Thursday, April 21, 2011

You know what? Talk to me, don't lecture me

I don't really read blogs anymore.

I mean, I pick and choose, here and there. But pretty much I don't read crime fiction blogs anymore. You see, I overdosed on it. Made myself sick. Got too worked up.

And because of that, I got a new perspective on things. And here's what I know.

Blogs... they don't work for what you think they're working for. Mr. Stringer's got it nailed and he beat me to the punch. If you're talking about promotion and how to promote and what's a good way to promote... you're not going to promote.

You're going to get a bunch of people on your blog who think they can learn something from you and go away. They're not going to buy your book.

Same goes with writing advice. Just posting some advice like this is the end all be all of writing is wrong. And yeah, I know I'm guilty of it sometimes too. But again... I'll figure out my own way how to write a sex scene. Don't tell me.

No, the best way to run a blog is the same way to use Facebook and Twitter. Make it a community. Talk about what you love.

I love when Jay Stringer goes off on Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's one of my favorite movies too. One of my favorite writers, and good friend, Duane Swierczynski is so good at this as well. Without his blog, I'd never have found Hickey and Boggs. Or half the books I actually do check out.

A good blog is like a friend who loves something. They should be able to get your into it as well. Talk about stuff and debate it with you.

Not lecture.

And there are wayyyyyy too many lecturers out there right now. Well, in my opinion.

Right? Thoughts? Am I wrong?

11 comments:

Paper Cut said...

Nice post. This sure throws a monkey wrench in my plans. I've begun to blog again. I'm just an all over the place kind of guy and I wanted to do some streamlining (cookie cutter posts). That's crap. Back to the drawing board. Thanks for the food for thought.

JG

Dave White said...

Oh believe me. On my old blog I was all over the place too.

Dana King said...

Blogs that provoke discussion are always better, though it's best when the blogger has a definite point to be made and leaves it open for discussion. I've seen blogs (not this one) where the owner feels the need to post but has nothing to say, so he leaves an open thread for people to discuss what they want. Huh? If I have to come up with a thought-provoking topic, I'll put it on my own blog.

Thomas Pluck said...

I stopped blogging a few months ago. I posted a few stories there, until I built confidence that they'd be published elsewhere.
But yeah, a blog should be a barstool, not a pulpit.
First I've heard of you, fellow Jersey guy. I'll be checking out Jackson Donne.

Anonymous said...

(I'm a chicken and leaving it anonymous.)

I agree with the lecturing is becoming annoying. You're very right about that. I disagree on the other point. I do want to know when a Blogger has a book coming out and think between posts on Raiders or whatever that is ok to promote.

Most of my purchases these days come from fellow Blogger and Facebook posts. Of course, if every other blog post is an ad then I ignore them.

Dave White said...

Hey Anon,

Of course. You should let people know when you have something coming out. I just hate the lecturing an every post is telling people HOW to promote... Talk about what you love and why. Help start a discussion.

Peter Farris said...

Amen. The blogosphere is over-saturated with folks preaching platform and branding and how-to gobbledygook. I hate reading this tripe. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you're not going to learn how to write fiction from somebody's blog post.

I approach my blog with two attitudes: 1) I don't care if anyone reads it & 2) I write about stuff that interests me

If anything, my blog earmarks certain moments. Sure, when my book comes out later this year I'll probably focus on promoting some, just hopefully not with the desperation and insistence of some writers.

Anonymous said...

YEAH AFTER READING THIS I'M NOT READING ANY MORE BLOGS ANYMORE EITHER WHAT THE FUCK

Chris Rhatigan said...

Nice all-caps rant, Anonymous. Really got me thinking.

Sure, there are too many blogs where writers are just trying to promote themselves or preaching about the best way to write absolutely.

I like blogs that are representative of the person who runs the blog and/or are part of a community. Patti Abbott does a great job with both, as does Sandra Seamans. Michael Solender runs a phenomenal blog with some of the best micro fiction around.

Dave White said...

Chris,

Both Patti and Sandra are fantastic.

Dave White said...

Wow. It's been a while since I dealt with anonymous comments in all caps that are kinda sarcastic. Guess I finally wrote a good post.


SIGNED,

DAVE WHITE