. My car note doesn’t pay itself. And my cat, though cute as she is, is not a fan of starvation. Neither am I.  

So we have little precious time to write and to share that time with a blog that may or may not eventually help you sell a book–you must be NUTS! 

I’m not. This blog has made me a better writer. 

Knowing that I have to have a post nearly everyday has forced me to keep a list of ideas with me at all times, to take pictures of things I see that are interesting, and to think about how to best help the folks reading this blog. It’s forced me to think about my audience.  While several writing gurus will tell you to not think about them when you write, you still should because a reader is not going to stick with you if you don’t eventually get to the point of what you’re writing. With each post, I know I have to get to the point the best way I think I can. 
This blog has also been a great lesson in discipline and time management. I consider myself a working artist, which means I have to have a day job. My day job is pretty demanding so I can’t spend hours writing a post. I usually put 15-20 minutes on the egg timer and write a post quickly. Don’t think. Write. (This is similar to word sprints.). After that, I’m done. I set the post aside and then come back to it when I have another 15 minutes. I edit, format, post. Does this process sound familiar? 

Learning to manage time and forcing my butt in a chair has spilled over into my writing. I know writing is in the revision so I give myself license to be sloppy and dirty with my first draft before setting it aside. And just like with blogging, I return to my writing to edit. I may not be the best at editing but I think I’m getting better and its due to this blog. 

Sharing my journey as a writer and helping you guys with your writing has become a joy for me. Writers forget that sometimes, how writing can be a joy. So they sit and write and labor and forget to have fun. This blog reminds me to have fun and allows me to be social with my new and old friends. I love getting comments on posts and on social media; I try to respond to all of them. Comments give me instant reaction, which is something writers don’t get until they release their creation into the world. 

But some writers don’t see it this way. They think of the bottomline, which is okay is I guess but that thinking misses the big picture. Blogs help your writing. Writers who don’t see that should steer clear.

I’m sure Chuck Norris would agree with me.