Dare to Be an Eccentric Blogger
A lot of writers keep journals or blogs onlinen, but
unfortunately, they aren't always being used to their fullest
advantage.
Look around the internet and you can find a variety of journals
and so many of them are the same: what people did today, who
they saw, where they were. But the truth is, they're most
interesting for the blog-keepers rather than their readers
(unless those readers are also friends). While that's fine for
the masses to do, it is an untapped resource for writers.
You can make better use of your journaling time by being more
descriptive, and blatantly so. Some writers feel guilty even
contemplating such a thing, worried that friends and family
might think they're being "fake" or "too artistic." However, in
your defense, you are a writer. You have a right to use whatever
you have at your disposal to improve your abilities. You have
license to be eccentric so just let them assume your exercises
in creative journal writing are just part of the whole "Writer
Mystique."
Try describing your world, as though you're writing a novel. For
example, you'll see that many journal-keepers may mention places
or people they know, but not tell us much about them. Next time,
try painting a word picture of what you see. Keep in mind that
there doesn't need to be natural progression with each entry as
there would be with a novel. This is an exercise in expanding
your writing capabilities.
For example, instead of "I wish it would stop raining," try:
"Six days of steady rain has left me feeling as gray as the
unrelenting dark outside."
Or, what about the people in your life? If you've never
described them before, do so now. Try your mother, your
significant other, a friend, or an enemy:
Anna Grable is not a typical mother. I always thought of her as
"The Reluctant Mother" and when I told her about the nickname
yesterday, she reacted exactly as I knew she would. She threw
her head back and laughed. "You know me so well, you clever
girl. It's perfect!" she cried, clapping her pudgy hands with
glee. I suddenly wished I hadn't told her. Part of the beauty of
our relationship is that we pretend we're like most mothers and
daughters - we pretend not to understand one another. It somehow
made it easier to deal with her strange behaviors when I was
growing up. When she was waking everyone in the house at two
o'clock in the morning to wash walls, or when she wouldn't come
to my school plays on the premise that she didn't understand the
stories, it was easier to say "She's an odd one," than having to
face the truth. The truth was, and is, Anna is the most selfish
woman I've ever met. She's self-indulgent, and addicted to
attention, going out of her way to garner it whenever and
wherever she can, and avoiding all situations where she is not
the star. She likes to think she's eccentric, and she took the
"Reluctant Mother" label as proof of it. I expect it will be a
topic of conversation with her friends, who, like me, indulge
her in spite of ourselves.
It doesn't have to be great. It only has to be descriptive in
some way. Let go of embarrassment and just experiment. Stretch
and exercise your writing "muscles." Not only will your blog be
more interesting to read, your growing ability will transfer
well to your fiction writing, and you will have a storehouse of
information to use if ever you need it.
If you'd rather keep your creative journaling private, then
by all means, do so. I keep mine semi-private in that the one
where I do my creative journaling is one my family and friends
don't see; however, strangers seem to enjoy it! I've even
convinced them I have a fascinating life - simply because of how
I write there.