I went back to view my very first post, a brief, barely-edited description of my middle son's great love of Bath and Body Works soap - "Of Boys and Soap." I had several thoughts as I read the initial blog posts from January of 2008. At the outset of my blogging, my husband insisted that I blog anonymously, even to the point of wanting me to label my sons, ES (eldest son), MS (middle son) and YS (youngest son). Thankfully, over time, he relented and I now use their names freely. I also laughed because I just received another shipment of Bath and Body Works soaps, including Warm Sugar Vanilla. My younger boys continue to be big fans and I do relent and spend money on their soaps when I can find them at sale prices of $3.50 or less. In an early book review post, I mentioned reading the first Little House book to the younger boys in January of 2008. They were 3 and 1! But the biggest observation I can make is that I have grown so much as a writer through this simple process of blogging.
When I first began blogging, I did so with abandon. I wrote 28 blog posts in the month of February 2008 and 250 in the first year. I cannot imagine keeping up that pace now, since I seldom have anecdotes to share and would never have enough time to read 250 books in a year. Still, knowing how much my writing has improved encourages me to continue this little exercise, even in moments when I think to myself, "who really cares about what you are reading or your opinions on what you are reading?" Truly, even if nobody read my blog posts, I would continue to write them because I gain so much from the exercise in articulating my thoughts and opinions. I have met other bloggers through the process. I have honed the skill of summarizing a book in a sentence or paragraph (the most crucial part of a query letter to agents/editors). I have a tangible in-depth analysis of my reading habits, as well as documented memories of my times with my boys. The posts have served as a memory capsule for all those moments, big and small, in a decade of raising sons. Their worth cannot be measured.
So, as I look back over a decade of blogging (and review a few of the 1525 posts I have written up to this point), I pledge to continue this writing endeavor. A few of my favorite general posts and book review posts are listed at the bottom of my blog. Who knows, maybe I will spend even more time reviewing previous posts and come up with a list of favorites to have bound in book-form.
May the next ten years provide even more blogging fodder and greater improvements in my writing skills. Every word brings me closer to the goal of publication (indeed, my blogging efforts must have made some dent in what Malcolm Gladwell calls the "ten-thousand hour rule," the idea that it takes ten thousand hours of deliberate practice to achieve success in any field). But, even if I never reach that elusive goal, I will look back on my blogging efforts with satisfaction. There is a joy in writing for writing's sake alone just as there is joy in living, even if one doesn't accomplish anything of note.
"We write to taste life twice - in the moment and in retrospect." - Anais Nin
"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others:
read a lot and write a lot." - Stephen King
"The only writer to whom you should compare yourself
is the writer you were yesterday." - David Schlosser
"You fail only if you stop writing." - Ray Bradbury
No comments:
Post a Comment