Why do I blog?
I have been doing some introspection.
As far as I know, that isn’t illegal, and I quite often introspect in public.
I am doing as much of it as I can before the fucking government taxes it.
I asked myself why I write on this site.
Am I a sad little nerd who lacks friends and can only find a little bit of recognition by ranting on the Interweb?
No. I’m very happy with the friends I have. I live a quiet but full life and if the Interweb suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke, I would manage very well. After all I managed for the best part of half a century before it even was invented?
Am I a frustrated journalist?
To be quite honest, journalism never featured on the list of things I wanted to do when I grew up. Actually, my two main ambitions were to be an airline pilot or a cartographer. I don’t know how those two reconcile each other, but being a pilot was out because of my eyesight anyway.
Do I do it for the money?
Well, yes. I’m not embarrassed by that fact. I make quite a bit out of what is basically a hobby. It is enough to cover my hosting, and my domain name, and there is a little bit left over that pays for my month in France, with a decent bit of spending money. I like my holiday, and frankly I couldn’t afford it if it weren’t for the site.
So why do I really do it?
Basically, I enjoy it. I like writing. I like the challenge of coming up with an idea and putting it into words. I like the idea of being able to rant against the things that annoy me. I like the discipline that it imposes, because it is a self discipline. I doubt I could do it if I were handed my subject matter which is why I couldn’t see myself as a journalist.
I enjoy the banter that frequently crops up in my comments. It is not the raison d’etre though, and if I got no comments, I would probably still scribble. Comments do provide a big impetus though, I have to admit.
Would I continue typing if I lost my Interweb connection?
Yes. I probably would.
I am about to launch into my magnum opus. As yet untitled, it is a work of fiction, which is almost complete in my head but has yet to be put to paper [paper? Who uses paper these days?]. I don’t expect it will ever be published. I don’t have a written contract from a publisher. I am writing it because I want to and because it is a challenge. If it ends up in a box in the attic, I won’t be worried. If it accidentally leaks out and becomes a New York Times best seller, then so be it.
Time will tell.
Loved the interview.
Fiction, hurrah! Good luck and have fun with the writing and polishing, and the publishing too if it happens.
So….. am I in it?
😀
We already know what it’s about.
Susan – What interview? If you are talking about what I have just written then I find it unnerving to think of me ‘interviewing’ myself. That’s not introspection – that’s schitzophrenia. You can be in the book if you want to be. I’m presently casting the drunken prostitute???
The CIA – You can fucking write it, so.
Good for you, long may you continue to blog.
Introspection can certainly include interviewing oneself, can’t it? (God I hope so, considering my own head).
Drunken prostitute, been there done that I’m afraid. Are there no nympho space aliens I suppose? Or any fairy princesses being held hostage by tall strong tattooed handsome lonely Polynesians for a very very long time? (She wouldn’t need to be rescued really, if it would interfere with the plot…)
Ah, good! The world would be a much sadder place without you pontificating about your blog here.
A new manuscript? That’s fine then and even if it doesn’t get published (Sssurrre it won’t. Surprised you haven’t had an offer from a publishing house yet.) I’ll send for a copy when your done anyway.
That reminds me. It’s past time I ordered your book so no time like the present.
‘Why do I blog?’
That’s the question I ask myself whenever I stumble across a vastly superior blog like this one.
Keep it up Grandad, keep it up!
I’m reading the book as slowly as possible, trying to make it last. Funniest book I’ve read in years. Thanks!
Val – I will for another five minutes anyway…..
Susan – If I interviewed myself, I’d probably end up in a fight. How about the part of a heroin addicted pig farmer?
Kirk M – It will be written purely for the grandchildren to find and snigger over.
Chris P – Welcome! “a vastly superior blog like this one” ?? What?? False modesty aside, I would never consider this ‘vastly superior’ to anything [except maybe Cecelia Ahern?]. Thanks for the comment about the book. That cheers me!
The best motivation for writing is to just do it for writing sake, regardless of whether it’s published or not.
And was Crisp P having a little joke there with the “keep it up Grandad” or am I the smart arse!
“So why do I really do it?
Basically, I enjoy it. I like writing. I like the challenge of coming up with an idea and putting it into words.”
Amen Grandad. This might be my favourite post here yet, it just rings true.
Best of luck with the book, may it flow free.
Holemaster – Anyone who writes to make money is on to a loser straight away. If money comes, it is a bonus. And please don’t combine the words “keep it up” and “arse” in the same sentence.
Xbox – That just shows how crap all the other posts are!
If we wrote it wouldn’t be much of a book by you, now would it?
We just want to remind you that we’re watching.
