Malcolm, from Atlanta asks: “How do you decide what blog post to write?”
It works this way:
I have never known two writers who work exactly the same way. Each has individual idiosyncrasies. At the same time I believe that ALL writers have the same BASIC process. That is, they write, then rewrite, read what they have written and then rewrite again, as many times as it takes to feel the work is done. It is that re-writing which is at the core of good writing.
So, Malcolm, while I’m sure I have my own particular way of working—for example, I get to work early in the morning, whereas I know folks who work best at night—I can work in a hotel room—others hate it—I think that the kinds of actual writing problems I have are more than likely the problems other writers have. In other words, I simply share my own experience as they occur.
Therefore if my blog post is about starting a new book, or finishing a book, you can be usually sure it is because that is where I am in my own work. If it’s about editing, or research, that’s what I am doing at that time. I don’t refer to a given book by title before it’s published because the title often changes, and besides, I really don’t like to reference a particular book until I’m sure it is going to be published.
The exception to all this is when I get a question such as the one you sent, Malcom. Then I try to answer it here. In fact, if anyone out there (wherever there is) has a question, which I think will have general interest, do send it on.
I’ll probably decide to write a blog post about it.