tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post212157406280419271..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: Writing About… Um…Ken Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-13330789855364041122011-01-09T22:20:01.703+00:002011-01-09T22:20:01.703+00:00I've been reading more than writing lately...o...I've been reading more than writing lately...on blogs, that is.<br /><br />But I enjoy whatever you write. And for the record, I don't usually discuss what I'm writing because I hate that, "Well WHEN can I expect to see it?" stuff, as if I owe them a product which is mostly my hobby.<br /><br />Write on, dear man, write on.hopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03306622656461205674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-66584392816406016782011-01-09T18:59:24.350+00:002011-01-09T18:59:24.350+00:00I'll be back soon to comment about commenting....I'll be back soon to comment about commenting.Acadiahttp://www.superficialgallery.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-80439497532963268192011-01-09T18:27:45.603+00:002011-01-09T18:27:45.603+00:00Oh, I so get where you’re coming from here. I mean...Oh, I <i>so</i> get where you’re coming from here. I mean, seriously, I’ve written nearly 50,000 words of my new novel and so far all my wife knows about it is the original premise which has very much become the background to the piece now, that the title is <i>Left</i> and that it explores various kinds of leftness. And she knew that about five years ago when I first got the idea. I talk to her about stuff that I’m researching but she knows better than to ask where it all fits into the grand scheme of things. Since I’ve got better and been working steadily on the thing I’ve wanted to withdraw more and more and just be in my own little writing world because that’s the way I used to be before. I’ve told Carrie that I expect to have the thing ready for her to read when she comes back from America in a fortnight or so but since I’ll be left to my own devices for all that time I don’t feel particularly reckless telling her that. But I have to say I hate these people who provide day-by-day reports. Okay, I don’t hate them but I couldn’t cope with being in the public gaze like that. It’s bad enough telling people that I’m cutting back on my blogging to finish my book because now I have to finish it. Not that I wasn’t going to but in all seriousness someone asked me a week after I put up my Christmas post how I was doing. They were just trying to be nice and I was nice back but I really don’t want people leaning over my shoulder asking me if I’m there yet.<br /><br />After it’s done I’ll be happy to talk about how the experience of writing this one differed from the other four (and is has been a <i>very</i> different experience) but not now. And if I forget some of the details well I’ll make my best guess. I agree there are too many people talking about writing instead of actually writing but that’s fine: I think it’s helpful to share experiences and I hope you do post about your approach to writing someday – when you’re ready though.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-14180781428006991892011-01-09T17:03:20.560+00:002011-01-09T17:03:20.560+00:00That's why I refuse to join Twitter or Facehoo...That's why I refuse to join Twitter or Facehook. I mean, who cares? Such "social networking" is really about public diary-writing, or self-advertisement. I agree that a lot of the Internet is self-advertisement. I think, however, that the nest of the blogosphere gives you valued-added, too. Maybe a blog post is a boast, but it also has things to think about in it.<br /><br />I've had a lot of feedback on my own blog that readers do enjoy reading about my creative process, or my musings on it. Sometimes that's writing-about-writing, but lately it's more about art and music. What interests me is not how many words I wrote today (in a poem, who cares anyway?) but the context of the writing, and, dare I say it, its Source. For me, at least, a lot of my meta-writing is dancing about the Source of my creative flow, in all its exuberant, messy, continuous flow.<br /><br />I don't think the herd can support that. I think it has to be individual, solitary, even inward. Your bubble, as it were. I don't have the same need for a bubble around what I'm writing as you and Jim Murdoch do, it seems, but I also don't share what I'm doing with most people. That's because, in my experience, the herd mentality is incapable of being supportive, because the herd is inherently conservative and self-involved—the herd operates on the Tribal level, not the Individual level that creatives must work on—and that is WHY sharing one's art too soon can rob it of power, momentum, and significance. We all know that sharing something too soon (too soon for OUR process) can kill it, kill its momentum, and so we avoid doing that. I'm getting at why that is. The herd mentality that is explicitly in operation in social networking, with all its drama, cliques, and BS, is Tribal activity writ large. It's something an artists needs to ignore, in order to make art.<br /><br />If we want mutual encouragement, that can come in small artists' groups where we meet to gather and support each other in our work—which is what small circles within the blogosphere seem capable of doing for us, just as face-to-face writing groups have done forever. But in either venue, one has to get to know the people one is interacting with, learn where their judgments are both strong and weak, and trust them to operate within the agreed-upon rules of interaction. In other words, this is no longer a Tribal interaction, but a gathering of Individuals. And you're not going to find that on Twitter—because there's no depth of relationship on Twitter.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-62598202251564841612011-01-09T15:38:10.864+00:002011-01-09T15:38:10.864+00:00Writing about writing bores me silly. You stay jus...Writing about writing bores me silly. You stay just the way you are (Billy Joel anyone..?).<br />xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-58461306525968395002011-01-09T15:30:35.720+00:002011-01-09T15:30:35.720+00:00Another great post there Ken. I used to get so irr...Another great post there Ken. I used to get so irritated by Twitter announcements of how many words a certain person had written, or how they had been steaming ahead with their latest project and were just now stopping for a cuppa tea or a pint after 27 hours straight work, but then I realised that some people need short-term validation, presumably in the guise of @ responses on Twitter - "Well done, you!" / "Can you come write some of mine now?" / "Hells bellringers, I don't know how you do it!" etc etc. It must just be a way that some people have of gee-ing themselves along. <br /><br />What I would like to do is develop a way of feeding off tweets like that, taking energy from them in order to get my own stuff done. Herd mentality, and all that. Oh, look! So-and-so has knocked out another 5000-word masterpiece in a day and a half! I'll have a crack at that, shall I ..?<br /><br />One day, one day.Laura Cousinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18156390166547567951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-49643985379772711012011-01-09T15:13:57.923+00:002011-01-09T15:13:57.923+00:00Cannot wait to read about your.. well.. hmmm.. thi...Cannot wait to read about your.. well.. hmmm.. thing ;o) But I know it will be a brilliant thing !!!!TravelMausnoreply@blogger.com