Oh, yes we also have 400 analysts working on decoding your last book.
“Headrambles”, indeed! You thought you would sneak that one by us, did ya’?
gah… take the compliment ye fecker.
The CIA – There are some codes even you lot can’t crack.
Xbox – Thank you very much for the very nice compliment. I am flattered. Now fuck off.
That’s more like it.
Xbox – You’re welcome 🙂
As a newbie to the Irish blogging scene, I am amazed you have achieved so much (awards, book, paid holidays in France!) and have established a great following. I think it says alot that since 2006 you have blogged with such ferocity that only in 2009 do you stop to think about why you do it. It shows that blogging/writing comes naturally to you. Fair play to ya, my dad (a Grandad also) can’t even use a mobile phone, not mind switch on a computer! Long live Headrambles and subsequent novels.
“I am about to launch into my magnum opus”
Is this a euphemism for “Mein Kampf – Head Rambles” when you finally get locked up?
Surely a Magnum Opus is a chocolate covered ice cream or a choc ice to us oldies..
Best of luck Grandad. The noticeable thing straight away is that you indicate it is a perfectly formed idea and plot and you haven’t got a title yet. Thats always been good news as far as I know- every failed writer I know gets the title first and a couple of scenes and the rest will surely come… someday.
So you are the right way around as far as I’ve known. Maybe also you have the inner strength of patience it takes to write a book and set it out for all and the neighbours to see.
A word of warning. Dublin is a whispering town and as Mr Joyce said; “Ireland is the sow that eats her own farrow.” It is a brave step beyond blogging to go the whole hog and while experienced critics will realise the gap and encourage a writer to make that step with constructive criticism there will always be the five-amp boys around Dublin who will tell everyone you are getting ahead of yourself. Or worse- adore you till you let them down. And then, the bile.
So- take a deep breath and off you go. I’ll buy a copy to see how it is. This advisory message is sponsored by Mexican Sensemilla, which as Bill Murray assured us in Caddy Shack; “Its a mixture of Mexican Sensemilla and Kentucky Blue Grass. Play 18 holes on it, roll it up and take it home. Smoke it;” is certainly the sort of stuff that makes one wander off the point.
Never a truer word.
Irish Mammy – Welcome to my humble abode! I think most of my “success” is down to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The only secret to my writing is that I write as I speak. I have been practicing speaking for the best part of sixty years now, so I’m fairly fluent, and I just translate that to the keyboard. If it’s any consolation, I haven’t a clue how to use most of my mobile phone…. 😐
SHoop – Actually it’s more of a version of The Little Red Book.
King’s Bard – Another new face! Welcome. I would say a Magnum Opus might conjure an ice cream to the middle aged, but to us real oldies an ice cream is a white slab between two wafers. Whatever happened to them?
Captain – I am the farrow that has already been consumed, as my first [?!] book has already been launched to resounding critical indifference. The one advantage of a second book [if there is a second book] is that the critics will merely ignore it. I have completed and submitted a novel before, so I know what is involved work-wise. The publisher seemed to like it, but I didn’t so I pulled it.
I just found your website (stumbled into it, actually), and I really enjoyed reading it. You have a very nice, light, intelligent style to your writing.
I just bookmarked the page & will be dropping in in the future.
Rob (aka “Bad Blogger”)
Hi Rob, and welcome! Thank you very much for your kind comments. I look forward to meeting you again?
That’s one of the reasons I read it Grandad. It’s full of humour, but it’s like you’re talking to us, rather than writing “about” something. It’s like having a conversation with a friend. And that’s why we all comment – we want to join in the conversation! I have ordering your book on my list of things to do (it’s near the top of the list now don’t worry..) but life has been a little crazy of late what with selling our house and letting these realtors (now there’s a blog topic for you one day!) basically run my life for the time being. Don’t stop your posts – they make my day and give me a laugh with my first cup of coffee… 🙂
(Be assured I need both in the mornings – the laugh, followed by the coffee..)
Hey Grandad!
I liked that post, but can’t seem to answer the question of why I blog myself.
Now how can I get my hands on this book? Literally. Wonder if I can get it in braille sometime. I’ll let you know if I do.
Tricia – Maybe comments like yours are why I blog? It is very nice of you to say all that, but surely my ramblings can be a bit hard to stomach first thing in the morning?
Welcome Jennifer! I think you write for much the same reason as the rest of us. You have something to say. The book is supposed to be available through all good bookshops [as they say], and is also available at this link to Mercier Press. I’m afraid there isn’t a Braille version, unless they have produced one without telling me. If you have any problems ordering, please let me know.
Chick lit Grandad?!? That’ll get you to France for 11 months of the year.