Up to Some Good

I’m delving deeper into the writer’s life, learning more about the evolving world of online fiction.  I’m no longer trying to restrain myself by holding onto my work for editing and revisions.  With all the upheaval in the publishing industry, I see no wisdom in starting this adventure using traditional processes designed for a system that is quickly becoming obsolete.  I was fighting my natural writing tendencies, shaped by years of blogging.  Instead, I will continue to work with what moves me and hope something I do will fit in with new publishing models.

It’s a curious thing to be straddling these two fields; education and writing.  Both are full of creative, intelligent, passionate people, but the systems, processes and products are vastly different.  Even when they use the same tools, the practices differ.  My colleagues in education spend much of their time writing and connecting through social media.  Most of these people do this as part of their salaried employment, with a few consultants and contractors.  My new friends in the writing world spend a similar amount of time writing and connecting, but many are unpaid for these efforts, instead, earning a living performing other work.

In the world of edublogging, it’s considered uncouth to sell products or run ads on a blog.  In the fiction-writing world, it’s no crime to try to make a buck off your writing.  In education, I supported the promotion of open content, free and open source tools and open teaching.  However, I felt a bit like a trophy wife at a corporate cocktail party.  I could talk about it without making a fool of myself, but here I sit with a MacBook Pro and have no idea how to switch to Linux, or use Open Office.  On my education blog, I published everything using Creative Commons licensing, but new inquiry into the meaning of taking upon that license (including questions raised by Dave Cormier) has me reconsidering my copyright options.

This week I listed this blog with the Amazon Kindle marketplace.  I received instant pushback from the education community for participating in something with such a restrictive format.  However, to the writing community, my actions were considered very open, and some wondered why I would offer my work openly on my blog without charge in the first place.  My thoughts about the Kindle project are that my blog is similar to buying chapstick or batteries at the grocery checkout counter.  People are buying eReaders and I want my work available to them, in whatever format I can accommodate.  I also see it as an opportunity to publicize my work in an environment with a strong participatory media community.  I am looking into things like Smashwords, Mobipocket, and FictionBook, all of which will take time to explore and learn.

I have also explored some new options, including listing my blog with the Web Fiction Guide (online novels, reviews). I submitted a few of my flash fiction stories to contests, and plan to participate in the Editor Unleashed Flash Fiction Contest. Amidst all these fun new things, I’m completely neglecting the blogging activities I already know; reading and commenting on other blogs, and keeping a blogroll on my site. It will take a while to balance all this and find time to write and do the work that pays the bills. I’m glad I’m meeting new people and still connecting with old friends on my adventure!