an open letter to Robin Hobb, via the internet (since she did it first)

[lagilman]

Dear Robin,

I like your books. I respect you, and the long road you've travelled, as a writer.

Please stop projecting your issues into my career.

Thank you.

-------------------
In short, Robin (also known as Megan Lindholm, a very fine writer) is ranting onine about how Livejournal, and blogging in general, kills writing production.

Maybe for her. Maybe for you. Not for me.

(For me, LJ is my coffee break, my social hour, my connection into a community that amuses, entertains, educates and occasionally infuriates me. In other words, it feeds my brain, the very thing I need to write. Reruns of CSI, and the eternal siren call of the nap are far more deadly to my productivity than an LJ-run)

Mileage varies, and assuming Your Experience is the professional boiling point for all writers is pretty egotistical(which is why all the best career advice to writers can pretty much boil down to 'this is what I found, find what works for you.').

Comments

[ex-fashioni.livejournal.com]

Mileage varies, and assuming Your Experience is the professional boiling point for all writers is pretty egotistical(which is why all the best career advice to writers can pretty much boil down to 'this is what I found, find what works for you.').

And par usual, you hit the nail utterly on the head and articulated precisely how I feel. It's my pet peeve of any conference workshop I've ever sat in on, from the revisions process to submissions to brainstorming, when the presenter stands up there and smugly announces, "you MUST."

No, I mustn't. What I must do is find what works for me.

[deire.livejournal.com]

:shakes head: To me, part of being a writer is how to make poetry out of even the small details of life. I might not accomplish that here--partly because I am writing in other places. But to say that "mundane" life kills creativity? Lack of appreciation of life perhaps.

[havocthecat]

Wow. It sounds like she's blaming her lack of willpower on LJ. And yes, in fact, projecting a lot.

[havocthecat]

Not that you were asking me, but my personal opinion is that, no, it wasn't just you. (Edited to use the right icon this time.)

[lagringa.livejournal.com]

Jesus H. Christ. I have to wonder how many books Elizabeth Bear would write if she DIDN'T blog...

[lagilman]

What bothers me about Robin's post is not the consideration of how many books we might or might not write...it's the thought of so many of us full-time, work-at-home writers losing yet another connection to the outside, if we took her advice. Writing seven books a year won't do anyone a damn bit of good it it's all self-generated.

(hrm. does that phrase/context need explication? Let me know...)

[lagringa.livejournal.com]

I agree. Everyone has different outlets. LJ and blogging helps many writers and those of us in the book industry become active parts of a larger community.

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

Based upon word count alone? A lot.
In truth, not that I'm qualified to speak on eBear's behalf--- but I suspect that she would write less without LJ as an outlet.

I also spend more money on authors that blog and that I have some sort of interaction with (virtually, be that as it may). I am also 10x more likely to recommend an author that blogs and ... 100x more likely to pick up a book and recommend it if I know that author is a blogger, takes the time to respond to his/her fans and is a horseperson.

I have also seen the ugly side of authordom where there was no real social outlet. No people connection outside of fans and cons. Ain't pretty. It'll kill a career. Our monkey brains need some kind of connection with other people. And blogging quite frankly is pretty perfect for professional writers' lifestyles.

[earthgoat.livejournal.com]

(For me, LJ is my coffee break, my social hour, my connection into a community that amuses, entertains, educates and occasionally infuriates me. In other words, it feeds my brain, the very thing I need to write. Reruns of CSI, and the eternal siren call of the nap are far more deadly to my productivity than an LJ-run)

This is what I hear from most authors on LJ. For the most part, writing is a solitary task that one tends to do at home away from human interaction. LJ (and blogging in general) is a small way to keep from going stir crazy. At least for me.

[greeneyedkzin.livejournal.com]

Megan also writes her first drafts longhand, I believe.

It's a totally different style.

And note, she's blogging.

[chicating.livejournal.com]

Not every idea is good enough for primetime, but sometimes you might want to get it down anyway.

[ianrandalstrock.livejournal.com]

the eternal siren call of the nap

Damn, she's been screaming in my ears all day (it couldn't have anything to do with only two hours of sleep last night because I have to finish my index before Lunacon, could it?).

And on that note (kind of), I think you replied to a comment I made somewhere in lj-land about Lunacon and the possible consumption of comestibles in the evening of the morrow (sorry, like NO sleep). 'twould be great, but I don't know what time the dealers' room closes to match up with my one Friday night panel. Can I say "maybe"?

And then, to drag this comment around to the topic you posted on, so as to not be seen hijacking said topic: if all those authors stopped blogging, and spent all that blogging time (and all those blogged words) in novelizing, wouldn't it just create an overwhelming glut of novels on the market, effectively killing the chances for all of (I was going to say "us", but I still haven't finished my first novel) you?

[lagilman]

My one panel Friday is at 5, and I'm around until around 10pm, so I suspect we'll be able to work that "maybe..."

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

I love her books too. I have Forest Mage on my to be read stack.}:)

[equesgal.livejournal.com]

I can read a blog which inspires me to writeWriteWRITE. So I have to disagree with her too. Alas...such is life.

[debg.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of her before now, but now I have, I am unlikely to go back and read more. Because, you see, she's projecting, all righty.

Dear Whoozis: I have two active blogs and my own online community (invite only - it won't show up in google or other search engines. Private board.)

In the pastnot-quite-three years, I have written three quarters of a million words of premium fiction. That's eight full novels, plus some short fiction. That doesn't count the essays and reviews and lyrics.

Did I mention, bought and paid for? A couple of starred reviews (PW and Library Journal)?

Summation: please do not talk out of your arse. What applies to you, applies to you, period.

Cheers....

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

I like Robin a lot, as a person and as a writer. However, blogging certainly doesn't kill my production. For a lot of writers, it's also a publicity tool (in my own case, not just for the fiction but also for the business).

[takrann.livejournal.com]

Boy did she push some buttons!

[lagilman]

Nobody likes unsolicited (and arrogantly phrased) advice. Especially when the evidence shows the advice is NOT one-size-fits-all.

Had she said 'this is my experience, take warning!' there would have been very little kerfuffle at all.

If she was trying for humor (as I've seen one person suggest), she [a professional] should know that when nobody else 'gets what you meant' it means you didn't do it right.