The 30 Days Blog Project--Getting Honest (Mostly)

Confession time, (although its not really a confession) I haven't written anything on this blog since October. That's easy to see if you go back to my previous post. My second confession might not come as a surprise either, I've never really liked blogging. For me, it was a lot of pressure. As an author there's this idea that you need a PLATFORM to blog about. The whole idea of a platform got me hung up. What am I supposed to write about? What shouldn't I write about?  It felt like everything I wrote here would translate into either book sales or people deciding they would never read a word I wrote.

Don't get me wrong, I loved finding and writing about teens doing great things, writing books, and reading books, but there was always this pressure to sound professional. I fell back on my journalism background and felt like I had to have quotes and pictures and interviews and all of that took time away from my other writing and my family and other things I love to do.

Also there is the pressure NOT to write certain things. Talking about the publishing industry in anything but a favorable light is frowned on. Honestly reviewing books meant possibly saying something bad about another author, someone you might work with eventually and definitely someone who has been through this often hellish process. Politics and religion were taboo. Putting your kids on your blog meant you were exploiting them or putting them in danger or just boring the world with your mommy stories.

For me, this left precious little that was important to me or relevant in my life to blog about.

So I'm making it harder and easier on myself.  For the next thirty days I will blog every day. I won't force myself to make it long or pretty. I will just write.

I will try to be as honest as possible, although there are things I still can't do. There are some big writerly things going on in my life that I cannot talk specifically about. I just can't. If I bring it up, I may refer to it as the "possibly really cool thing that's really exciting, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up about."

I won't rant about the publishing industry. It's incredibly tough sometimes, and I think anyone who thinks this is a cakewalk business is extremely lucky, delusional, or hasn't really been in it long enough. However, I know that I am extremely blessed to have a book published and another one on the way. Besides I work with people who have my back and are willing to listen to my rants. I don't need to rant here.

I despise politics almost as much as my husband gets into them, so I most likely will not talk about politics.

Religion is a huge part of who I am, so that will probably come into the picture. If you don't want to read it, you don't have to. 

I may review books just enough to say what the author is doing right and what I admire and love. Like everyone else I love many books and dislike others. As an author, I'm both more critical and more appreciative of what I read. I might bring that out, or I might not.

I will talk about my kids. They are by far the biggest thing in my life. If this blog only serves as a record of what is going on in our lives, then it will be successful IMO.

I will mention kids and teens that I see doing great things. There is far too much written about kids who do bad things. I want teens to know I have their backs. I think by and large they are great people who are intelligent, energetic, and can accomplish things that jaded, too-busy, too-old, and too-tired adults can't.

I will do my best to keep this blog positive. There are too many negative things in the world. 

One more bit of honesty, I have another book coming out in six month, DEAD GIRL'S DON'T LIE.
YAY and YIKES. Yes, that is one of the reasons I've resurrected my blog. I still want it to be a marketing tool. There will be more about that tomorrow because I got my ARCs (advanced reader's copies) on Friday. SQUEE! I may even do a giveaway, which is one of the other things I didn't like about blogging.

After thirty days I figure I will be in the habit of blogging again. I will love it, or I will hate it. Maybe I will keep going, and maybe I'll give myself permission to stop blogging altogether.

A small disclaimer: What I write here is my own words. It doesn't reflect the views of Walker/Bloomsbury publishing, Nelson Literary Agency, the LDS church, or even the Wolf or Shaw families. Any blame, hate or love mail should come directly to me.

Thanks for listening.

Best,

Jennifer