Why Indie Authors Should Blog

Nothing improves your writing chops more than writing every day. Deadlines can be daunting but say what you will about not being able to write under pressure—I think that is when I do my best work.

Blogging regularly offers me that mix of self-imposed deadlines combined with the opportunity to riff on my favorite subject—the craft of writing. Much of what I have learned over the past four years has come about through researching topics for my blog.

I wasn’t always an Indie. In 2011, I signed up for a free WordPress blog under duress. My former publisher (Lord Voldemort) forced me to. He swore it would help get my name out there, and give me a regular platform for my opinions. That blog is long gone, and those posts were pathetic attempts to write about current affairs as a journalist, which is something that has never interested me.

And, although I hate to say it because we parted ways rather messily, (Lord Voldemort) was right about blogging. But, it wasn’t until I stopped trying fit into the mold he had designed for me and began writing about my interests that I learned to love the craft of blogging. That is also when I began to grow as a writer because I have to work hard to proofread my own work and then publish it. If I am not vigilant, it posts with “warts and all.”

I don’t like warts in my work.

Blogging has made me a “thinking” author, as well as a “pantser.” I can write using the “stream of consciousness” method, or I can write it several days in advance by putting together a quick outline about whatever is interesting me at the time. I just do the research, and the post begins to write itself.

I have made many friends through blogging, people all over the world who I may never meet in person, but who I am fond of, nevertheless. My author blog is where I develop seminars on the craft of writing. I find that talking about my obsession helps me organize my thoughts.

But it only works if you are passionate about what you are discussing.
Real life regularly intrudes on my writing life, so I also write about the difficulties of traveling while vegan, the challenges of having two children with epilepsy, the dysfunctionality of growing up with a father suffering battle-related PTSD.… you get the picture. Whatever I am thinking about, I post a short piece on it.

Having a blog on your website and updating it at least twice a month is a good way to connect with your readers on a human level. Fans will enjoy hearing what your writing goals are, and want to know where you will be signing books. Also, they love to know what you are reading.
I do recommend publishing short pieces—flash fiction. Little off-the-cuff pieces of less than a thousand words are fun to write and often find their way into your larger work, as they are a great way to brainstorm ideas. At the bottom of each flash-fiction piece, I post a disclaimer that it is copyrighted, such as:

• Bleakbourne on Heath, by Connie J. Jasperson, © 2016 All Rights Reserved

To my knowledge, I have never been plagiarized, but I have a notice clearly in the sidebar on my website that the content is copyrighted. I also make sure all quoted material is credited to the original authors too, with links back to their websites.
So:

• Keep it down to about 1000 words more or less.
• Use the spellchecker tool to look for obvious errors.
• Write in draft form and don't publish it right away--come back and read it over again, and make corrections.
• If you use information found elsewhere, quote it and credit the author
• Use images that are either public domain, or that you have the right to use
• Put links to other informative sites in the text

Be Consistent.
Once I realized that I could talk about whatever I wanted, Life in the Realm of Fantasy was born. My first posts stunk like last week’s garbage, but they were a beginning. With every post I wrote, I felt a sense of accomplishment, and the next post was better.
Now I spend Sundays putting my blog posts together and look forward to the time I spend here, exploring the craft of writing.

Life in the Realm of Fantasy has evolved over the years because I have changed and matured as an author. Four years ago I would never have felt comfortable publishing my poetry. Now, I regularly post short works and poems on Fridays, some bad and some worse—but all them exercises in creative writing.

At first, it took courage to lay my work out there because letting people see my work unedited by my editors made me feel like I was a teenager all over again, getting ready for the prom and hating my hair. I feared the flaws I saw in it.

Now I feel more like I am sharing it with my friends, and I feel good about it.

To repeat myself ad nauseum: If you really want to grow as an author, you must write. If you want your name out there on the internet as an author, you must blog.

If you are wondering how to get started, please check out my post, #amwriting: Blogging is writing too.  There, you can find detailed, step by step instructions for getting a free blog, and getting started on either WordPress or Blogger.  I blog regularly on both platforms, and they are not too hard once you learn the ropes.

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