Tag Archives: editing

I Never Whine About Monsters

Posted on November 8, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am having yet another patch of bad blogging days. I do not wish to offer whiny excuses. At least, I would like to excuse myself but do not want to be whiny. Oh dear, I am whining already. I hate when I do that! Quick, throw in a monster picture to distract us from it.

“Just thought I’d come out and — what’s this? DAYLIGHT???”

There is my favorite guy, Nosferatu. I do not know if he is coming out into daylight in that shot or not. Additionally, I understand that in actual vampire folklore, vampires do not crumble to dust in daylight, but their powers are considerably weakened. The movies made up the dramatic daylight deaths, and I must say, some of them are very dramatic. If I ever finish any of my novels about vampires, I will probably keep the crumble to dust rule.

That’s what I needed! A large beer!

Having successfully backed into my Monstrous Monday Post, I add a photo emphasizing my Thank-God-I-made-it-through-Monday state of mind. It was not a heinous day, but it does not always take a heinous day to wear one out. Not whining about it, merely commenting on the fact.

The Bride and I have a lot in common.

When I get to this point in the post (that is, around the 200-word mark), I wonder if I should go back and take out the whiny introductory paragraph. After all, all the best writers edit their work. As a matter of fact, I have been editing as I go. You should have seen some of the whiny sentences I backspaced out! And I usually give it at least another reading before hitting publish. Editing out all my bad parts — not the badly written parts (what, me have badly written parts? Say it ain’t so!) but the parts where I admit bad things about myself– seems less than honest. This is, after all, a personal blog. This is me, as a person.

Sometimes I prefer the monsters.

But I Like Writing a Blog

Posted on November 16, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, this is swell! I had to get 12 Likes on the bit of nonsense I published yesterday. Now I feel paralyzed, unable to write a post because I am certain readers will not like it as well. I can’t even think of anything to write about. Is this really because I got that many Likes? Or am I using that as a handy excuse because I have finally completely run out of brain? That sounds a little drastic. Let’s stick with talking about the Likes.

Full disclosure: I LOVE getting Likes. I am grateful for each and every one. My problem is, I can’t figure out what I did to get them so I can, you know, keep doing it. I’ll write a post that I think is quite clever, or very funny or maybe a little profound; it gets nada. I feel a tad bit embarrassed to hit Publish, I get a lot of Likes (for me; I know there are bloggers out there whose likes number in the 100s. One has to start somewhere).

I can just hear somebody saying, “Just don’t TRY so hard! Obviously people prefer your spontaneous utterances; they are more honest, more fresh, less labored and formal…”

Well, that is not the case. I NEVER try very hard when it comes to writing. I don’t have to. That’s why I love writing. Oh well, sometimes I make more effort than others. Sometimes I edit, change out a word, ponder the best way to put something, even, dare I say, polish a phrase. When I write something with a plot, of course I work even harder. But for the blog, I am more often than not composing at the keyboard, seeing what comes out of my fingers. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

And, dammit, why can’t I figure out why it works when it does?

I’ll open up the floor for suggestions. Comment, if you would like, and tell me what I do right when I do it right, where I go wrong at other times. Maybe I can learn something. Or maybe I’ll just keep typing, hitting publish, and wondering why I get Likes when I do.

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Posted in blogging, humor, personal, writing and tagged blog post, editing, effort, Likes, readers, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

What if None of my Guesses are Right?

Posted on June 28, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It does not matter how bad I have been all week, I cannot, I simply cannot be good on Lame Post Friday.

That statement just cries out for some half-baked philosophy on what is “good” and “bad.” In this context, apparently “good” is “good writing,” a manifestly subjective term. Although, I guess by “good” I must mean a blog post about something OTHER THAN the fact that I have nothing to write a blog post about. Something I wrote earlier today and, dare I say, edited. Maybe thought about. Maybe made a little bit “better” than something I just type off the cuff at the computer.

Well, here is my problem. Every time I write something foolish (like this, I hope), I get Likes from other bloggers. Apparently my writing off the cuff is extremely entertaining to some people. On the other hand, perhaps they merely hit “Like” because I have made them feel so much better about their own blogs because mine is so bad (note the absence of quotations this time). In any case, I have been encouraged in my folly.

My other problem is, it’s kind of fun to just sit here rattling on. Editing can be hard work. For one thing, unless it is really obvious which is the better way to say something, it leads to some very uncomfortable second guessing. I hate second guessing! For one thing, it very often turns out that none of my guesses are right.

I’m hoping for some running commentary tomorrow. In the meantime, happy Friday, everyone.

Mohawk Valley Girl

Tag Archives: editing

I Never Whine About Monsters

But I Like Writing a Blog

What if None of my Guesses are Right?

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