This little post gives the readers of Rhyme & Ribbons the chance to see what’s going on (slightly) behind the scenes. I was nominated by the lovely Monica at The Travel Hack to take part.
This is my “desk”. As you can see, I do have a comfy bed. Most blogging occurs here. I also can’t do online calendars and diaries. I have my datebook for life and a physical blogging calendar/spreadsheet. This was not a stages photo. I really do sit drinks on the bed precariously. Ask Sam. It drives him crazy.
Q1. What am I currently working on/writing?
I am currently getting ready for little ones to get back from summer holidays and life to get hectic again. Hopefully auditions will pick up. I am also waist deep in early -fall wedding/ baby shower, meaning everyone I know is doing one of the two. There goes a lot of my weekends!
Q2. How does my work/writing differ from others of its genre?
I really struggle with genre, in that I don’t consider my blog primarily one thing. (Just like I try not to label myself as a person.) I try to have an even balance of travel, cooking, fashion and randomness. Some weeks it’s skewed one direction. I guess at the core it’s a lifestyle blog, but I also balk at that label because it in some way implies “Here is my lifestyle. Admire it. Duplicate it.” Since I had lunch of diet coke and gingersnaps today, I’m pretty sure no one should duplicate that!
Q3. Why do I write what I do?
I write about the things I like to do! I’d never attend an event I wasn’t interested in just for blog fodder. The same goes for destinations/restaurants/clothing/recipes. I try to make my blog a positive place for the most part, and if I wasn’t genuinely happy doing something, I’m pretty sure it’d show through. (I wear my heart on my sleeve. And all emotions.)
There are a few things that I purposefully leave out: theatre reviews, my day job when not acting, and some activities with non-blogger friends. I don’t write about theatre because I don’t want this space to be held accountable for hard feelings between my contemporaries and I, nor should my views reflect on those of Sam. If he didn’t get a job because of something I’d written, I’d kick myself. And maybe close down out of guilt. I don’t write about my day job because it involves children and I’m not comfortable blogging about it even if I did have parental consent.
Q4. How does my writing process work?
If I am writing about a place or event, I try to write the post as soon as I get back or the next day at the latest. Even if it isn’t going live until the next week. I find that if I don’t get my thoughts down immediately, I start to lose some of the things that I wanted to say in the first place. I also try to draft/schedule as many posts as possible. With Sam and I completely different schedules when he’s at the theatre, I get ample alone time / writing time. I try to set aside a big chunk of time once a week to edit drafts, finish writing posts and then get them scheduled for the upcoming week.
Of course, it doesn’t always happen that way. But I do try. I’ve really fallen behind in having posts queued up ahead of time lately, and that really does stress me out!
I also have a lot of posts sitting in my drafts and evernote account that will probably sit there forever. Either I’ve deemed them too dull, too narcissistic, or too much pointless ranting.
What are you working on and what’s your blogging process like?
