Blogs…
I’ve never had a blog before. Or, I should say, I’ve never had a blog that I have kept up for more than one entry. Let’s see if this one breaks the curse.
There was a period of distinct under-employment where I tried to marry my two passions - drinking and reading - in a blog about wine and books. The idea was that I would drink a bottle of wine while reading a novel, then write a review of them both / my experience.
The problem was that I would drink the wine and forget about the blog mission entirely. Perhaps some people, better people, wiser people, could have foreseen that. There was also the issue that I had nothing to really say about wine other than I liked it and whether it was red, white or pink, and at that point I could only afford the stuff that was under £6. So it wasn’t destined for success.
What else was there? Oh yes, ChipAdvisor. I made an entire website for this, purchased the domain and everything. There was a history of the chip - detailing life from the unborn chip (potato) all the way to the delicious crunchy french fry in its final form. There was a chip gallery. A contact form and a hilarious address of 1 Chip Lane, Chippington, Chips, CH1 PS. I found it extremely funny. I think that one started with a bottle of wine too.
The idea was that people would submit chip reviews from around the country. But how far can the joke ‘it sounds like TripAdvisor but it’s chips’ really go? I never found out. I did, however, notice quite a while later that I’d accidentally been paying £80 a year to keep ChipAdvisor on the back burner. Maybe worth it?
** Ok I just found out this still exists because the internet is forever, though the custom domain has been removed. You’re welcome. **
When I was an assistant at Penguin Random House, I toyed with doing a Gossip Girl-style behind-the-scenes blog about what life was really like at the office with the black and white bird. I bottled it, and took it down a few days later. More of a cowardly chicken than a noble Penguin.
I’ve always been a bit of a quitter, to be honest with you. I remember as a child my mum having to write three letters one evening because I wanted to quit multiple extracurricular activities (though surely she was delighted about the end of recorder club?). I get excited, and I move on to the next thing, dropping the recent passion I’d sworn allegiance to like Andy in Toy Story drops poor old Woody. I bet that recorder was secretly watching my new violin with a vicious hatred.
But this time, this time, I’m going to try a bit harder. I’ll at least aim for five posts. Also, I actually can’t stop writing like I stopped playing the recorder, and running my wine shop, and my pursuit of being a fashion designer.
There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that I actually have a contract (which my music teacher stupidly forgot to get drawn up). I’ve already spent quite a lot of the money I was paid, so I have no choice but to hand over the goods. But also, because I love this life of being a writer quite a lot more than I loved any of those other things.
Sometimes, I despise it, of course, deeply and fervently. The whole relationship is very Darcy - Elizabeth. But I’ll go into the things that make it awful another time when I’m in the depths of hating every word I’ve ever written, because most of the time I’m extremely grateful. Most of the time, I can’t believe it’s real life at all.
Anyway, that’s Blog One out of the way. Only four more to go before I give myself a pat on the back. The plan is to actually make the next ones vaguely informative/interesting and less about the childhood musical instruments I cast into the attic abyss. There will be more about the publishing industry, the editing process, being a writer, and the creative process in general. Maybe a bit about my dogs. I’ll put a little photo up of them to lure you in.
Goodbye for now. Let’s hope this whole venture is a little more successful than ChipAdvisor.