When last we heard from me back in 2015, I was explaining my decision to ditch blogging. I thought it would be a permanent hiatus. It's not because here I am, back to blogging.
Most of my reasons for going on hiatus remain true, albeit slightly tweaked. Read on.
Twitter is still my go-to platform for news and conversation.
If you follow me on Twitter (@meredithgould) you've probably noticed a gradual shift in focus. Since the presidential election, I've become more focused on #digitalactivism and #deliberatekindness. (I'll write more about my call to digital activism in another post.) I still specialize in curating content with (and without) commentary.
Medium has become my primary place for writing about writing.
On Medium (http://medium.com/@meredithgould) I write about writing. After experimenting with a few other topics, I discovered my sweet spot and contribute to The Writing Cooperative.
As for blogging...
Turns out I was simultaneously right and wrong about the value--to me--of actively maintaining a personal blogging. But ever the empiricist, I needed to test this hypothesis.
I was right because: Since 2015, I've written two books for Liturgical Press. Desperately Seeking Spirituality: A Field Guide to Practice was published in 2016. The publication date for Transcending Generations: A Field Guide to Collaboration in Church is August 15, 2017. Last month, a new edition of Deliberate Acts of Kindness: A Field Guide to Service as a Spiritual Practice was published by Clear Faith Publishing. I managed to accomplish this without futzing with ideas and content on my personal blog.
I was wrong because: I underestimated the value of blogging to keep my writing pump primed. Standard advice to writers is to write every day. I do, in fact, write every day but not always the type of writing that builds book-writing muscles. Yippee! A new hypothesis to test. Hence, back to blogging.
I still believe I'm right about group blogs for organizations because: They're a labor intensive nightmare for whoever is charged with maintaing editorial quality control.
And so here I am, back to blogging. Because I always have more to say.
