Great Writing: Seth Godin Says It's All On Me (And He's Right)

Seth Godin is an A-list blogger (among other, more important things). I don't generally link to these super-successful bloggers, because you'll find them on your own. But he said some things about writing this week that hit me hard and have been nagging at me. In writing about writing, Seth wrote:

"The thing most people miss most is that they no longer have an excuse. Without a publisher/editor/boss to blame, your writing is your writing. Your followup is your followup. That means some people become trains without tracks. They just sit there.

The barriers are gone, the costs are zero. The question is: what are you going to do with your writing?"

He's right, of course. So there's no one else to blame that this blog isn't more thought-provoking or more interesting or prettier than it is. It's all on me. How annoying. Reminds me of the Mary Oliver line:

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"

Write or Wrong

Each morning I approach the computer, ready to start the day by writing a post on my blog. Lately, though, I've been stopping off at Bloglines first to see what all my favorite writers have been up to since I last checked. It seems like a good idea - I really ought to know "what's going on" before I try to join the fray, right?

Trouble is, I get distracted and end up spending all of the time that is supposed to be committed to writing to reading what others have written.

A key reason for the existence of this blog is as a writing practice for me, and I have not been writing. I'm writing this post to remind myself of my purpose. If I don't discipline myself a little bit and get back to actually writing, I will have to abandon the whole blogging thing. It is supposed to support the writing practice, not replace it.