Writing a blog post is like conversing in a dark room. You’re fairly sure there are others in the room but they so rarely respond that you begin to doubt yourself, wondering, for all the effort you’ve put into your posts or into the look and feel of your blog, if anyone is actually paying any attention.
I know I’m getting traffic on this blog and that traffic has been increasing since my first novel was published in September and I’ve been posting on a more regular basis. Granted probably half that traffic is spammers and they do comment, a lot, but I doubt they actually read the posts they comment on. And, considering the level of grammatical and spelling errors in those comments, I have my doubts as to how many of those spammers actually can read. English, anyway. But that’s another story.
Half the joy of writing, for this writer anyway, is being read. Call me vain, but I long for communication with those who have read my words, whether it be in my novels, short stories or blog posts. I’ve also put a lot of effort into the look and feel of this blog. I feel a blog should be more than just a place to post ones thoughts. It should be, as well, a jumping off point to other sources of information.
So, you can imagine how please I was to receive an email from a teacher, imho the most noblest of careers one could have, informing me that she has been referencing my author birthday pages. She is teaching her kids about finding resource pages to help them with homework and has found my author birthday pages helpful. How cool is that!
Then, and this is one of the things I love most about the Web, she noted a link one of her students had found that directed me to an article about one of my favorite authors, R. L. Stine and his Goosebumps horror fiction book series (and yes, I have read several of them). This is a page I likely would never have come across on my own. It was informative, with many links to additional information, and was a joy to read.
So, I would like to sincerely thank Ms Brookes for her email and Taylor for finding the link.
And Taylor, this ones for you: Classic TV Series and Books: R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps. Keep up the good work.
EJ,
I know how you feel about the “sound of silence” and how cool it is when someone reaches out to you regarding your posts.
I read your blog through Goodreads – it’s a fly by read – like most of my blog reads. I usually don’t post something unless the blog resonates with me in some fashion, but I’m out there reading it.
Today I thought I’d let you know that.
JET
Most awesome!
I got a huge thrill out of finding out Squealers class were visitors to my blog! So very cool when teachers bring the world to their students like this! 🙂
EJ,
So true what you say about writing in a dark room. Who is listening, yet your echos ricocheted. You’ve been heard in a way that really matters. Keep it going.
Jessica