Friday, March 16, 2007

What's your excuse?

My blog is three weeks and one day old. It barely survived its first week; after a few days I considered committing infanticide. I got the heebie-jeebies that someone might actually read it and panicked about how that would make me feel.

It’s not that I mind people reading what I write: my job title says ‘writer’ and my CV is covered in ‘journalist’. Work writing is different though – it’s generally reportage or instruction, rather than opinion or a peek into the personality behind it. It’s also tailored to fit the needs of an audience.

Over the years straddling the change of century, I kept a diary. There were four volumes – proper A4, hard-backed, page-a-day tomes. I chronicled my ups and downs, I poured out my woes, gave nicknames to people and bitched like mad. It wasn’t written for anybody but me. Occasionally, I thought “I’ll use this misery or episode in a novel one day”, but I would have crucified – or at least removed the hands and tongue – of anyone who had read it.

My blog isn’t particularly soul-baring, and it isn’t tailored to an audience. I suppose it gives me a creative outlet and allows me to paint a different picture of my part of the world, a place that other bloggers and readers have glossed over with gloomy grey. It’s certainly having one positive effect – I’m ranting a little less in the real world than I was.

19 comments:

rilly super said...

my dear, I'm certainly glad that the heebie jeebies didn't cause this blog to fail to survive it's first week. I can't think what kind of jobs involve writing full time in the grim north as you say you do, transcribing mushy peas recipes or writing up the greyhound results I suppose, but I can only imagine you do it very well

Stewart said...

Hi M&M,
I have written diaries since 1985, mostly around natural history, weather and stuff like that. I see you are a journalist? Just imagine what it is like to blog things when you aren't a professional writer! I bir scary..
PS Our Bunty has a Bagpuss just like yours. She loved it until she accidentally pulled its throat out...but it has been stitched now.
Keep up the blog, its great.
S...

James Higham said...

So, you're from my part of the world up there - question is - are you close to Gretna or Lindisfarne.

Why don't you join us at Blogpower. There are people on the list I know would love your blog and I'll feature you in tomorrow's Blogfocus.

Mutterings and Meanderings said...

James, I'm down the coast from Lindisfarne. How does one 'Blogpower'?

Gone said...

Don't worry, bare your soul, as long as your not attacking other people you should approach this with a clear conscience. Even if people you know are reading ( I have known Boulmer Birder for 18 years) so what, as long as your honest then what can happen?

Brom said...

I kept diaries a long long time ago in my school years. They make me laugh now, as most entries either had a note about the weather or the phrase "Mucked about", guess I did a lot of that then.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad your blog didn't expire M&M, it came just at the right time. I was getting very miffed with bloggers who paint the north in shades of grey. You're on my bloglist and there you shall stay!

Eurodog said...

Hello,
I read your blog and I have create a link to your blog on mine. So you see you have fans out there. I am in Brussels.

James Higham said...

I'm with Andy on this. About an hour from now, you'll be in a Blogfocus so you might like to check it out, becasue they're going to check you out.

To join Blogpower, have a squiz at:

http://defendingtheblog.blogspot.com/

perhaps starting with the first post. We have a real community over here.

The Great Gildersleeve said...

Good luck with your blog and stick with it. I have let mine lapse a little because of not enough hours in a day and many things to catch up on but I am determined to keep it going.

There really is something about putting thoughts on view down somewhere. You can be reasonably open and say what you wish allowing for the usual concerns for your safety.

Mutterings and Meanderings said...

James, thank you for your plug.

And thanks to everyone else for being so nice about my scribblings!

Arthur Clewley said...

This blog is obviously going to be huge. Remember your struggling fellow bloggers who were there at the beginning when you're famous and influential M&M won't you, you know, the odd plug here and there, send us a copy of your book (one each even), that sort of thing...

Anonymous said...

I am highly envious of the amount of comments your baby-blog already has! It's a whole 'nother world with you young'uns blogging away out there...I'm just an old thing plonking away at My Space! perhaps I should defect to Google...

happy trails, M&M!

Pans of Yellow Springs

Karen said...

It certainly is a good blog.

I'm fairly new to this blogging lark myself but it's good as it brings a little creativity into my life and fills in some quiet spaces at work! I have a My Space page but find this much easier to use.

Sometimes I'm frustrated by the fact that I can't blog at night as I don't have the internet at home but sometimes I struggle for things to say. I think this is perhaps because I worry that why would anyone want to read what I think, who else would find it interesting?

But I try and blog every day (even if I don't put any new posts my blog) as it's good practice for writing and I don't do enough of that or anything else creative for that matter as I'm usually too tired.

Gill said...

my space!!- arrgh- all you get is a load of people who write awesome! or cool! in reply nearly everything you write.

I couldn't survive without my journals- I bleaurgh a lot of crap into them but they are full of fab suff as well that I use in my writing.

Keep blogging eminem- its a good excuse not to have to write anything else!

Mutterings and Meanderings said...

Karen, I like your blog and don't know how you manage to do it when you're at work.

I am surprised anyone wants to read my witterings, because that's what they are!!

Gill, oh that I didn't have to write anything else! Today I was wrestling with the intracacies of buy-to-let...

Gill said...

Karen can obviously write hers at work because she has no soliciting to do.

Eminem -all writers have stuff they SHOULD be writing but don't....

Karen said...

Thanks M&M!

My mum made me sound like I was the solicitor, when in fact I am a secretary. I get away with blogging at work because not many people walk past my desk and I can hear their footsteps approaching so I can minimise Blogger.

If I'm not busy and I want to draw out the time it takes me to do my work because I know it'll be a while before I get some more I'll blog a little, then do some work, then more blogging etc. If I've finished my work and no other secretary in the firm needs help then I usually go on the internet to pass the time. I still do this secretively as no doubt people would say "Haven't you got anything to do?"

I also blog during my lunch break when I can go online without fear of reprimand!

I feel for you M&M writing about buy-to-let. I am currently working in the conveyancing department and it is very dull - not only is the work boring but also the long periods of time between tapes trying to blog secretly are mind-numbing. I think the most boring department though is the trusts department - dealing with wills, powers of attorney and dead people.

Anonymous said...

Yikes ! I feel like one of those people that 'got in at the ground floor' of the dotcom boom - mind you look how that ended up...

Keep up the good work - your blog is fab, funky and funny - just like you!