The Writer

Blogging in 2020: Waste of time or a writer’s best friend?

Like so many writers, I decided to blog.

My first attempt was in 2009 using Blogspot, and I got five posts into things before canning it because my random posts were barely as exciting as burnt toast.

A year later, I gave it another shot on Blogger, designing the blog to sync up with the publication of my book Unplugged. Since it was a nonfiction book, it gave me clearer topics to focus on – video games and digital culture. Blog No. 2 was far better than Blog No. 1 but it still only lasted a few months before it started to feel like mind-numbing, soul-sucking work…so I quit. Again.

My latest attempt to run a blog started in April 2018, and it’s still going strong at . Lately, I’ve been thinking about why this one worked while the others failed. To get to the heart of this dilemma, I sought advice and tips from blogging successes like Jane Friedman and John Scalzi, who each had a lot to

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