Writing Interview

Boy, Bridget's pretty confident (and rightly so) that I'm still quietly creeping on her blog (even if I rarely comment these days). She tagged me in a "How I Write" game without even telling me (though she did email me about it today), so here we go!

What am I working on?

Does this question mean, like, what I'm working on...regarding writing? Or just life in general?

Regarding writing, I'm trying to get our blog posts from 2006 into book format so that I can start working on 2007 (I'm a little behind but it sure is fun reminiscing about Jordan, which incidentally is where I met Bridget (technically we met in Austria but whatever)). I'm always working on a blog post in my mind if not in actual form. I'd love to write a book some day but that prospect is also terribly intimidating.

Life in general is pretty much detailed on the blog. My summer can be summed up in three words: children, swimming. gardening.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I think I'm a mommy blogger (though I struggle with that term, too, Bridget) but that's only because I have children now. This blog technically started as a travel journal but since I mostly blog about my children I think I'd have to say (because it's the thing people tell me most often when they sheepishly admit to reading the intimate details of my day-to-day life) that my blog is different from other mommy blogs because it's "real." I write about the ups and downs of life and everything in between without trying to maintain an image of perfection. Because my family is not perfect.

Why do I write what I do?

Writing is my coping mechanism, my constant companion, my muse. I started my first journal when I was six years old and have been recording my life ever since. It helps life make sense to me.

I consider it family history work as well, which is great because now whenever either of the girls does something ridiculous they shout "Ooooh! Family history!" to each other because they know it's going to be recorded on the blog. I think it will be fun for them to look back on everything when they're older.

How does my writing process work?

I usually have some story or another churning in my brain. When funny things happen I will often take note of them—either on Facebook or even an old fashioned piece of paper—so that I can recall them later. I am even guilty of running to the computer while my children are monologuing so I can transcribe what they're saying (because kids are hilarious). That's where a lot of my conversations come from, though conversations tend to stick in my brain, anyway. (What are the first words I heard you say, Bridget? "You used our [bank name] card? Oсторожны, because I think it's running low.").

I'm not much of a planner when it comes to writing. Quite often I will sit down intending to write one story and find that something completely different comes out. The only time I really outline things is when I'm blogging about a trip or something like that. Then I'll usually make a bulleted list of must-tell stories in the order they happened. I think my lack of organization is why the idea of writing a novel terrifies me so much.

Once I hit publish, that's it. I don't often go back to fix mistakes (unless Andrew catches them on his read through) because it would be far too time consuming. Besides, I think my audience is rather small and forgiving. If I was planning on publishing any of this (not just on the blog) I'd probably tidy it up a bit more but I prefer to keep things pretty informal here. It's my home.

Tag! You're it!

Thanks, Bridget! It's been fun to think about how and why I write. You're right that blogging is a dying medium though. I'm scrolling through my list to see who still actually blogs. Things are looking a little lonely.

I think I'm going to tag Crystal at Diary of a Doctor's Wife (if she has time between blogging about her amazing African adventure), Tamsin at Project Project (because she's the most organized person I know and I need ideas), and my mom at Laytonology (because she hasn't blogged in weeks).

Is it cheating to tag three people? The rules weren't really clear...