. Spinning .

(Following Mr. Beige’s logic, I have remarked previous postings to reflect a thread of topic within the main category.)

There’s no doubt that one of the greatest services provided by the internet and weblogging in particular is to stimulate the creative process within people willing to share their thoughts with the public. And for the would-be writer, the opportunity to practice the craft with the knowledge of being read and appreciated is most often enough to justify the work and time involved.

While I mentioned the intrusion of publishing standards upon the freedom of the weblogs, it doesn’t yet affect the average writer, nor the top weblog authors any differently. Whether a thousand people are reading you daily or whether it’s just your friends, there is no real financial gain to it, even if you’re listed on everybody-who’s-anybody’s site, or if you’ve won the “Best Authored Blog” award. (Some of these, by the way, are ridiculously poorly written and depend upon much overuse of expletives that supposedly create a bonding effect with readers.)

But what the top weblogs sometimes do provide is often excellent daily reads (to me, a weblog that’s sat at October 16th is often not worth keeping up with—if the author doesn’t care, why should I?) and the best part of all, access to other blogs that lead to other blogs and so on that may lead you to an exciting or exceptionally well-written and interesting blog by someone no one’s ever heard of. This is a constantly changing and developing creation of the linking process. When I find a site that I want to go back to, I’ll usually leave a comment (if turned on – the commenting format, not me) to show my appreciation of their thoughts and efforts, and in doing so, it sometimes automatically leaves my own weblog link. This is okay by me, since the weblog author and I may have something in common and they may wish to check out the strange person who made the remark, but it always makes me feel a little guilty as well, as it may appear that I am simply trying to get my own name spread around. But in rethinking this, there truly is no gain other than maybe making contact with some like-minded people, or finding some more great daily reading.

There are so many, many wonderful writers out there. What will weblogging do for their future? Maybe, self-satisfaction is always going to be enough of an answer.

In keeping with today’s discoveries on the new medium of publishing, and while I realize that I am a latecomer to this feast, there seems to be such an open road ahead for writers.
Please bear with my reflections that have been well-studied and published by others, I am sure, but are generally new for me, and since there still is no end destination determined, my initial responses are not totally out of line or useless musings. (I think and hope, anyway.)

While the scenario is one of enlightenment as new voices are heard on the internet that would never have the chance under the book system of publishing, it raises several questions as to the benefit of the progression. While there are many reasons that writers seek publication, two of the main ones are for ego—not a bad thing, but seen as having something to say by way of beliefs or entertainment, and encompassing the need to see one’s name in print; and for money—also not a bad thing, as one would wish to at least have the ability and freedom to make a living at something one is good at and enjoys doing that publication would grant. While the former is matched by website design to rival and go beyond the flyleaf of the author’s photo and short bio, the latter factor of compensation is just not there. Viewing and reading is as yet, free. Satisfaction is maintained for the author, then, of just getting his thoughts out to the public and seeing his name out there.

Interestingly, the same “best seller’s list” is appearing on the internet. The “must-reads” are the links that show up on everyone’s weblog. But do they in fact gain any more from it than the unknown writer who has a simple little journal in grey and burgundy for example? I have linked many of the biggies myself to Spinning, but that is because they are often a source of good writing as well as a wealth of information for the unknown writer. Politics does come into play insofar as WHO you’re linking to, but I think that once the system is understood and the glow has worn off to reveal the créme de la créme, the list is trimmed and added to according to its value as a stimulating source of information rather than just a name to hitch one’s wagon to for recognition. Maybe the game must be played to ride in on someone else’s coattails, but without the carrot of monetary compensation, what’s the purpose?

This train of thought hasn’t ended, just pulled into the station to unload and load new passengers of ideas.

Perhaps it is just a case of remaining in my cocoon too long. Or just not focusing on the direction that education and writing have taken while I avoided it to grapple with the everyday business of survival.

On my morning walk through space, I found such interesting insights into people and their ideas, such as in Creativectomy, wherein Jason explores his roots and his impulse to write. From creative literary weblogs, only a fraction of which I have discovered and are linked here on Spinning, to analysis of literature and the educational approach as affected by the internet such as that being discussed on The Great Lettuce Head, the times and the writers of the times, well, “they are achangin’ ” as the great Dylan (Bob, that is) would say.

Everyday People have an opportunity via weblogs to more easily take a few minutes to give voice to their creative ideas that get buried under a demanding reality. We’ve tended as a society to have time to read just the voices on the Best Seller Lists, applauding when a local such as Wally Lamb (She’s Come Undone) gets recognized by Oprah Winfrey, but then he too becomes part of the selected reading and only then will we make time for him.

There is a revolution that is in fact an evolution in literature going on that may or may not be a transition of the effects of war unless it be a medium war seeking its own path of existence. My own views that stubbornly once held the belief in the superiority of the physical book is being challenged in that out of thousands of manuscripts submitted, it is only the rare few who are selected for publishing by the major publishing houses. Readers are thereby limited to what we are being allowed to read by bias towards what’s “in”. Self-publishing has been a partial answer to diversification, but that takes an enormous amount of marketing and money. The internet with its e-zines, weblogs, and literary sites may be the best answer to progression and stimulation of individual creative thought that has been invented since the printing press.

I’m writing this in Windows Word first—I just love to see it try to overcome my use of strange words with bright red zig-zaggy lines. But it has brought to my attention that for this month alone, I have 36 single-spaced pages of postings (aside from a double space between them).

Just think what January will run up in space when I’m free to write my heart out! But then, they will be more literary-minded compositions, as this space was meant to hold. I may even lose the occasional sarcasm. But there will be some fun and adventurous stuff as well—I’ve been away from the interactive fiction games too long, and there are quite a few of their icons glaring at me from the Desktop.

Should be, and I wish to all of you as well, a Happy and Prolific New Year!