Justine Larbalestier

Comments

1. Malcolm Tredinnick Says:

   I’m schizophrenic on my blog. A lot of my posts are to avoid repetition. They are for anybody who cares to read them (usually a software engineering audience, but sometimes other interests) so that I can point people to them later instead of typing out the answer again on a mailing list. I like teaching. That side of my blog writing are instructional posts.

   The other side if the “for me” bit. Sometimes I want to write down what I’m thinking about. It’s therapeutic or a nice reference for a year from now. Or I just want to lay out my favourite photos from the year or something random like that. Apparently it amuses others as well and they read it. Those people are nice, but I don’t really know who they are, so I’m not targeting them.

   June 11th, 2009 at 3:20 pm

2. Ted Lemon Says:

   My audience is future data archaeologists wondering what it was like to live in the last days of the oil age – what the sky looked like, what we obsessed about, etc. Hi guys! Keep up the good work!

   June 11th, 2009 at 4:06 pm

3. Ellen Says:

   I started off trying to give my whole blog a “theme” and to only write things pertaining to that theme (which was reading/writing/publishing). But then other personal interests began to leak into my posts (for example, I couldn’t resist a few hockey-related posts, because I was so excited about my team getting so far in the playoffs). So I guess, I started off writing for other people, then realized that if I wanted to keep the blog going, and have it be interesting, I would have to write about what I was interested in, and to write it for myself.

   June 11th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

4. Icy Roses Says:

   I blog for myself too, mainly because keeping a writing blog helps me stay on task. It records my discoveries, observations, and daily progression. This way, it’s more obvious when I’ve been slacking off, and guilt-trips me into working harder. At the same time, I try to keep things mildly interesting for the few people who drop by once in a while too. Otherwise, I’d just keep a private diary. Something about writing in public is just more entertaining.

   June 11th, 2009 at 5:08 pm

5. Jennila Says:

   This might be a silly reason, but I write to people who I secretly wish would read my blog, but I don’t actually have the courage to send the link to or talk to in person. I guess putting the “messages” in the public internets gives me the option of eventually them either finding it. I was thinking about this last night, when I wanted to show my blog to someone. But I chickened out.

   June 11th, 2009 at 5:17 pm

6. Jennila Says:

   I meant, the option of eventually them finding it. I obviously can’t revise.

   June 11th, 2009 at 5:27 pm

7. Summer Says:

   I blog for myself and my imaginary audience. Sometimes it happens someone real is reading the blog and that’s cool too.

   June 11th, 2009 at 5:38 pm

8. Jonathan S Says:

   I must blog for myself because after six years I average about 12 visitors a day. But I have also made two good friends on teh way, re-establishd contact — of a sort – with at least one other, and been threatened with one defamation suit, so it’s not completely lonely.

   June 11th, 2009 at 5:45 pm

9. Lizabelle Says:

   Just so you know, I bought your Magic or Madness trilogy after discovering your blog.

   My public blog is very new and it has two purposes: 1) so I can gab about books and 2) to give my family and friends (most of whom are on the other side of the world) an idea of what I get up to in Australia. I’m not sure how compatible those purposes are yet, but I’m having fun in the meantime.

   June 11th, 2009 at 5:59 pm

10. Q Says:

    I blog for myself, I suppose, because I have things to say and nowhere else to say them, but I love my readers and I love getting comments. I have 54 subscribers and no idea who half of them are, but I don’t mind. It’s incredibly gratifying to have people who like to read my words.

    June 11th, 2009 at 6:11 pm

11. Amanda Coppedge Says:

    Ditto. I blog for myself and I’m happy when others want to read it to, and yes, comments are happymaking. Writing’s kind of the same way–I write for the same reason I read, because I love stories. Blogging is mostly good old-fashioned diary-keeping for me, except with an audience.

    June 11th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

12. Herenya Says:

    I blog for myself – I went from keeping a personal diary to keeping a blog. I have always found that it really helps me to write about my day and get my thoughts out of my head and into words. Even if no one was reading at all, I’d still keep writing. Currently my blog is only read by a few friends and online acquaintances but as it helps me to keep in touch with people and I get an organised way to record my thoughts, I’m happy with this.

    June 11th, 2009 at 7:42 pm

13. Sarah Says:

    I’ve had a blog nearly four years now (really? four years? – I had to check, and was surprised it was that long). For me, getting a blog was a side effect of fandom. Everyone had one, so I signed up to LiveJournal.

    I post really sporadically, going months and months without posting things, then posting for a solid few weeks. My blog is a sightly crazy mix of fanfic, original fiction, book reviews and general ranting.

    I recently friends-locked my journal because I got hit by serial adders with inappropriate material on their blogs, and I didn’t want that sort of thing being linked to my blog. But even before that, I never had more than maybe half a dozen people read anything I posted, and only about two or three comments on my entries.

