Tag Archives: blogging

A new blog

Posted on by Sherri
6

My little experiment with You Are the Muse on Thursdays hasn’t really worked. Originally I thought YAtM needed its own space, but I was too afraid to give that level of commitment when I didn’t even know if I could sustain it for a long period of time, so I left it here to see how I would do. Several weeks later, YAtM grew legs and walked out into the world.

I’m happy to announce my new blog, You Are the Muse. I’ve moved the YAtM posts from here to there and added a couple since, while I waited for the right time to tell you about it. Everything about this is different from anything I’ve ever tried before. It might not be an original concept, might not even be very important in the grand scheme of things. It might not turn into anything at all, ever, just me pissin’ in the wind here. (Hard for a lady, but not impossible. ;) I might not ever finish, but it’s asking me to begin.

I tried to box it in here where I’m comfortable but it never felt right, so now I’m trying to let it go where it wants, without a plan or even a destination. There may be many changes in the early days while I adjust course. I have a feeling I won’t be able to see the turns until I’m right upon them.

It’s funny how a blog about finding the muse within oneself seems to be coming from the outside. It might be the only way my subconscious can get around my inability to promote myself. I mean, who am I to tell other people what they should value? Am I really so audacious as to think I might make something out of this? Really? I can only do it if it’s not me doing it, that’s what I think.

And so I ask for your help on behalf of this-thing-that-is-not-me.

Here’s what I need, and you may do any of these or all, whatever you feel comfortable with. I understand you might not be interested in the subject of the new blog, but your friends might be. Anything will help.

  1. On Twitter: Follow YAtM on Twitter, and if you feel so moved, give a #FF shout-out
  2. On Facebook: “Like” the new YAtM Facebook page and share with your friends. I’ll be suggesting the page to my friends, to make it easier. Subscribe to YAtM with a FB app called Networked Blogs. It’s a safe subscription service, with no spam whatsoever. Very unobtrusive. I’ll also be sending invites for that.
  3. On your blog: If you think your readers will be interested, give YAtM a mention and/or put it in your blogroll. I’ll return the favor. I invite you to write your own post about creativity or the muse and tag it with You Are the Muse, or send it to me as a guest post, or both. I have two lined up, but would love more.

I think that’s a good start.

I imagine I will still post here with news of my life, but I might be a bit busy with YAtM for a little while. I would be EXTRASPECIALLY HAPPY, NO LIE, to hear your suggestions for features or improvements. This is a project for all, not just for me.

Thanks for all your support.

Emerging from the Chrysalis

Posted on by Sherri
6

I must say I have reservations about re-opening Sherri Blossoms. All the old fears and pressures return as I open Live Writer and begin to type. Have I really taken enough time off? Do I have anything to say? Will blogging still be a bore, and is it worth the energy?

The answer to all those questions is: I won’t know until I try. And so I begin.

I’ve spent the past two months adrift, a necessary thing, releasing old ideas about how this blog, my career, my relationships should be. I played at NaNoWriMo; wrote parts of books and stories, but nothing that lights my fire; joined OWFI and planned to enter their annual contest in several categories, and actually got quite a bit done in that direction; accepted the fact that crappy stuff happens all the time, and I have to learn how to write anyway.

I think I finally settled on a blog theme that works exactly how I need it to, and will build it over time. I might post writings here, stories that maybe aren’t worth trying to sell but still have some entertainment value. A new About Me page would be nice.

I’m accepting the fact that the blogging community has changed immensely since I started. It used to be the way I communicated all the parts of my life, but I have Facebook for the more mundane stuff now. I used links and images, and I thought about SEO and getting the blog out there. That helped in the beginning, but dang… If you enter “Sherri Cornelius” into Google, Yahoo, and Bing, you will find this website in the top spot, not to mention various others of my hangouts in positions below that. I’m “out there”, mmkay?

The writing of the blog never bored me, but all the side work did, and I guess I don’t have to do it if I don’t want to. I don’t want to imagine what I can make of this place, but to be surprised with what it becomes.

butterfly-8205

Possible hiatus in my future

Posted on by Sherri
8

You know what? I just love this theme. I’ve missed it. And why, you may ask, am I changing it again? Because I’m schizoid. And because that other one was just too hard to tweak, and I never did get it just right. And because this one fits my personality and mood better. And because I’m thinking of going on hiatus, so I want something less dynamic.

The hiatus thing… Well, you may have heard Moonrat is, sadly, closing her publishing blog. A lot of the reasons she gave for the closing sort of matched up with why I want to change direction here. I’ve run into the thing most bloggers do, and that’s the repeating-myself thing. The blog as it is doesn’t fit my needs or goals now. It got me thinking it would be a good thing to close this one down and start from scratch, but I’m too much of a coward. Then Sarah suggested a very long hiatus to give me some distance, and that sounded like just the right thing.

I’m not ready to do it today, because when I go I think I’ll be dismantling the whole website. Not even sure why I decided I needed to post about it. I guess I’m just thinking out loud, the same reason I always post, really.

Blogging directions

Posted on by Sherri
6

Well, so I’ve been thinking about where to take the blog. It’s no secret I’ve been less than excited about it lately, especially the personal stories which seemed so important in the first few years, but now…notsomuch. I’ve talked about everything personal already. I think I want to focus on publishing, but there’s so much babble about it already.

But I have this feeling my perspective can fit into the babble somewhere. I just have to figure out what that perspective is. I’ve learned a lot about what it means to have an agent, to be on submission, to get critiques both good and bad, to give critiques good and bad. I’ve done a lot–and I mean a lot–of work on my internal process as a writer, and some of my insights on that could help someone. Briefly, I was on the other side, the editing side (and btw, the start-up e-pub isn’t happening after all), and surely I could write something about that.

Do you know, the only thing that’s dampened my enthusiasm for the blog is the worry about hurting the business side of my writing career. I worry endlessly about that, and it’s hard to let the Muse of the Weblog off her leash to find a post for me when I’m afraid of sounding like a whiney-butt, or hurting someone’s feelings, or giving away too much information about my professional relationships. I can’t keep stifling myself like this. It seeps over into my real work.

I don’t know, I’m just restless; thinking out loud. Is there anything about my writing experience so far that you’d like to know more about? The response here might help me decide where I need to go with the blog. The chirp of crickets would indicate I need to dump it entirely, but I can’t seem to do that. Sorry to disappoint. :)