I have been wondering for a while what to do with this blog.
I started writing on here in college. I wanted an outlet to write about all the amazing stories I read in class. It seemed there was a new incredible story every week and I had to share the experience. I also entertained the notion of becoming a fiction writer and blogging about short stories was one way to improve my skill. I wanted to learn from the best.
My favorite writers at the time were George Saunders, Raymond Carver and Anthony Doerr. I consumed every word written by these writers to gain their powers and I wrote summaries and commentaries on their works. I had no idea there would be an audience for my writings. At this time of writing, my post on George Saunders' story Puppy has 21,000 views over three years. This averages out to almost 20 views per day.
Lately I have been posting more on this blog, but I am struggling with thoughts of doubt. Reading works of fiction is hard enough without having to summarize them. Short story blogs are not cash cows. If I wanted to make money, I would blog about technology or dieting.
I would not be who I am today without short stories. This may sound corny but short stories have taught me things that I otherwise would not have learned. From Saunders I learned about the double-edged sword of judgement. From Carver I learned about the importance of honest communication. I hope that I can overcome my own weaknesses and continue reading short stories and learning from them. Truthfully this is one of my favorite things.
To anyone who reads this, what were you searching for and did you find it? How can I improve my writing?
I started writing on here in college. I wanted an outlet to write about all the amazing stories I read in class. It seemed there was a new incredible story every week and I had to share the experience. I also entertained the notion of becoming a fiction writer and blogging about short stories was one way to improve my skill. I wanted to learn from the best.
My favorite writers at the time were George Saunders, Raymond Carver and Anthony Doerr. I consumed every word written by these writers to gain their powers and I wrote summaries and commentaries on their works. I had no idea there would be an audience for my writings. At this time of writing, my post on George Saunders' story Puppy has 21,000 views over three years. This averages out to almost 20 views per day.
Lately I have been posting more on this blog, but I am struggling with thoughts of doubt. Reading works of fiction is hard enough without having to summarize them. Short story blogs are not cash cows. If I wanted to make money, I would blog about technology or dieting.
I would not be who I am today without short stories. This may sound corny but short stories have taught me things that I otherwise would not have learned. From Saunders I learned about the double-edged sword of judgement. From Carver I learned about the importance of honest communication. I hope that I can overcome my own weaknesses and continue reading short stories and learning from them. Truthfully this is one of my favorite things.To anyone who reads this, what were you searching for and did you find it? How can I improve my writing?
To be honest with you, I found this blog to get a better understanding of "Puppy" because the story bored the hell out of me and I didn't want to do any more than skim through it. Since you clearly love that story, I'll mark it up as a difference of opinion--I don't think that Saunders did anything to hook me in from the beginning and his writing style to me is just awkward. But anyway, you're review helped me out. If I were you, I wouldn't even consider how much money you're making by writing. I'm a writer too, and I've had similar thoughts. But one day I said, fuck it, there's less than a one percent chance I'll make a living off of this, so I might as well write something that I am truly passionate about. That's all that will matter, in the end.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. It's good to know that I'm not the only one who struggles with this kind of thing.
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