Can a blog be Literature?

[Richard Turner]

I've been largely absent from this site for the last year, mainly because I can see no hope of my novels getting published. I do not have the kind of dogged determination which some of you have. I'll give some project a good run, but if it doesn't seem to be working I would rather forget about it and try something else.
In my case the something else has evolved into writing a series of blogs, based on my travels to photograph wildlife. I try to tell a story and include other species such as people. Having visited 4 small islands and one big one this year, there is a lot about life on small islands.
What I would like to do is to submit a few samples for your consideration, but I'm rather out of date on how best to do this. Can someone advise? I'm more than happy to do some reading and reviewing in exchange.

 

[Rich.]

Hi Richard, the Writing Groups is the part of the forum you want. There you can post your work for critique as well as critique others.

Work posted for critique goes here (same link as above).

The Writing Groups instructions are here.

And the Litopia method for giving and receiving critique is here.

I hope that answers your question (if not, let me know).

 

[Rick Hall]

Hi Richard, the Writing Groups is the part of the forum you want. There you can post your work for critique as well as critique others.

Work posted for critique goes here (same link as above).

The Writing Groups instructions are here.

And the Litopia method for giving and receiving critique is here.

I hope that answers your question (if not, let me know).

Thanks for the handy links!

 

[Rich.]

Thanks for the handy links!

No problem. You need to have posted 20 times and been here a week to get access to the groups. A few more days and you'll be there, Rick.

 

[Richard Turner]

So, we have Rick replying to Rich replying to Richard, though away from the net I am Dick, a name which served me well for many years until the US decided to kick it into the gutter. Now I have to use Richard in case I get spammed for using a rude word! I also detest nouns used as verbs like "to critique" and "exited". We had perfectly decent verbs like "criticise" and "leave". I understand that in this age of political correctness "to criticise" now has negative connotations, but "leave" is always better than "exited". Anyone disagree?
All this a distraction from getting on with the job; grit your teeth Dick and dive into this new world of groups.

 

[Rich.]

Rise the Riches!

Anyone disagree?

Yes, I'm afraid I do. The critique argument is as old as the hills, and both Merriam Webster and the Oxford English admit it as a verb. As for leave vs exited, here I do agree, but only as a matter of taste. English is forever changing – best to go with the flow. Would you really prefer to be linguistically dictated to, as they are in France or Spain, etc.?

All this a distraction from getting on with the job; grit your teeth Dick and dive into this new world of groups.

Go for it! Good things happen there.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Richard, I wish you luck with your blog. For the last year, I've been contemplating a return to the fogbound melee that is querying literary agents and promoting myself as a writer through social media posting and blogging. To guide my efforts, I've been storing useful articles on these activities in a folder on my desktop, a bit like a squirrel hiding nuts for winter!

I made an abortive start in blogging back in 2015, using Wordpress, but those posts mysteriously disappeared. Even weirder, although they've vanished, they still appear in Google searches. I discovered this quite by chance, while seeking information on autopsies for my WIP, noticing my own blog post; I'm not going to pretend to understand how this happens....My point is, whatever you write for your blog back it up, just in case.

As part of learning how to run a blog, I've subscribed to about 100 of them, but to be honest I only open a dozen with any regularity. The main reasons for ignoring the others, is that they simply recirculate book world news I've already read elsewhere. That, and many are too wordy, rambling on to no purpose.

The key to writing a successful blog post is to keep things short and punchy. Concision is always better than expanding to fill a space...leave them wanting more. As you intend to write a blog that will be of interest to nature lovers, island obsessives and ramblers, I recommend you look at a couple of my favourite blogs, both of which tackle a variety of topics, including nature and the landscape. One is written by Colony member Robinne Weiss:

Robinne Weiss

The other blog has been mentioned by several members of the Colony, and I've turned several of my friends onto its charms. Dove Grey Reader blogs on everything from books, to her cats, to hiking the moors, to quilting, to wildlife; she also runs competitions, giving away books she's been sent by publishers to review:

dovegreyreader scribbles

I've just raided my how-to-blog resource folder, and found these useful articles:

Infographic: 8 tasty tips for crafting delectable blog posts | Articles | Home

On the Basics: So You Want to be a Blogger

Flipboard on Flipboard

Blogging Can Jumpstart Your Writing Career...Even Before You Publish a Book

Remember, keep it tight!

 

[Richard Turner]

Richard, I wish you luck with your blog. For the last year, I've been contemplating a return to the fogbound melee that is querying literary agents and promoting myself as a writer through social media posting and blogging. To guide my efforts, I've been storing useful articles on these activities in a folder on my desktop, a bit like a squirrel hiding nuts for winter!

I made an abortive start in blogging back in 2015, using Wordpress, but those posts mysteriously disappeared. Even weirder, although they've vanished, they still appear in Google searches. I discovered this quite by chance, while seeking information on autopsies for my WIP, noticing my own blog post; I'm not going to pretend to understand how this happens....My point is, whatever you write for your blog back it up, just in case.

As part of learning how to run a blog, I've subscribed to about 100 of them, but to be honest I only open a dozen with any regularity. The main reasons for ignoring the others, is that they simply recirculate book world news I've already read elsewhere. That, and many are too wordy, rambling on to no purpose.

