Reading: still slogging through A Heartbreaking Work of....
Music:Toucan Pirates
TV/Movie: Firefly DVD, random eps.
Link o' the Day: Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire

In making my morning rounds of webcomic reads, I came across a link at the Looking For Group homepage that leads to a heartfelt, passionate rant from author Robin Hobb on the subject of writers who blog. She entitles it, "Vampires of the Internet."

It's worth looking at, but to sum it up, Ms. Hobb's main thesis is that the act of blogging distracts writers too much from the act of Writing itself (big W). Authors--especially aspiring authors--should spend their writing energy developing their craft rather than frittering it away on the immediate gratification of the blog.

I have enjoyed many of the works of Robin Hobb especially her Liveship Trader trilogy. I am impressed by her output, and there is no question that she is a dedicated writer. And her rant makes a very good argument.

So it's making me think about how I blog which, despite me preferring to calling this an online journal, it is nevertheless a weblog, aka blog.

First, I spend perhaps fifteen minutes to half an hour on my entries. Very rarely is this all in one sitting. Rather, because I often write these while working at my day job, it's a paragraph here, a sentence there, while I'm waiting for an image to finish rendering or printing. Basically it's time that would otherwise be spent twiddling my thumbs. (This should come as no surprise to those of you who notice how disjointed and ill-organized me entries are.) These snippets of time make blogging possible, but it's not really conducive to extended writing.

One of Ms. Hobb's other points is the amount of time wasted in checking for responses, or in reading other peoples posts and responding. Valid. As for me, I check for responses a couple of times. It takes a few minutes--tops. Unless there is something really controversial being discussed, as in something I am passionate about, I tend to limit replies to responses to one... if I even do that.

Now... I do cruise the other blogs here at Journalscape--but only Journalscape. I used to check on some Livejournal sites, but to be honest, my heart really wasn't in it. Like I had stated when I first resurrected this journaling a couple of weeks ago, I like Journalscape's simple setup and ease of use. It's not that Livejournal is difficult to use; I'm just not a fan of how it's set up.

But yes, I do cruise some blogs. I don't read every one. I don't read all the ones I do read in their entirety. I'm not known for posting a lot of replies, although I will on occasion out of both a sense of online community and if the topic piques my interest enough. Most of the time, though, it's because I don't have time to get enmesshed in heavy blogging.

I don't think Ms. Hobb was talking about me, per se. I blog, but not all that much. At least not compared to some others I've seen about the Net.

No, I have other leeches to my writing time. Some inflicted by work obligations. Others because I have many and varied interests. And sometimes because I'm too damn lazy.

But I'm working on it.

I guess, suffice to say, that Ms. Hobb's post should be considered a warning to the rest of us. Advice given from a seasoned pro. Over the years I've cut down on my random internet use by quite a lot, but I will also be the first to admit that I am totally plugged in.

Now if I could just make some money from it.

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Today's link goes to one of the most fun comics ever to see the printed page. I speak of Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire.

"Always available, but never free." Buck is a detective and all-around troubleshooter on the planet of New Hong Kong, where the only law is that there is no law.

This is a product of the unbeatable, unflappable, inflatable Phil Foglio and features the distinctive artwork and humor that makes him the comic book demigod he is today.

Check out the story available for the free read, then follow links back to other Foglio sites featuring What's New? and Girl Genius.

Cheers!

--John