Friday, May 30, 2008

To blog or not to blog...

To blog or not to blog...that is the question. Just been reading about Emily Gould, an american blogger who got so personal and revealed so much on her blog, that her life kind of dissolved around her, eaten away by the acid of her own vitriol. I feel pretty safe at the moment because i have a readership of one and that includes me. So its me listening to the sound of my own voice which i guess is a little awkward but as i said in an article i wrote recently on this very topic - it feels like good practice. I'm a writer, and this is writing. I read about world events, local and international politics, issues in publishing, the lives of friends and family and i process it best by writing my thoughts down. I have to say i'm not entirely surprised at what happened to Miss Gould. People have some extremely strong reactions on comment streams i read on other blogs. There's a lot of anger and frustration out there on the net. People really don't hold back and in the end they're all unwinnable arguments. Nobody changes anybody elses mind. For me I just like the information i pick up here and there and sometimes people make me laugh (always a good thing). I like that i can post a comment to a friend in Wellington or join a conversation in the US. I wish people would chill out a little more.

The NZSA e-newsletter had more on the changing submissions policy of Scholastic NZ yesterday. They gave the reasoning behind the changes which made a lot of sense and i have no reason to quibble. Scholastic do have smart alternatives to the slushpile like the Tom Fitzgibbon awards and the Joy Cowley Award and to run both these competitions and manage a slushpile sounds like its been crippling. New writers will still be able to submit their manuscripts via the competitions. I wonder if the changes will speed up all the processes involved in publishing? Any changes as a result of the changes will be reported here.

Have a lovely weekend. The weather, so far, is better than expected. I always feel more kindly towards the queen of E at the beginning of June.

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