To Blog…or…Not To Blog…

Is blogging a time killer?  Do I spend time blogging, when I should be spending time on my novel?  Right now, I’m in that spot, that limbo, where I straddle the line.  I have a foot in both camps.

I should be spending time on the novel.  I should be.  Blogging is a distraction and it eats my time the same way surfing the web or Facebooking eats time.

Blogging gives me a break.  It allows my creative energy to work on something else for a while, to take a break but still write, still hone the craft.  

The novel, when—if—complete, will earn some money.  It will afford me the lifestyle I expect and enjoy.  Blogging will earn me nothing.  Not unless I put up some Ads and even then, it’s not a living.  Not like the revenue from a completed novel.

Damn the money.  I’m in this to write, not to become rich beyond my wildest dreams.  I want to create.  It is art for the sake of the art, not for a monetary gain!

The novel, if it makes a decent amount of money, will provide enough to afford me a little free time to write more blogs.

Blogging makes me a better writer.  I get outside the constraints of a full work and it allows me to think freely about any topic I so desire.

Writing a novel is fun too, but it’s also hard work.  But the finished product is truly a magical thing!

Okay, I think that ultimately both are important.  I can’t let the novel get in the way of my blogging, but I also can let my blogging get in the way of my novel.  As with anything, it’s a balancing act.  We call that ‘spinning the plates.’  Keeping them all spinning at the same time is an absolute challenge.  Our success relies on it though.  And our peace of mind.  As a writer, I find that I need all of it.  It influences the writing I produce.  I always notice in my novel writing when I had not blogged in a while.  It’s like the breaks are on but I’m still trying to push the cart down the path.  A fresh blog, and the creative brakes are released.  The novel rolls much easier.