A question I occasionally get asked is whether blogging interferes with my writing.

The answer, in the best Tolkien’s elf style, is both “no” and “potentially yes.”

It’s “no” because for me they’re very different styles of writing and so I can be exhausted after working on the novel, but “switch brains” to doing a blog post, which seems to tap a different creative well.

As I believe I may have indicated previously, novels and the writing thereof are not unlike marathons, or “Ironman” events (because you do have to “switch codes” sometimes within the larger format). Blogging, on the other hand, is more of a quiet jog around the block in terms of intensity, during which you can easily chat with the neighbours and pause to enjoy a view or two.

In short, they’re very different beasties and although there’s a connection between the two, they’re at different ends of a considerable spectrum.

On Anything, Really…

However, I did channel my inner Tolkien elf and said “potentially, yes” as well. The nub of the matter lies in the “potentially” of course. For example, with a post series like Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes, each of those posts can take a bit of time to put together. With a themed series of that type, the reason the installments appear a wee way apart is because I don’t want to rob from the book writing time to get the posts done on a regular and reliable schedule.

Also, one of the reasons for cutting back from blogging everyday (with or without a spirit of joyful exhilaration), which is what I used to do for many years, was not because the posts were being written in my space for the novel writing , but to reduce cumulative commitments, as these can eat into both energy and time if not kept within bounds.

Gone Writing

Overall, though, so long as I need to take rest and revitalization breaks away from the novel writing (which of course I do), there will always be time for a little blogging without conflict of interest.