Well, I can see the point about blogs taking away valuable writing time better spent on writing stories, novels, poetry, and the like. They can and do eat up minutes or even hours. However...

In this day of on-line social networking, blogs can be a good way to connect with people. They can be a good way to let people know who you are, and what you are doing. They are one of the many tools of self-promotion. They can help potential readers follow your growing list of publication credits, which helps promote not only your own writing, but the markets in general. I've never tried to find out if this is true numbers-wise, but I suspect that far more people find out about my latest publications through my blogs than through my web site.

I would say, if you have the time and energy, having a blog can be a worthwhile thing for an up-and-coming writer. Of course, it might be best to have that blog on a site where you can easily and readily network, make new on-line friends, and draw attention to your work.

Jordan, you are right in saying that the fiction writing should come first. Obviously, an aspiring writer might want to get a few publication credits, get something writing-related to blog about, before they go ahead and create a writer's blog. However, I don't think you necessarily have to wait to keep a blog until you've "made it", whatever that may be.

I truly believe you are not only selling products, books and magazines, but you are selling your works. You are selling the concept of you as a writer. You are always trying to sell your works to potential readers, even if money isn't involved, even if they can read them for free on the internet.

Lately, I've noticed an increase in the numbers of view of my MySpace blog. So someone is interested in what this particular poet/artist is up to. And I've really only been at this for twenty months.

Remember, we all have to start somewhere. We're all new writers at one point in our writing careers. At some pooint, you may decide to become a new blogger, too. I see no reason you can't do that sooner rather than later.

Of course, the same argument about wasting time blogging, time that could be better spent writing fiction, applies equally well to those that frequently post on forums. A bit ironic, don't you think? 

I still stand by my own personal experience regarding the upkeep of a blog for new or fairly new writers. I think it has done me some good. I got the position of Niteblade art blogger, in part, because of my own blogs. The Niteblade editor actually wished to see writing examples, preferably blogs, of each of the applicants. Being involved with a publication like Niteblade can't hurt.

The thing about blogs is you can write as little or as much as you want to. You don't have to write huge entries each time you go on you own blog. Shorter entries, entries that are brief and to the point, are better in most cases.

If a new writer is blogging instead of writing fiction, then they obviously shouldn't be blogging. However, it's not necessarily the kiss of death to a writing career if a writer can work a blog in-between fiction writing. And it might, just might, generate some interest in the writer's work.

Let me put it this way. I have blogs on MySpace, LiveJournal, Blogger, and a couple of smaller social networks. I also have it set up where my blog automatically gets posted on Facebook. They tend to be the same blog, just reflected on the various sites. I also have had over one hundred poetry publications in various venues, alongside a few non-fiction articles, one drabble, and around two-dozen or so art publications. I also have art in the Abandoned Towers Zazzle store. And I currently have two illustrated poetry collections in the works. 

I think I've been able to blog and still write and draw. Granted, I have more time on my hands than most; that's why I keep several blogs. I also have stuff to sell, and I do promote in my blogs. I also post some personal stuff (to a point), examples of my poetry, insights into my own creative process, and a bit of random material.

Another point - I've made contacts with poets, writers and editors through some of the social networks where I keep blogs, contacts I probably would have never made otherwise (I'm a bit of a recluse). I guess this could be argued to be a bit different from blogs specifically, but I already mentioned earlier that I think blogs should be associated with some sort of network to make connections. An unread blog is indeed a useless one.

Just recently, I found out about the possibility of PodCastle accepting fantasy poetry through a Live Journal entry by one of my LJ friends. I would never have known about this is I didn't have a presence on LJ, if I hadn't made friends through LJ, and if I never read friends' entries.

It can be useful, you just have to figure out how to put it to good use.

Another reason why I personally keep a blog is because it happens to be a way to share poems that might not really work for most publications. Sometimes I share poems about things going on in my life, or feelings that I have regarding certain issues, that I would never actually want to submit for publication. Not that these pieces are garbage, they are just too specific for the particular situation to share outside of my blog.

However, every poem I write helps me hone my poetry composing skills.

A fiction writer could share flash pieces. An artist could share sketches (I've actually seen some artists that do that).

I blog too, partly because I like to keep a journal and never remember if I have to do it on paper. Also, I don't know any other writers in my day-to-day life so it's nice to speak to like-minded people. I also use it to set myself goals and deadlines, because I'm more likely to remember--and meet--them if they're public.

Since I'd be writing a diary anyway, I don't see it as wasted time. The opposite, in fact, as it's quicker to type than do it by hand!

Jordan, it appears that this is another of those instances where we will have to agree to disagree.

Writing is a bit of a gamble. You can do things to help increase your chances, and talent and skill do help, but a lot still seems to boil down to pure luck. You never know when success will strike, or if it will strike at all. Saying that blogs aren't helpful to the business of writing because they might not net most blogging writers big contracts is like saying writing itself is not worthwhile because most writing projects won't net big contracts.

Using this argument, why write at all? Or why write poetry or short stories if novels are the only things that are really, truly worthwhile? (Says the poet who wonders all of the time if he is wasting his time.)

I'll add this to my growing list of reasons to keep my own blogs - I would never have gotten most of the votes for my poems in various readers-favourite contests if I didn't blog about voting for them on networks like MySpace and Live Journal, as well as post about it on forums. I don't have a lot of real-life friends, and I'm just starting to make contacts in the local art and writing community, so the only way I can connect with large numbers of people is through my social network blogs. I truly believe that "Battle in the Dark Castle" appeared in Arcane Whispers Volume 1, Best of Sorcerous Signals 2007, "Corpse-Candles" appeared in Lost Innocence: A Niteblade Anthology, and "Explorers" will appear in Wondrous Web Worlds, in part because of my blogging and forum posting about voting for each of these works.

Going back to that whole luck thing, I think blogging can, under certain circumstances, increase your luck. Maybe my situation is another unique one, but I stand by my own personal experiences. For me, blogging has been worthwhile. Individual results may vary.

By the way, I feel that my blog is such an important part of my whole "writing persona", that I have now included a link to my Blogger blog in my SFReader signature. This discussion made me realize that I should have added the link weeks ago (always trying to get more people to read my blog).

Maybe I understand a little better now. If the question is "should new writers have writing blogs before they actually have any writing out there?", then the answer is probably no. The writing of short-fiction (or novels, or poetry, or whatever) for publication elsewhere should take priority. But if the question is "should new writers with some works out there keep a blog?", then the answer may be yes.

More evidence from the personal experience files that writers' blogs can be useful...

The other day, one of my newer Live Journal friends told me that she was going through my catalog of on-line poetry, reading through all of my works. She became so interested in my poetry that she has been reading my posts and publications from several months back.

Yes, a blog can, under certain circumstances, get you more readers. Perhaps the example I mentioned above is just one reader, but I would like to think that each and every reader is important. It's like votes in a democratic system; every vote counts. Every reader counts, in part because you never know who they know, who they talk to, who they might persuade to read your work.

Of course, as I've said before, you have to have something to promote to promote something. Building a budding list of publication credits should probably come first, prior to work on the blog(s).