    But I’m happy with my tiny audience. There’s a certain freedom in knowing that none of the insane ramblings are likely to be read by anyone but me. I don’t write to be famous, I write because it’s fun.

    I love reading blogs too, both those written by my friends, and a huge number of author blogs. A lot of authors (present company included) are pretty awesome people, and blogs like this one make you all seem a bit more real, which is a fabulous and wonderful thing for a book geek from the Sydney suburbs to experience.

    June 11th, 2009 at 8:15 pm

14. Julia Rios Says:

    I’ve been blogging since 1999, and have a few different active blogs. They’re generally aimed at different groups of people, even if they’re all public. I consider my LiveJournal the most obviously accessible to strangers, though, so that’s where my personal site points. I’ve gone through different stages of openness in posting, but I tend to be pretty reserved about personal stuff (friends and family do read my blog, but if something big comes up, they’ll most likely hear about it another way).

    I try to post things that will interest at least a few people who aren’t me, but really, it’s sort of like a digital scrapbook for me in a lot of ways. I like taking pictures and doing random art projects, and I like having records of them. I’ve also used my blogs to explore specific things in essay format, and to keep tabs on my progress on particular projects. I do post a lot of pictures of my cat, but that’s just because I adore my cat. I don’t think those posts tend to be terribly popular with the masses, in spite of your apparent thoughts to the contrary.

    I read your blog because I consistently find content that interests me (though I tend to skim the sports posts), and because the comments are usually quite good as well. I did find your blog before I read any of your books, and I have bought your books since then, but if I hadn’t liked your books, I’d still read your blog. There are definitely authors whose books I like, but whose blogs don’t interest me, and authors whose blogs I like, but whose books don’t interest me. I should say, though, that if I like an author’s blog, I am more likely to give their books a try, so it does seem like blogging does potentially help sales.

    June 11th, 2009 at 8:50 pm

15. Megan Says:

    I blog for myself to, and my somewhat vain hope that people have some interest in what i have to say!

    June 11th, 2009 at 10:29 pm

16. Megan Says:

    For anyone who’s interested I expand and discuss Justine’s points on my blog today too!

    Click here to read it!

    June 11th, 2009 at 11:08 pm

17. Becca Says:

    At a meeting I attended (SCBWI), some publishing professional said, “If you want to sell your published books, you must have a blog. You must have a mySpace. You must be on Facebook.” (Strangely, very little was said about writing good books in the first place, go fig.)

    I do not keep my blog to sell books. Nobody who doesn’t already have my books even knows about it. (Speaking of writing well – have you ever seen a clunkier sentence?)

    It’s a community thing, for me. In my physical community, there are lots of readers, but not many writers. I like to talk to/ listen to writers – and I do it through blogs. I don’t count my hits, and there are days when I get no comments, and that’s okay. I’m journaling, and celebrating, and moaning about writing, and that’s enough, whether anyone reads it or not.

    June 12th, 2009 at 10:43 am

18. Patrick Says:

    I blog because my I can’t pick which picture of my cat to use as a final post. It might be because I hate my cat, too.

    June 12th, 2009 at 10:44 am

19. Tim Says:

    Interestingly I just started a blog recently and asked myself this very question. Although I haven’t updated my blog with everything I’ve written yet, I find that the whole process is very cathartic. It also helps me to order my thoughts better and know my own ideas. Although I would like to be able to say I’m happy enough even if nobody reads it, in all honesty there’s that little vain egotistical voice in my head that would like to think that other people care about my opinion.

    Still, what can you do? I’m enjoying what I’ve written so far, and even if nobody else reads it I’m having fun!

    June 12th, 2009 at 10:44 am

20. Tracy Says:

    I started blogging to sort of keep me on track and motivated with my writing. It works very well. Also because I wanted to just get my feelings out there about the whole submission process and the like. I really enjoy (and learn a lot from) other people’s experience, and I thought I might be able to contribute something in that respect. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to connect with others of like mind.

    As an added bonus, my extended family also gets a glimpse of what I’m going through (because, although I have a rather constant inner dialogue going on, I’m not so talkative in real life*).

    *My kids may disagree on that point entirely.

    June 12th, 2009 at 12:38 pm

21. Lauren McLaughlin Says:

    I blog primarily to instruct people on the proper way to wear shorts. But also to avoid cramming such things into my novels where they (mostly) just get in the way of the story.

    June 13th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

22. Amber Says:

    I blog, but mostly on xanga and not on livejournal or anything else. Some I don’t have many, if any, readers, and I am mostly fine with that (sometimes I even prefer that). I have also abandoned many blogs when I found another that suited me more.

    I like your blogs, because they are real. About real things, even if fun, non serious things, and you’re not trying to be somebody you’re not. I also think it is wise not to post too much personal information, and really it’s none of our business about your personal side of life (unless you want to share it).

    June 13th, 2009 at 8:19 pm

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