Back on the Writing Horse?

I have been at my new job in the greater Boston area for about six weeks. Today, one of my co-workers asked me how I like living here and what do I like to do on my days off. I drew a blank.

"Uhhhhh..."

"What are your hobbies?"

"Uhhh...I like to read and watch Netflix. And I have a ukulele." That was it. That was all I could come up with. 

Someone made a joke about how I must be a "dud." I laughed along with it, but the whole time I was thinking: "Oh my god, she's right. I am a dud. I am a hobby-less loser."

It got me wondering: What do I like to do? I didn't lie; I do watch a lot of Netflix, I do like to read and I do have a ukulele (even though I haven't touched it in a few weeks). But I don't have any real hobbies, nothing that I'm passionate enough to do on a regular basis. I love music and I can't get through one day without singing, whether it's in the car or in the shower, but I'm not motivated to get involved with any music groups. What exactly am I doing with my free time? Nothing productive, I know that.

While I was thinking all of this, the woman who originally asked the question was listing off all the things she likes to do and she mentioned writing. Ding, ding. ding.

Writing, of course. This blog and my online portfolio have been sitting here collecting metaphorical dust for months. And, if my memory is correct, I like writing. Hell, I even voluntarily took writing classes in college. I mean, it's not a secret that I'm no Jack Kerouac or Hunter Thompson (shout out to certain writer friends), but I remember doing it. Often. In all forms. I wrote crappy poetry as a kid, I wrote cliche song lyrics as a teenager, and I wrote essays and articles in college.

So why not start up again?

This blog was originally for a senior capping project that I tried to keep going, but to no avail. I think this primarily was because I was trying to keep all my posts relevant to my industry — grammar, media, things in the news, blah blah blah. But now, I'm thinking about a makeover, about making the blog my "hobby." Maybe I'll write on this blog when I want, about what I want. And maybe people will read it, maybe they won't. Maybe I'll even start adding things to my online portfolio again...I'm probably getting ahead of myself.

The point is, I should — I want — to start writing again. Let's just see if anything worth reading escapes from my brain to my fingertips.

A Novice's Blog: Three Things to Note

Today in my capping class we started end-of-the-semester presentations. Watching the bloggers of From the Court and From the Bench present got me thinking about things I need to work on with my blog. I came up with three things that I thought would be good to share:

• Putting your own advice into action - Several of my posts are opinion- or advice-driven. For instance, I've written about when to use headlines versus titles, journalism ethics, and grammar. I've even done a video post about how to get a new blog going. But what I've realized is that as a blogger/writer you can preach all you want, but it doesn't mean jack unless you follow your own advice. I have said more than once that to generate loyalty you have to post consistently, and look: 11 days since my last post. When this blog was in the earlier stages I said that a blog should not be too text heavy. Surprise: I have one video post, three pictures, and everything else is text. The blogs my class saw today, From the Court and From the Bench, had much more multimedia than A Write Hook. It made realize that if I'm going to posting about how to improve, I'd better take my own advice or why would anyone take me seriously? 

• Google Alerts - I was introduced to Google Alerts at my internship at NetPublications, Inc. and now it's my blog's best friend. Go to Google, find Alerts under the "more" tab at the top of the page. Here, you can type in keywords or phrases from which Google will generate a search that will constantly update in Reader. This has been super helpful, especially when I don't have any ideas for postings. Say you have a blog about graduate school, such as Grad School Insider. You could create Google Alerts for the phrases: "graduate school," "applying to graduate school," "top grad schools," et cetera. Then, thanks to SEO, Google generates a continuous list of results based on the keywords. Some of my Google Alerts include: "AP style," "media regulations," and "Twitter."

• Using other people's work as a jumping off point to create an original idea/post - There is a fine line between being inspired and copying another person's idea because you're too lazy to think of something yourself. This may sound hypocritical since I just praised Google Alerts, but that is to find prompts, not to steal from other bloggers. While it is excellent to look at fellow blogger's sites, do not be tempted to rip something off. If you are inspired to write about something similar, do your own research, create your own angle, and reference or credit the site you started at. For example, I just saw that @JournScandals (the Scandalism blog's Twitter) tweeted the link to a new post about Stephen Glass. As it happens, I was recently thinking that it would be fun to do a post about him. However, since @JournScandals is a colleague and has a great blog, I will refrain from a writing a post about the same thing since she produced it first. But I could write about something like notorious journalists and reference @JournScandal's blog when I mention Stephen Glass. See the difference? Check out @JournScandal's Stephen Glass post: "Stephen Glass Scandal: Learn from the lies." 

I Am a Writer

As you may have noticed, my last blog post was ten days ago. This is a significant amount of time in the digital world, since all you need to do to publish a post is write and then click. But I was in a slump, which consequently turned into panic since I have my capping mid-semester pitch presentation on Monday and, until now, had no recent posts. It's not as if I haven't been writing pieces for Monica's Creative Juices, it's just that lately everything has either seemed too boring to post or has petered out and remains unfinished. Luckily, I forced myself to hold off on a freak out, and eventually I wrote the essay Inspiration, which I posted earlier today. Phew! The creative juices are flowing once more.

During this writing plateau of mine, I began to wonder if I am really cut out for writing. Yes, I enjoy it, but there are hundreds of things that people enjoy and don't make a career out of. I began to doubt myself as a writer and wondered if I was doing the right thing in my life. The thing that kept me from going through a crisis was remembering how loyal I have been to writing throughout my whole life. Hobbies and interests come and go, but as long as I can remember I have always had a yearning (incredibly cheesy word, what that's what it is) to write. When I was a little girl, I used to write stories and silly poems and dreamt of writing a book one day. In middle school and high school I attempted to do so two separate times, but I didn't have the chops or the patience, and probably not the talent. Now I'm a senior in college, majoring in journalism and using up all my elective credits with English classes, with a blog and an online portfolio.

I had only three other fairly major interests growing up: dance (I took ballet, jazz, modern, and tap, and was terrible), tennis (never made the team but played all the time with my family and took lessons), and music (flute, bassoon, marching and pep band, chorus, a cappella, jazz singer, gospel choir, six musicals, and a vocal music minor). Dance and tennis faded out and I never really saw myself making a career out of them. Music I was a little more serious about, but I knew I didn't have enough talent to be on Broadway or get a record deal. But writing...though I am not the best writer, it is amazing to look back on things I have written in the past and be proud of how far I've come. Writing has always been consistent in my life and has always given me the most satisfaction; it has made me the happiest and the most disappointed.

When it comes down to it, I know that I am a writer. I may not end up as a published novelist or a prominent journalist, but I will always write in some capacity. Writing is my best friend, and although inspiration sometimes has a hard time finding me, I know that it'll find me again. Because I am a writer.