The key to writing a successful blog post is to keep things short and punchy. Concision is always better than expanding to fill a space...leave them wanting more. As you intend to write a blog that will be of interest to nature lovers, island obsessives and ramblers, I recommend you look at a couple of my favourite blogs, both of which tackle a variety of topics, including nature and the landscape. One is written by Colony member Robinne Weiss:

Robinne Weiss

The other blog has been mentioned by several members of the Colony, and I've turned several of my friends onto its charms. Dove Grey Reader blogs on everything from books, to her cats, to hiking the moors, to quilting, to wildlife; she also runs competitions, giving away books she's been sent by publishers to review:

dovegreyreader scribbles

I've just raided my how-to-blog resource folder, and found these useful articles:

Infographic: 8 tasty tips for crafting delectable blog posts | Articles | Home

On the Basics: So You Want to be a Blogger

Flipboard on Flipboard

Blogging Can Jumpstart Your Writing Career...Even Before You Publish a Book

Remember, keep it tight!

Many thanks - that's very helpful. Do you fancy reviewing the sample I uploaded to the groups?

 

[Amber]

No.

 

[Amber]

The above response is my response to your title.

But I don't think you have to write literature to get an opinion on what you write -- or for what you write to be worthwhile.

I like vicarious traveling. I suppose ... because I've never been much of anywhere.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

If a diary can become literature, why not a blog.

 

[Carol Rose]

I suppose it depends on how one defines "literature."

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I suppose it depends on how one defines "literature."

I saw a quote yesterday, which rather neatly explains this problem:

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity. G.K. Chesterton.

 

[Carol Rose]

Honestly, I don't even understand how the word "literature" became such a hotly-debated topic. Depending on which dictionary you choose, literature means anything that's printed. That includes a flyer someone posts on a streetlamp pole, advertising their upcoming garage sale.

I don't have time to research the history of the word, but sometime in one of the last centuries, it also came to mean written works of a superior nature. Problem is, no one can define exactly what that means.

And who polices it? Who says this work is superior but that work is not?

Because honestly, some so-called classics are, to me, about as interesting to read as watching paint dry. And some works others would turn up their noses at are among my favorite books.

Enjoyment of the written word is subjective. But apparently literature no longer is. There is an unseen, unknown group of elitists who have deemed which works are worthy of being labeled literature or literary, as in literary fiction, and which works will never make that cut.

It's kinda like being back in high school... some kids are popular, whatever that actually means (and they couldn't define it if you asked them to), and some kids are not. Even when no one actually knows who made those distinctions. It's ridiculous, which is exactly why this song in Wicked is one I could listen to over and over. LOL!

 

[Richard Turner]

Rise the Riches!


Yes, I'm afraid I do. The critique argument is as old as the hills, and both Merriam Webster and the Oxford English admit it as a verb. As for leave vs exited, here I do agree, but only as a matter of taste. English is forever changing – best to go with the flow. Would you really prefer to be linguistically dictated to, as they are in France or Spain, etc.?


Go for it! Good things happen there.

I feel we are to a certain extent dictated to by the trend setters on the internet. A good example is the change in the last few years from "bored with" to "bored of". The latter is now accepted as normal but still grates to my generation. I looked up its origin and found that in America they have "boards of education" so "bored of education" was a neat pun. I certainly don't fly any flags for linguistic purity, but cling to the idea that some words can be elegant and others ugly - largely to do with how they sound. Can any word be ugly? There's another question for Litopian trivia!

 

[Richard Turner]

Honestly, I don't even understand how the word "literature" became such a hotly-debated topic. Depending on which dictionary you choose, literature means anything that's printed. That includes a flyer someone posts on a streetlamp pole, advertising their upcoming garage sale.

I don't have time to research the history of the word, but sometime in one of the last centuries, it also came to mean written works of a superior nature. Problem is, no one can define exactly what that means.

And who polices it? Who says this work is superior but that work is not?

Because honestly, some so-called classics are, to me, about as interesting to read as watching paint dry. And some works others would turn up their noses at are among my favorite books.

Enjoyment of the written word is subjective. But apparently literature no longer is. There is an unseen, unknown group of elitists who have deemed which works are worthy of being labeled literature or literary, as in literary fiction, and which works will never make that cut.

It's kinda like being back in high school... some kids are popular, whatever that actually means (and they couldn't define it if you asked them to), and some kids are not. Even when no one actually knows who made those distinctions. It's ridiculous, which is exactly why this song in Wicked is one I could listen to over and over. LOL!

Co-incidence strikes. Just as I was writing a reply to Rich above, Carol Rose was posting this. I agree with her entirely. Anyone who takes care with how they write, who listens to the sound and rhythm of it, going for clarity and directness, rather than what sounds "writerly", those are the people I want to read.

 

[Carol Rose]

Anyone who takes care with how they write, who listens to the sound and rhythm of it, going for clarity and directness, rather than what sounds "writerly", those are the people I want to read.

Right on. That's why you can call your blog literature if you want to.

 

[Carol Rose]

I feel we are to a certain extent dictated to by the trend setters on the internet. A good example is the change in the last few years from "bored with" to "bored of". The latter is now accepted as normal but still grates to my generation. I looked up its origin and found that in America they have "boards of education" so "bored of education" was a neat pun. I certainly don't fly any flags for linguistic purity, but cling to the idea that some words can be elegant and others ugly - largely to do with how they sound. Can any word be ugly? There's another question for Litopian trivia!

I still say "bored with."

 

[James Lau]

I think a blog can possess literary merit. Blogging and literature do not appear to be mutually exclusive to me. It's the written word that counts, not where it is published. If anything, blogs tend to be more accessible than paperbacks and hardcovers.