Tuesday, 17 October 2023

Blogging Bye-Byes by Tracy Darnton

Life events are intervening so I’m taking a break from blogging here on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure. 

I’ve been looking back at the blogs I’ve written in the last few years – this is blog 65. Sixty-five! Excuse me for being a touch introspective and self-indulgent in reviewing them and sharing my favourite three.

Some months you’re brimming with something you want to say about writing and others you feel like you have nothing to say of any value to anybody. I’m a private person and share very little of my family life on social media so I was surprised that the three I picked were probably the most personal, the most revealing of me.

On the writing front, I’ve shared the unexpected bonuses of being a picture book writer and the similarities with writing 70,000 word thrillers. And as an unashamed book nerd, I shared my joy at seeing one of my thrillers printed. 

I’m glad that people have found my blogs on the craft of writing useful whether it’s Talking Dialogue The Edit Letter, Notes from an Editing Writer, Endings, or observations on finishing another thriller, and my specialist topic came up a lot - Procrastination.

My love of libraries and bookshops has often featured. And a magical trip to the book town Fjaerland in Norway as well as Folly Farm and festivals from YALC to Harrogate.


I've usually provided some sort of quiz or game recommendation for Christmas and a Dear Santa booklist as well as the inevitable New Years' writing resolutions – very few of them met.

Which are my favourite blogs? Drum roll, my top three in reverse order:

At 3 - Family memes – How Bernard, Fix-It Duck infiltrated our family lexicon.

The runner up - One small step – a cosmic writers residency

And finally in first place:

Why can’t I be more like Jeffrey and Dan? An author in search of a writing routine.

If I’m brave enough I shall mention it to Dan Brown in the Green Room at Iceland Noir next month. Ha! Of course I won’t. Maybe without the blog, procrastination will become a thing of the past and my writing routine will fall into place. Maybe. Whatever, it's been an Awfully Big Blog Adventure. 

Thank you for reading them. 

Tracy x

 

 


Tracy Darnton is the author of YA thrillers The Truth About Lies, The Rules and Ready or Not, and the picture book My Brother is an Avocado, AND 65 blogs. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram @TracyDarnton

4 comments:

LuWrites said...

Nooooooo! Tracy, you can't abandon blogging, I love your blogs! Do come back soon and tell us what you've been up to. Iceland with Dan Brown? That's a must! X

Nick Garlick said...

Love your Jeffrey and Dan blog. But re-reading it, see I already commented. Hope things go well for you.

Penny Dolan said...

Thanks for all your posts, Tracy, and good wishes for the future. And that Procrastination loses its power now you've leapt free of the ABBA blog.

Claire Fayers said...

I'll miss your posts, Tracy. Thanks for the entertainment and inspiration every month.