Blogs Versus Novels

I thought this was understood, but judging by a few comments, many don’t get the difference between writing a novel and blogging.  Lots of people seem to think that writing is writing, and if you can blog, you can write a novel, or vice versa.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Blogging is done usually through stream of consciousness.  Although I write out the subject I want to discuss, along with maybe one or two notes to make sure I hit those points, it’s very seat-of-the-pants.  The flow is intended to be more of a conversation, and unless we’re part of a debate club, few of us have notes for conversations(it tends to be off-putting).  The blog post can go off in any number of directions, and it’s chock full of adjectives and adverbs that wouldn’t survive editing in novel writing.

Novel writing, on the other hand, is much more deliberate.  I outline what I want to write, and even though some of it is general so I can allow the story to develop as I write, there are some pieces of dialogue or action sequences that I want to be pretty specific, so I’ll write it out very explicitly.  Even then, I’ll go back and revise the sequence to make sure it’s just right.  At the end, I put it away, as opposed to publishing a blog post right away(or at least on schedule), and then I go back to it and start cutting words.  A 120,000 word manuscript may end up at 75,000 words once I’ve revised and cut away the fat.

So next time you encounter a novelist who also blogs, understand that they switch mindsets and styles depending on what they write.  Think of it as the difference between the teenager who says whatever comes to mind, and the adult who (hopefully) has a great deal more discernment.