So I hit a bit of an impasse today, and an ironic one at that. Despite proclaiming in my very first post just a couple of months ago that I might have to struggle for ideas, I've got way too many tales to tell this week. It's been hectic, made even more so by me being sick since Monday night (which has really put a damper on my productivity, let me tell you).
This might seem counter-intuitive, but seeing as the illness itself could be a topic of discussion, let alone my attempts to write and accomplish work while ill, my week has been full of blog worthy topics. So instead (and because I really don't feel like spending a huge amount of time writing this week because of said illness), I am using that idea as the topic of discussion.
This is a common problem I face in writing: Keeping on track and fully exploring one topic of discussion. It's not necessarily a bad problem to have, but when a writer attempts to explore every possible aspect of a story, every potential plot line, it tends to end up something akin both metaphorically and physically like a grocery list.
For example, the potential list of topics I could discuss this week are: my illness, my sister's first week of college, various news stories (from the recovery of the girl missing from 1991 to elections in Afghanistan, video games (including Demi-God and Dawn of War II, and which I played because I was sick), and on and on and on. There are many more, but as you can see, while there may be potential in each of these topics, right now they are nothing more than potentially juicy morsels, unable to satisfy the appetite of a hungry reader.
So what is the point that I'm trying to get across? Well, always take the time to fully explain and explore a topic, otherwise a writer can miss great opportunities and leave the reader unsatisfied. It is better to explain one topic well and fully, than to just touch a number of them. This is true for anything from a lecture or speech to a blog post.
The second point I would like to get across is that one should never write a blog post while sick. It tends to make you want to end your postings suddenly and unexpectedly.
Of course, as I said before, sometimes it is a good idea to leave your readers wanting more.
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I recently heard a similar opinion, which I present to validate this notion. I just let a friend borrow the Orson Scott Card novel 'Xenocide'. They returned it discouraged, because they felt the book jumped around to follow too many storylines that did not necessarily need to be in the same book. In this case the author is probably just setting the stage for the next installment 'Children of the Mind', which I have not yet read. Either way, my friend and I agree that any book, even in a series, should be produced such that it can be enjoyed independently.
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