When To Shut Up

Jan 28, 2009

On days when I think of two things to blog about, I usually write them both, but then save the second one to post either the next day, or on a day when I’m busy, have the sniffles, or when my cat pukes on my keyboard.

Yesterday I wrote and saved a second article called “When NOT To Blog”.  It was aimed toward fiction authors who blog, and an attempt to gently say “You know, nobody really cares about your hemorrhoids, the spat you’re having with your writer’s group, or the fact that you cat just puked on your keyboard…. stay on topic (books, writing, publishing, etc), or risk losing readers for your novels and stories, which is, after all, why you started this blog to begin with.”

I also explained why I felt qualified to give such an opinion by mentioning that I write on a women’s blog, an erotica blog, a celebrity blog, and I’ve even written for a blog about blogging, also known as Meta-Blogging.

In this post I wrote:

Do not blog about politics, religion, racism, sexism, abortion, or other controversial topics unless they relate directly to themes within your writing. If you want to rant or even praise something you’ve just seen on CNN, write to your friends.

If you want to promote something you’re selling (often in the case of an authors blog what you’re really selling is yourself), remember who your audience is.

Why am I writing about what I wrote, rather than just publishing it? Because I’m an idiot I’ve realized this isn’t necessarily a good advice, and I really should shut up with the opinions.

How did I arrive at such an epiphanous moment of shutupitude?  First thing this morning I logged into Google RSS Reader to catch up on blogs I subscribe to, and came across an book review written by author Christine DePetrillo where she mentions her personal experience with religion, but ties it in beautifully.  She took a subject that is often thorny and was on my list of “don’t talk about these things on your blog”, and presented it in a way that was thoughtful, compelling, and right on target with the audience and relevant to her book review.

As my Aunt Betty would have said, “Well, shut my mouth.”  And it didn’t even take a full day.

So, writerly friends, write what you like.  Do it well.  Do it daily (or at least thrice weekly). And sure, remember your audience.  But don’t let anyone tell you what to do.  Especially me.