That is the question.

Well, that is a question. Not one I’m asking of myself right now—thank you, faithful readers, for your encouragement!—but one a favorite blogger of mine is asking.

In short, he’s debating the value of craft vs. immediacy; that is, whether he should be focusing more of his time on the books he writes and whether he is diluting said book-writing efforts by publishing quickly-composed blog entries. Here is how he makes the distinction:

A book is thought through, over months, edited, rewritten, and then presented. A blog is “published” seconds after it is written. The writing life has changed. And my fear is the true craft is dead.

I am not living with this tension. My goal is to instill the discipline of writing something that isn’t dictated by my 9-5 job description. I enjoy the writing I do for work, but I find that I crave an outlet for what I want to say—even though I often don’t know what that is until I’m actually writing. I guess I view blogging as public journaling, or journaling for an audience—an audience composed of friends and strangers, and strangers who are friends-in-waiting.

So. I’m not sure what Don’s answer will be to this question. Mine is a definite yes. To blog. For now, anyway.

P.S. Apparently, I’m a month behind the NaBloWriMo craze. Oh well. 🙂