the sharp edge of a metaphor
It takes me an average of 45 minutes to write a post for Remaining Relevant. I struggle and twist over every sentence, every paragraph, every nuance. I think blog writing needs to be disciplined and concise. I’ve been assured by other bloggers that it will get easier once I find my voice. So far, I feel croaky at best. But it’s put me in mind of my former life, an undergrad with strong opinions about what good writing is and how to produce it. I got my BA in English Literature and not creative writing because, and I didn’t mind telling you, ‘I don’t believe writing can be taught – you either have it or you don’t. If you do, the only way to develop it is to read – a lot.’
I wasn’t so haughty, however, as to refuse writing courses altogether. I took some. And I remember endless excercises, heartless workshops, and the inevitable refrain – where’s my voice? Where’s my focus? Sounds suspiciously like what it takes to write a successful blog, doesn’t it? I don’t know if it’s because of the immediacy, potential anonymous scrutiny, or that the internet’s nature means these could be associated with my name for a very long time – but I’ve found clarity via blog writing far faster than any assigned writing excercise of undergrad years. Leading me to wonder if any college professors have started assigning blogs in their classes?
I had the good fortune to discuss the idea with a real, live college professor last weekend. He’d never heard of any writing classes doing such a thing, but was interested in the idea. I find the most successful blogs are those that have a clear main focus. Here I write about libraries. Postsecret (Technorati‘s number three most popular blog) allows folks to anonymously purge their secrets. Go to Slashdot for your nerdy needs or Gizmodo for gadgets. It translates, we agreed, that blogging for credit would have to have the same kind of focus. It might work for a poetry or advanced short story class, but not so well for freshman composition where different modes of writing might be assigned. And then, of course, all the wonders of social software apply – and what is college, really, if not social? Via blogging, workshop classes are no longer a string of solitary activities, writing and reading, punctuated by terrifying gang critiques. Via commenting it becomes a collaborative effort at more levels. Ahh, to be young and and full of conviction again.
If you’re interested, the title of this post comes from Peter Morville‘s column, A Garden of Forking Paths in the Feb/March issue of the ASIS&T bulletin. I used it here mostly, because I thought it quite poetic and poetry is always welcome in a discussion of blogging for creative writers – I also liked that the poetry came from a non-creative writing source.
