To blog or not to blog, that is the question

A friend of mine asked me not too long ago whether or not she needs a blog. She’s a wonderful writer with a fabulous book she wants to see published, and she read that before she even submits a query to an agent, she should have a website or a blog. She needs a platform.

I’ve heard the same thing, over and over again. Blog, tweet, get your name out there. Agents love the client who already has a following. I don’t feel qualified to tell anyone what an agent wants or doesn’t want (other than a great book that will sell) but I do have to believe that if the book is terrific, and you find the right agent, and the right publisher comes along, your book will sell, even if you’ve been living under a rock and have never been on the internet. A lot of ifs, I know, and certainly a huge following can’t hurt, but I hope that in the end, it’s the writing that matters.

The most important thing to remember, I think, is that a blog is just one more outlet for your writing. If you’re a fiction writer, and blogging (or Facebook or Twitter) takes time away from the real work, the real writing, then don’t do it. If you can balance blogging with your other writing, and you enjoy it, go ahead. Just don’t do it because you think you have to.

I have fun with this blog, and I love the connections I’ve made through it, but it’s not my main focus. My main focus is my fiction. Sometimes I don’t post every week. That’s usually a good sign. It means I’m off the internet and writing.

Reads

So many of my friends ask me for book recommendations that I thought I’d dedicate a post here and there to what I am reading or have just read. I don’t do reviews, so don’t expect long dissertations on any particular book.

Best book I’ve read lately: Hands down, A Prayer for the Dying, Stewart O’Nan. If I told you it’s about a town with people dying from the plague, well, don’t let that stop you from reading this amazing book. It is one of the best I’ve read in a long time.

Book I couldn’t finish: Great House, Nicole Krauss. Just couldn’t get into it. Maybe I’ll try again someday, because I’ve heard really good things about it, but it sure didn’t do anything for me.

Book I’m reading now: The Red House, Mark Haddon. If you read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, or A Spot of Bother, Haddon’s first two novels, well, you won’t know a thing about this book. It’s a totally different experience. Haddon’s dry humor is nowhere to be found, or at least I haven’t gotten to it yet. It’s written in multiple points of view, so it took me a while to get into it, but I’m hooked now.

Next on my “to be read” list: The Chemistry of Tears, Peter Carey. I’m a huge Carey fan, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Book I’m going to read because of reviews from fellow bloggers: Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn. Everybody who has read it has said great things.

Book I’m going to reread soon: Anna Karenina, Tolstoy. About ten years ago I tackled this book, mainly because it was a book I thought I should read. After a struggle getting started, I ended up falling in love with it. The new movie coming out at the end of the year reminded me how much I loved it and made me want to read it again.

Hope I’ve given you some ideas for your next read.

To Improve Your Writing, Think Like a Two-Year-Old

I just spent three glorious days in Boston hanging out with William, a toddler who recites Shel Silverstein and loves Thomas the Train and strawberries and Maisy books. We played, we pretended, we chased bubbles, and we ate ice cream. He has a rectangular wooden puzzle piece that doubles for his very own iPad (which he made me sleep with at night so it would be ready to use as soon as he woke up). He talks to carpenter ants, and stomps in puddles, and loves sticks and rocks and pretending to water the garden with a jump rope.

I tell you all of this because if you haven’t hung out with a two-year-old in a while (or ever), you really should. If you’re open to it, a two-year-old can return you to a state of wonder.

When was the last time you sat and watched ants drag crumbs across a sidewalk? Or stared up at the sky through a ceiling of leaves, watching the light shift and shimmer? It’s such a luxurious way of living, and so important for a writer. We are often too busy, though, trying to create the perfect sentence, and we forget to listen, and look, and just be.

William’s descriptions are clear and concise – he likes brown ice cream – and he plays with words the way a good writer does. He loves to tell stories, and loves to hear them. I have to admit that after he went to bed each night I rushed to my computer to steal his ideas. But what I got most from him was a reminder that the world is indeed a wondrous place, and that everything in it is worthy of attention. (Oh, yeah, and that if you tell a carpenter ant he can’t have your snack, he will leave you alone.)