Literatrix

Book reviews, art, gaming, Objectivism and thoughts on other topics as they occur.

Dec 19, 2005

Fiction Feature

A question: do you like the fiction I've been adding? Do you find it annoying and distracting, or would you like to see more of it?
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3 comments:

Gus Van Horn said...

Jennifer,

At the risk of sounding cryptic, I'm not answering that question!

You're running into one of the many dilemmas the medium of blogging presents any writer. You have already discussed one of them in your entry on "journalistic style". Today, you're wondering about another one: "How much variety can a blog have?"

This dilemma gets discussed all the time, and opinions are all over the place. On one extreme, some will say that it's a mistake to discuss too many different topics on a blog, and on the other that you should discuss whatever is on your mind. (And this question is usually in terms of content. In your case, the fictional entries are also different stylistically.)

The answer specific to your blog will depends on many things. What, if anything, do you want to accomplish with your blog? Do you have time to maintain more than one blog if you think the variety leads to lack of focus? Do you write primarily for your own benefit or for others?

Most bloggers want to attract a reliable audience and so are very concerned with this kind of question. But just how far do you want to change your blogging style to attract/maintain an audience? And might you rather give your audience time to self-select? Will you actually still enjoy writing if you cater too much to your audience?

Lots of questions. Your blog is still fairly young. I think you're worrying too much too soon. Most readers will pick and choose what they find interesting enough to read fully, so you are quite free to experiment at this stage.

And that's good, because as you get used to blogging, you may find that your motivations for blogging change over time.

Gus

11:05 PM
Myrhaf said...

The stories are fun. You've got a nice touch with comic fantasy.

2:50 PM
Jennifer Snow said...

Thanks, guys, especially Gus for his lengthy exposition on blog content although what I was really asking was, "Is the fiction any good?" not "does it belong in this blog?"

As far as I'm concerned the fiction fits just fine, but I'm trying to decide whether to turn this particular story into an ongoing serial or to just leave it alone after I finish this character's background.

The lesson: ask more specific questions.

4:39 PM

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