Since starting the blog in 2014 I have struggled with how to use it.
Sure, I promote my work. But if that is all I do, then this is a self-marketing blog, and that's depressing.
How do I make this space work for me?
I think about other humans. What do they use blogs for?
They write blog essays about tree-farming and saying goodbye to grandma and how to make excellent omelets and five keys to writing the perfect first draft and how to properly grow and maintain whiskers.
I don't write blog essays. I don't have time or interest (this essay excluded).
For me, and I imagine for others, consistency is the primary challenge of maintaining a blog. What would compel me to add to this space?
In the past few months, I've found a use that works.
A scrap board. This blog is now a scrap board. In fact, I think it alway was. I always wanted it to be, but now I'm actually producing enough weird shit that I have material to share on a regular basis.
What is a scrap board? A place for scraps. I will post scraps of art I make--incomplete art (all art is incomplete), fallible art, art that wants to be, but doesn't yet know what it is.
I will use this space as a scrap board for works in progress--both writing & music--and to demonstrate my artistic process.
Why does this appeal to me? Simple. It keeps me honest.
When I post something publicly, the work is vulnerable. I am compelled to return to it, think about it, critique it.
The scrapbook becomes one of several steps in the process of making. If the work holds up, if it has a home in the world, I will find the energy to finish.
