10.16.2006

How the Hell Does Everyone Do it?

I wonder, sometimes, how other people go about writing their blog entries. Do they meditate on them for a while, write out several drafts before committing? Do they type it out first in Word, do a spellcheck, cut and paste? Do they cover one eye, type out their post with the other hand and hit "enter", biting thier lip?

Is the time involved in posting directly proportionate to the quality of the content?
Is it important that spelling and grammar be accurate?
Is consistency more important than contemplation?

Personally, I use several methods. For Little Tragedies, I either have an idea that I'm exicted about, or a reaction to something I read. Then, I just sit down and let it flow through my fingertips straight to Blogger. I maybe premeditate a few lines before I get to the computer. Usually, I try to do my best at spelling and grammar and sentence structure and so on, but not to the point of looking up words or even clicking that little spellcheck button up there. I feel that it's more honest with all the mistakes, more me.

When I write my reviews though, I am very careful. There are several drafts involved. I'll type a paragraph, get up for a while and do something else, and then come back to it with fresh eyes and read it over. I do research, I do spellchecks, I create an intricate web of links to make everything flow correctly.

Just a little bit of curiosity early on a Monday morning. I was just interrupted by a coworker and it totally f*ed up my flow. Don't you hate when that happens?!

3 comments:

Random said...

hmm... well, i tend to blog like i talk. you can vouch for this, having actually talked to me. i ramble, change topics in the middle of a paragraph, and make stupid little emoticons to invoke the stupid faces or whatever i'd be making if i were actually talking. and i make up words.

so i basically open up notepad (less frustrating losses of blog entries that way) and ramble into it off and on while i'm doing whatever else it is that i do. then i proof it if i have time and correct any glaring errors, add any links or images or whatever needed, then post it.

and yes, i hate it when you get interrupted and it completely causes derailment of the thought train. stupid coworkers.

shenry said...

I type 98% of my blogs in MS Word. I reread them thrice and proof edit them each time. I also like to let what I've typed marinate for a couple hours, then I come back to it and rerereread it with fresh eyes (kinda like you and the movie reviews).

I look at each post as an English assignment, and I try to achieve a quality of writing befitting of a college essay. I play with voice, tone, imagery, word choice, paragraph structure, and sentence mechanics. I do this because I like the mechanisms behind writing. I like writing in general, and blogging is my little writing hobby.

Some people blog for journaling reasons. You know, to chronicle their life and work out emotional shit. I mostly blog to force myself to write.

There are times when I don't write them in Word and let them sit, but those are either posts of immediacy (like if I wait they won't be worth a shit) or they are writing exercises designed for spontaneity.

And, in case you care, I write 80% of all blog comments in MS Word... this one included.

ghost said...

it depends. sometimes something will come to me in the wee hours. those i just write out on loose leaf then type it up the next day. others are just opening the programn and typing right into the net.