To Blog or Not To Blog by Dave Rigby

 

I’m not sure about this.

I’ve done it often enough before, but this time, ideas seem a bit elusive.

Maybe they’ve gone on a walk without telling me.

Typical! Just because my walks are shorter than they used to be,

They’ve decided to go on their own and have more fun.

Mind you it’s easy for them, floating on a breeze or down the river.

Not even the lock gates on the canal will hold them back.

And with all that freedom, they won’t be back for a while.

But what about genre? So many. Which to choose?

Committing a crime?

‘Sergeant Jerome Clerkenwell Investigates’ or ‘Chief Inspector Alexandra Spottiswood and the Ludgate Gang.’ (It looks like some of the ideas might be back from their walk!)

Crime sure is tempting, but it’s my default genre. Maybe I should have a change.

Hunting for horror?

Ghosts, ghouls, wolves (were or not).

That locked room, the plunging lift.

The two-headed monster.

Well, maybe not. I’ve got a feeling with me at the helm it would become comedy all too quickly.

Flirting with romance?

A Jane Austen-inspired tale? Probably a bit much for me to achieve a nuanced emotional balance.

How about two romantic protagonists on a desert island? Perhaps a little too limiting. These islands tend to be tiny.

An on-line romance? Are you joking? They’re everywhere these days.

Using poetic licence?

The great thing about being poetic is that there aren’t really any rules. OK, if you chose a specific form, a sonnet, a haiku or maybe a villanelle there are rules aplenty. But really, you’re free to avoid such restrictions and write whatever you want, in whatever format you choose. A big attraction!

But when you can do anything, it’s all too easy to opt for doing nothing.

Ah … historical fiction?

What a wealth of possibilities. A story set in ancient Rome – ‘My life keeping the hypocaust working.’ Or maybe exploring the unknown world back in the day. All that worry about falling off the edge of the planet. Or something not too far back. ‘Grandad goes to work.’

But these would all involve the hard graft of research, trying to get the history details just right.

A listicle?

An article in the form of a list. I could give you my top ten singles of all time and stick in some background detail. ‘The first time I heard Siouxsie and the Banshees.’ Or my top twenty gigs. Or best hols ever. But who would want to read something like that?

The Way Forward?

Maybe I should just forget about this blog and use my time dreaming up something for the next one.

I think it’s called planning ahead, but I’ve never been very good at that.

"The write thing Project 365(2) Day 12" by Keith Williamson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.