Why am I Blogging?

Why am I blogging?

Why does any individual blog?

Promote their product - if you only promote your product, it's really, really boring, especially if done in a pushy way. I do promote my readings and poetry Pamphlet (buy now, please - link on the sidebar) but the ROI seems minimal. How many sold from the blog? Guess. How many people come to a reading because it's been on my blog? If there are any, they don't comment or come and tell me. Other people's puff pieces - boring. Especially if they only blog the puff, not the failures.

Share the pain - if I ever do a post on failure, I get comments. If I do a post on success, I may get some too. I find it hard to write puff pieces on myself and feel like I'm courting for comfort with the failure ones. Maybe whinging online gets it off my chest. Though I do like to read about other people's failures (more than their successes, my guilty secret)

Write about writing - Chatacters, dialogue, plotting, etc. These posts rarely get any feedback. Are they interesting at all? Useful?

Other links - really I post these for myself. So I can find them again.

Events - There are more events than I can keep a handle on. I tend to post ones that I'm interested in, that I would go to if I could or that I will go to. I don't mind spreading the word, pushing PR for these. The odd time I've been thanked. I've even got a ticket or two. I'm totally jealous of blogs like English Mum who gets free stuff all the time to write about. Positively showered, she is.

Workshops - No thanks at all for posting about workshops run by other people. I only post ones I'd be interested in. Don't know why I bother. I can't afford to go on any.

Grants/Bursaries - This is a maze of in fighting, mutual back scratching, brown paper envelopes, spinning and closed-shopness. I write about these to try and light a fire or two. No idea if it makes any difference. Full disclosure: I received bursaries from South Dublin Co Co and the Arts Council. Small but helpful. Did this blog help? I do mention it in grant applications.

Competitions - again, I only mention competitions I'd recommend and enter if I had the right piece and the money. I never get anything from the organisers. Do they even know I exist. I personally find posting these useful as I can find them with the deadlines. Does anyone else? When I remember, and when I hear, I post the results.

Inspiration - these are rare. Just things that spark my interest. Youtube, photos, whatever. Why bother?

Writing - Occasionally I post some writing. Particularly TFE's Poetry Bus, a fabulous institution/vehicle. The problem Is that once on the the web, it's published. So either it's unpublishable in print (in which case, why read it?) or I take it down later.

Markets - Magazines, publishers etc. For my use again.

Other stuff - what other stuff is there? Book reviews? Contentious stuff about writing and writers and the whole industry? I don't want to blog about ex-boyfriends, bad dates, cooking, funny things my kids said, overheard on bus, celebrity gossip/speciulation or how I will fix Ireland when they make me the benevolent dictator.

So comments, opinions, fluff pieces, freebies, begging. Why should I continue?

This post triggered by not being shortlisted for the bloggers awards. (And some other frankly boring, puffy, whingey, infrequent, badly written and not thought out blogs being on the list.) I'll get over it.