I’ve heard in writerly circles that when you are going deep into your craft, you can expect the first two years to be your purge time. Your detox. Your cleanse. That during those two years you’ll write and write and write, and you’ll unclog the arteries, and you’ll get the gunk out, and then your real work can flow.
It’s been four years for me, and I’m still getting the gunk out. I think about what I used to consider to be the “real” work: the pieces I’m revising for submission. The ones collecting dust in that plastic stackable letter tray. The ones I’m not working on because I don’t want to send them off for someone else to approve. That’s not the work I want to do. That’s not what I choose to fill my free time with. The “real” work is not what I turn to when I have free time on a Saturday. What I turn to is my blogs.
So I’m kind of wondering. Could it be that blogging is my real writing work? Seeing as how I’ve got a piece that’s been awaiting revisions and submission for over a year, I think it is safe to say, Yes. Blogging is my real writing work.
And with that, I’m officially committing to NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month. Every day during the month of November, I will publish a blog post. I’ve got my prompts. I’ve got my laptop. I’m ready.
Butterfly Mind 
12 responses to “Could blogging be my real work?”
Love your idea! I’ve been thinking about this “life’s work” idea too lately and I think you are exactly right. Blogging is a very satisfying “middle earth” for a writer, I find. Great post!
Can’t wait to read them!
Visit my Blog Propellant (theblogpropellant.wordpress.com) if you need other prompting assistance! There’s about 170 there already. Looking forward to your posts as I always enjoy reading them.
I look forward to your NaBloPoMo posts. All the best with it. Blogging is real writing and you’re a natural.
Congrats on the breakthrough. That’s a good place to start. Best of luck on NaBloPoMo
Great idea. I should start participating in this too!
I think you should 😀
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I won’t be able to post everyday, but I am going to take this month especially seriously as I continue to write about homesteading in West Virginia at http://www.livingechoblog.com Thanks for the encouragement!
Good luck! I am still getting the gunk out and it’s scattered all over my office, in countless journals, and in drafts on my desktop 🙂
Go for it!
I think you write beautifully and NaBloPoMo: is a great idea – I’m going to find out more right now! 🙂