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November 26, 2015

The Best Reason to Blog — 2015 Edition

Path through autumn leaves with text: Finding Meaning

Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. The day we eat too much food, roll our eyes at the antics of our extended family, and think about all the things we’re grateful for. Or in my case, try not to let my pending NaNoWriMo loss dampen my enjoyment of the day. *sob*

(Yes, it’s true. There is absolutely no way for me to catch up on NaNoWriMo words unless someone has a Time Turner I can borrow. Anyone? No? I guess I just need to chill and accept my loss with grace. *sigh* It’s a good thing my goal this year is to finish my story and not necessarily win NaNo. That goal is still in reach. *whew*)

This Thanksgiving post is now an annual tradition on my blog. Five years ago, I revealed that the best reason for me to blog is all of you.

The post four years ago reiterated that point with my gratitude for all the friends I’ve made via blogging and social media. Three years ago, I confessed my love of the blogging format because of the connections possible. Two years ago, I revealed that blogging for you pushes me—in a good way. Last year, I expressed my gratitude for the connections we make despite meeting only online.

And gee, what a surprise! All of you are still the best reason to blog! *smile*

The Power of Connections

This past year was huge for me—I finally became a published author! Four times over in fact. *grin*

But 99 percent of what made those four release days special was sharing the support and excitement with those I’ve connected with online and throughout the writing world. It was the shared tweets and posts, the comments of support and congratulations, and the mutual squee-ing that made those days fun.

In other words, the connections we form give meaning to our experiences. There’s a reasons Facebook and Instagram are popular sharing platforms.

Forget the phrase, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” For many of us, the reality is, “If something interesting happens to us and no one is around for us to share it with, did we fully experience it?”

For me, I know those release days would have tick-tocked by like any other day if you weren’t with me. I’m not a big-time author, I don’t have a publisher behind me, and I haven’t had any release parties, so those encouraging notes were the only special events of the day.

Looking at sales numbers? Eh, that’s not meaningful to me.

(I’ve often talked about how I don’t pay attention to numbers—blog traffic, Twitter followers, etc., and sales numbers fall into that same black hole of my mind. I’d blame my dislike of math, but really, I don’t see my failure to obsess over numbers I can’t control as a bad thing. *wink*)

Sharing the day with you? That’s meaningful to me.

Thank you, sincerely, for every book review, comment, tweet, Like, or share of this past year. I can’t emphasize enough how much I appreciate our connections on various topics and events. *smile*

The Power of Sharing

I’ve also been blessed with many generous guest posters this year, especially during my attempted vacation this summer (which I managed to enjoy despite the whole family becoming sick) and during this NaNoWriMo month.

I want to send out mega-thanks to all of my recent guest posters for sharing their knowledge and expertise:

Even though I’m not going to win NaNo, I’m still getting more words done on my story than I would have without their help. And even better, we all learned something beyond our experience because they chose to share what they know. Win-win!

So as you finish up NaNo or enjoy this weekend, just know that I’m most grateful to all of you and the special meaning you bring to my life. Thank you! *hugs internet*

Happy Thanksgiving to my U.S. readers
and Happy Thursday to everyone else. *smile*

Do you ever feel like experiences mean more if you share them? Do you have people to share your writing journey with? Do you appreciate when others share their knowledge and expertise? What connections are you most grateful for? Is there anything special you’re grateful for this year?

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Cobalt-Blue

I’ve considered starting a blog. My biggest problem is that I’m a curmudgeon and heart. I tend to get irritated and be irritating to people online and off. That is why I’m very careful with my Cobalt-Blue Facebook page to stay away from sensitive subjects. (Heck, I can even tick off Star Trek fans. My friends accuse me of being Jeff Dunham’s ,Walter character.) As for Nanowrimo, HANG IN THERE AND DON’T GIVE UP. My goal this year was to finish one novel and get at least 50k on a second one. Made that earlier this week. First novel was 52K and finished it on the 13th. I’m 66k into my second one now, should finish it at around 130k. Both of them are sequels to previous works. The first is the sequel to two novellas in my Feline Factor universe and this second one is the second book in my Godstones universe. This year, they seem to have written themselves. Much like you, I’m a seat of my pants writer and am sometimes surprised at where a novel heads. Luckily my best friend who is also my wife is willing to help me out with ideas and sometimes slap me down and say, “that’s a bad idea.” Many times she helps me roleplay out a scene to see how it would go. I’ve not always won Nanowrimo. Some years, I just couldn’t do it. One year because of health issues, and another because I was simply too distracted. But…  — Read More »

Shantal

Thank you for this inspiring post. I am a terrible blogger. In fact, I pretty much loathe it because I feel like I’m mainly shouting into space amidst all the chatter. No one can hear me and, frankly, why would they want to listen? I haven’t posted regularly enough to create a following and make friends. Again, I have to ask myself, what do I have that would make them interested in doing so? Again, thank you for helping me understand why blogging is important, not just because I’m trying to become a published author, but because blogging is where you’ll find some of your best friends. I would love to share a link to this post on my blog??? Happy Thanksgiving!

Carmen Stefanescu

May you and your loved ones savor all that is rich…may the festivities come alive with the cornucopia of hope, faith and goodwill! Happy Thanksgiving!
And Happy Writing!

dolorah

It has been a great year, yeah?

Davonne Burns

I know I’m certainly thankful for your blog and for you. You’ve inspired me on so many levels and I look forward each week to your posts (and your lovely guests as well).

Hang on to your personal goal for NaNo! I know it’s hard to have to realize the 50K isn’t going to be reachable. I myself had to scale way back and just be happy with what I’ve accomplished so far. You are writing, and that’s what matters. ^_^

Cobalt-Blue

Well, I hope that you and yours and everyone on this site had a happy and productive Thanksgiving. It’s been a good day all around.

Serena Yung
Serena Yung

Yay! It was great getting to know you too, Jami. 🙂 Yeah, social media and blogging really help you make friends with similar interests. Joining writer Facebook groups this year was very nice, definitely got to know a lot of people, and I find I really enjoy posting and commenting in Facebook groups, especially commenting. The Chinese martial arts novels group was great too, and it really did increase my self-confidence in communicating in Chinese, haha, as the other people seemed to have absolutely no problem understanding me, and I had absolutely no problem understanding them as well!

I joined groups on demisexuality too, and that was great because you can talk about things that you ordinarily wouldn’t talk to your friends about, lol; it was very enlightening to hear other demisexuals share their experiences, and haha, I’m not alone in thinking that James Bonds’ relationships develop astonishingly quickly. ^_^”

And yes! Sharing happy news with friends, even if it’s just a Facebook status update, makes me happier too! Though sometimes if a friend seems to “under-react”, you might go :/ But in general, it’s great to share the joy. 😀

Btw, I found another great song, “Paint it Black” by Ciara. It’s the main ending song for the movie “The Last Witch Hunter”, and it’s fantastic novel-writing music! (I also enjoyed writing to Pokemon Gameboy battle music, as it’s fast-paced and exciting, but that’s another story, haha.)

Kassandra Lamb

Ah, someone else who tends to ignore the numbers. You hit the nail on the head as to why. I can’t control them so why even pay attention to them. Thanks again for letting me guest post. I always have a blast when I hang out at your place, Jami!

Jon
Jon

Couldn’t you slip over into the mythos plain for that extra bit of time you need for NaNo?

I am grateful for so many things. Here, it is appropriate for me to say, as a reader, that I am grateful for creative writers everywhere, in every genre, who create the imaginary worlds readers get to visit.

Jon

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