Today, as I contemplate a topic to blog about, I really have to get over something to even to do this—to blog. And I've decided to "hang in there" with the bloggin' process. 

 

As a writing instructor, I encourage my students to work through the complete writing process. And I discourage them from "ever" turning in their first drafts.

Anne Lamott describes first drafts well in her book Bird by Bird. But since I know Lamott's term for first drafts will offend some of my readers, I’ll just quote her explanation of these ****** first drafts, "All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts" (21).

In my writing classes, we explore the writing process with every assignment—from invention to editing to publishing. With blogging, you really don’t really take the time for the complete writing process. You just go from invention to publication in a matter of minutes.

Maybe it's my desire for perfection, but I've been tempted to lay this blogging business down just for that reason. I feel like I’m publishing my "freewriting" or "****** first drafts." When I check out other blogs, I see typos and random thoughts—some of which only the author can possibly follow.

Actually, that is what life looks like, isn't it? It's messy! And we rarely get a chance to get every detail just "so-so" before other people observe us. If they don't like me without my makeup, they're probably not going to like me anyway. And as my husband, Dan, once told me, "Karen, not everyone is gonna like you!"

After I scraped myself off the floor from that comment, I realized that Dan was right. And even though I would love to please everyone—now I know that's impossible. 

Even though I've decided to continue to "hang in there" with my blogging,  I'm not giving up on the editing process. I'll still hack away at my articles and other writing projects that I submit for publication. But as for blogging—I'll just cut, paste, and publish!

Keep bloggin'!

Karen 

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My other weblinks and blogs 

BLESSED Journal

Legacy WordBlog

Little Rock Christian Examiner

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More thoughts on blogging

BlogFast

Free-blogging

Confessions of a New Blogger


What are your thoughts on blogging? What is your writing process?