I remember a published WWer saying how one member of her writing group had tremendous plans for getting published, all about networking and blogging and so on and so on. But she seemed to regard the actual writing of the books as secondary. In fact her work was nowhere near good enough, and would need an awful lot of work to become good enough.

The Protestant, Self-help, we're all geniuses, all we need is a chance, if you work hard you deserve success, mentality (which is important in a society which tries to limit the aspirations of so many) isn't enough. Just because it can take huge amounts of persistence to get published doesn't mean that persistence in the peripheral activity is enough. The essential persistence is learning to write a good enough book.

I suspect, too, that for many wannabe writers it's easier to work hard at networking than to work hard at making themselves a better writer: it's easy to set goals, fun to do, can make you feel you're a 'real' writer. Learning to write better is boring, lonely and frequently baffling. Unfortunately it's also essential, which blogging is not.

Emma

A valid point, Emma, but i do think blogs are particularly useful as well for the inbetweeny stages of projects when you might not be writing at all. Due to recent circumstances, such as builders in, i have not written properly for a couple of months (yikes). If it weren't for my blog, i wouldnt have written AT ALL. I also set my blog up at a time when i badly needed a break from my wip. So it can be a useful diversion, as long as you can moderate your use of it!

Three classic examples of people with little or no web presence are Donna Tartt, Audrey Niffenegger and Scarlett Thomas.

My involvement in Strictly Writing is from a personal interest point of view - like being in a club where everyone shares the same hobby. And also to learn. I don't do it for any selfish publicity - I already have that in the form of being a journalist and on the front of every newspaper issue, there's my name. (Someone pointed out to me that I should be privileged that this is my job, but sometimes I just see it as a barrier to my enjoyment - fiction).

Shika - I too love your blog - we share an interest in Cane River if I remember correctly (?)

Casey, yes, I completely take the point. And one reason I blog is exactly that - because it's short, finishable bits of writing, with less riding on it than my fiction, either when I'm not writing anything else (so when would that be?) or when I'm in the long-haul of a novel, where there's so little scope to try out odd bits and pieces.

Emma

I'm so glad to have seen this thread, and particularly for Emma's views. With my first book coming out in Jan I feel a bit pressured to get some sort of online presence but a) I don't know where to start, in terms of content etc; b) I can't imagine anyone actually being that interested; and, c) I'm quite a private person and I think I'd find it hard to get the balance right between being open enough to be engaging and reserved enough to maintain some privacy. I love reading other blogs and think it's a fantastic development, but I'm not sure it's for me, and my spare time is so limited I'm not sure it would be worth the investment.
PS - Patsy, I didn't have any online presence, nor was I 'known' before being offered a contract. I just wrote a book.

catcrag, a simple website can be really simple, but I do think it's wise to have one. Rosy Thornton's is just the job.

One of the things I've slowly discovered is how to sound friendly and human and approachable, without actually giving anything away that I don't choose to... Think of it as being chatty at a wedding where you don't know anyone very well, and you're certainly not going to tell anyone that you once slept with the groom, or that you think the bride's dress is hideous. But it's perfectly possible to make friendly conversation without revealing too much.

Emma

Rosy Thornton's is just the job.

Smirk, simper. Thanks, Emma!

R x

<Added>

The bloke who did my site is very nice, pretty cheap and highly efficient. He did Sally Nicholls's site, too - she recommended him to me.

Aw Gillian75 we do indeed share a love for Cane River and another thing of interest is that through the blog I managed to get Ms Tademy to read what I posted about her book. She then emailed me to say thanks and encourage me in my own writing. That's happened with one other author. S

She then emailed me to say thanks and encourage me in my own writing.

How encouraging for you Shika Wow! I remember seeing her interviewed on Oprah. I actually picked up the book in America and I was glued to it for weeks. She's a fantastic writer and this is a story that deserves to be told.

Thanks for the advice Emma. And Rosy, I will definitely check your site out as an example of how it should be done!