When I began blogging two and a half months ago I had a goal to promote myself as a writer. My goal has not changed. But things haven’t worked out the way I first thought they might.
“QueenBJan’s Weblog” was my starting place. I made a few comments about this and that and it was fun. I also went to work posting a few of my favorite writing pieces from the past. I wrote a little about the birds at our bird feeders and a few comments about my family heritage stories. Then my blog sat idle. I didn’t want to keep posting old material, I wanted more new writing. But new ideas weren’t coming to me.
I also found myself in another dilemma. I wanted to post about things I want to write about and have published. But I didn’t want to post something that I could sell. It was like a “catch 22” situation. I needed to write on something similar enough without writing my book ideas and plans online. I also needed idea starters to keep me writing.
Something had to change. I considered what I most wanted to write. I am currently working on Bible stories that I hope to get published. My greatest motivation for writing is to encourage people to believe that the Bible is readable and applicable to our time.
With that in mind, I decided to start a new blog called “His Whisperings.” And my daily writing prompt was right beside my desk, the “Daily Bible Studies” in my Sunday school quarterly. It has been a challenge to keep up the pace of a blog a day, but I have grown a little every day in the process. My goal with each day’s blog has been to clarify the passage, if needed, and to apply it to a situation in our present setting. Sometimes it is fairly easy to write, but often I have to spend much more time thinking and praying about it before I write, and sometimes I have to research to understand it myself. I say all this to illustrate the amount of time it has taken each day to keep up with this blog. (Did I mention that blogging can become addicting?)
But I still hadn’t covered everything that was important to me. I wasn’t writing to children, I was writing to adults. It is harder to bring these scriptures down to a child’s level of understanding. I also need to think in smaller bites.
So I started two blogs with children in mind. (Did I mention that blogging can become addicting?) One blog is named “Tales from the Kid in Me” and the other is “Kids-n-Bibles.” The first was easy to get started on and has been fun to write, though I don’t get around to writing every day. The second is basically sitting around waiting for me to do something with it. Because of the time of year when I started it, I made my first post on “Slavery in the Bible.” I should spend more time on this blog, but time is what I keep running out of.
I now have a third blog for kids that is tied in with my work. It is named “Mrs. Green’s Library.” It is about books and student reactions to them. The students love to see their comments online. (Did I mention that blogging can become addicting?)
Time. There is no way to manufacture time and get more of it. It is all a matter of setting priorities. If I had my way about everything, I would retire so I could do what I want with all of my day; but as it is, to work I must go five days a week. That means my options are to (1) clean house and do laundry after work, (2) watch TV – NOT, (3) check my email and blogs, or (4) write something I might be able to get published. (Did I mention that blogging can become addicting?)
His Whisperings is demanding a lot of my time, but it has truly been productive. With over 2,000 hits in my first two months, I am confident that I have found a ministry in itself that is very meaningful and rewarding.
Yet all the while “QueenBJan’s Weblog” has been sitting around fully neglected. This is the blog that was supposed to present myself to the world as a writer. And when am I supposed to find time to write what I wish to publish for profit?
Have others wrestled with some of these issues? I would love to read your comments and reactions. (Did I mention that blogging can become addicting? I’m writing this on my longer-than-usual-with-students-leaving-early lunch break today.)
Hi:
I hear you when it comes to not being able to manufacture more time.
I used to think that if I didn’t work on one of my rhyming PBs, sub something out, or revise another chapter of my adult suspense novel, that I was neglecting my writing.
But I have to remember that I write all the original scripts for our studio’s drama department and hey, that’s writing. And the payoff is seeing the plays come to life in the end of semester productions.
And then there’s this blog on wordpress. At first, I thought, like you did, that it would bring notice to me as a writer. But instead, it’s made me think about writers in general, connect with a few of them, and maybe even say something in my blog that helps fellow writers.
I’m a writer. I write everyday, even if it isn’t always what I think I should be writing.
I’m published in several magazines.
Do I have book contracts for my adult suspense thriller or my YA? Not yet…but if it’s meant to happen, I truly believe that it’ll all fall into place.
In the mean time, I’m enjoying the daily writing journey, whether it takes me blogging, working on something for the studio, or just posting comments and reading what others are writing and thinking.
Hang in there with your bible stories. Everything will fall into place as it’s meant to be.
Jaclyn (Dramaquill)
Thank you, Jaclyn, for the encouragement. I know that if it is meant to be, and if I’m willing to stick it out, then God will see that it happens. In the meantime, I have found a ministry in His Whisperings if I get published elsewhere or not.
Check out what we are doing in Tullahoma. Hit some of the listed members of the Not Yet Dead Poets Society and Remedial Reading and Writing Group web site.
Many are (most all are really) published or are making a living at writing… you can tell by their links. One has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in their catagory. The youngest is 14 and writes a poem a day. It is fun. You will have to schedule a visit with the group when you are in town.