Pointless Question for the Day

[queenoftheskies]

Just because sometimes my brain thinks pointless thoughts. :)

Okay, okay, my brain often thinks pointless thoughts. But, it's a good brain anyway and I think I'll keep it.

Why do you have a Live Journal? Do you keep it to actually use it as a journal and keep records for yourself? Do you keep it to interact with other people? Peer pressure? Why?

How long have you had your LJ? How many posts have you made?

Are you addicted to LJ? Do you miss the days you don't post or read your FL?

Do you find yourself posting to get responses from other people? To discuss certain aspects of life with other people? Because you need to know that there are people who care?

Most of the people I've met on LJ are writers. Do you feel that it enhances your craft/learning experience/anything else about writing by communing/discussing/asking questions with others?

How frequently do you go back and look at your old posts?

This, perhaps, is what brought up the pointless question. I do use my LJ to keep track of things, including my ups and downs with writing, my accomplishments, my progress on pieces I'm working on, thoughts that I might lose in the normal course of life if I hadn't chronicled them somewhere.

I'm sure most of you have noticed that I've had a lot of downs over the past few months. It happens. LIFE happens. I've noticed I've lost a handful of people from my FL and I figure that's probably the reason.

However, looking back over my more productive days, watching patterns in my writing when there are lows in real life, reading back over posts that I've made to determine where I actually started having trouble...that helps me a lot. Helps me work through the problems I'm having. Reminds me, when I say I suck and I'll never be able to write 13,000 words in one day again or that I'll never finish another novel or that all my brain cells have died that I've said this all before. I've had these lows before. And, then I've had the triumph of working through it all and coming back even stronger and more determined to persevere.

Will it happen again? Yes. Will I get over it all again? I sure as hell hope so! I'm trying.

However, I also have to admit that I love getting comments. I love making comments. I love meeting people and getting to know them, and discussing life and writing with them.

So, anybody want to share why you're here?

Geez, I don't think I've really just spilled my brain in a long time. It feels...good. :)

Comments

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i started on lj thinking it might be a good way to learn how to self-promote.

i not only think i haven't learned anything about self-promotion, but find i waste a lot of time writing about writing and not doing the writing (which is a problem with any journal).

i like the peeps on my flist, so i stay, and it gives me a place to share stray thoughts and randomness now and then (i like reviewing movies and books, for example).

beyond that, i mostly feel it's pointless and often think of deleting the whole kit and kaboodle. then, when peeps respond to something i post, i feel obliged not to just pick up and vanish, so i keep on. i mostly post on a quid-pro-quo basis (yes, i am admitting this ~ if someone is actively engaged with my journal, i tend to reciprocate more).

i rarely look back on old posts and find i don't actually miss lj when i don't have access to it.

as to kvetching, etc. a lot of people use their journals to vent and i suspect i vent in my own way as well. i do admit, there's only so much negativity i can afford to be around (i'm spongelike in a bad way). but when peeps on my flist are having a kvetch jag, i just try to skim and think good thoughts for them. if i have some useful advice (or if it seems the friend might be open to it), i may post a response, but very rarely (because usually it's just venting and there's no point fueling or enabling. i've lost friends of my flist for not being a "huggy there there" sort of person, but i don't really like when people do that to me, so i don't do it to others).

if i have a friending policy it's this: i friend creative, thoughtful people who are actively working out their struggles and who have a handful of common interests. i don't friend constant every-day whiners, people who can't write a post without using all-caps, people who use enough profanity to shame sailors, and people who post obscene material or constant rants about current events and politics.

once i friend someone, i tend not to unfriend them. unless they unfriend me, then i unfriend them as a courtesy (since obviously there's no mutuality in their friending). despite the length of my flist, i find only about 10% of my friends actually post regularly and only about 6% of those comment in my journal.

hahahahaha ~ well that was a ridiculously long answer.

: o p

[poisontaster]

It's an interesting question (or, okay, SERIES of questions). When I first got my LJ, I really wasn't part of the online community. I didn't know anyone with LJs I wasn't sure HOW to make friends really and so it was mostly an exercise for myself. To be able to talk about writing and process and do little writing exercises for myself, especially as I tried to bulk up my word count in prep for NaNo. I now actually have FOUR LJs; one for writing, one for personal, one for...rough draft type stuff because too many people are watching my regular LJ and I don't really want them seeing me with my panties out and a sort of...humorous column type thing I do about life with my roommate.

And now I DO feel like I'm part of a community of people and I love it. I AM addicted to it, because for so much of my life I was 'in the closet' fannishly and with my writing and now I don't have to be. There are HUNDREDS of people who share my addictions and are willing to talk to me about them. I've had my LJ for...not quite 2 years now and I've made somewhere around 600-700 posts. I get into grooves where I like to do SOMETHING writing oriented every day.

I don't look at my old posts as often as I'd LIKE, but periodically, I will just go back and roam through them and think about what I'd done then and how much things have changed or not changed.

I do ADORE getting comments. I love just...seeing what people think and what they have to say and getting to discuss our thinky thoughts. I spend a lot of my time lurking right now because I'm writing so much that it's sometimes hard to find the time to comment to stuff too, but I really ENJOY that part of it and if it didn't mean sacrficing writing time, I'd do it more.

[jediknightmuse.livejournal.com]

Why do you have a Live Journal? Do you keep it to actually use it as a journal and keep records for yourself? Do you keep it to interact with other people? Peer pressure? Why?

Umm...I don't really know. I had different ones- deadjournal, another livejournal, blogspot...but I finally settled on this one. It wasn't until about two summers ago that I started being active with it, especially once I joined communities. I use it to ramble on about stuff. I like having a place to ramble on about certain things, like McDonalds.

How long have you had your LJ? How many posts have you made?

Date created: 2003-10-17 20:14:08
Posts: 953
Comments: Posted: 5,958 - Received: 3,693

Are you addicted to LJ? Do you miss the days you don't post or read your FL?

I'd say I'm fairly addicted. It's the next closest thing to getting mail/email because I don't get a lot of it outside of LJ. That's one reason I decided to do the pen pal thing.

Do you find yourself posting to get responses from other people? To discuss certain aspects of life with other people? Because you need to know that there are people who care?

Some things, yes. But not everything. o.o

Do you feel that it enhances your craft/learning experience/anything else about writing by communing/discussing/asking questions with others?

Definitely. It's helped a lot with inspiration, having people encourage me to write, and it's helped my writing in some ways by gaining their feedback. I'd say the best thing I've done was create creativefantasy.

How frequently do you go back and look at your old posts?

Not very often, but since I'm going to be going friends only soon, I guess I'll be doing that more so I can friendslock old posts.

[spaceoperadiva.livejournal.com]

I'm certain that I annoy some people on my flist because I occasionally rant about current events. But being interested in current events is part of who I am, so either they can skip those posts or unfriend me. ;-) I'm with you on the constant whining though. The constant whiners have to go. We all whine occasionally, but if the whole point of their journaling is "Woe, woe is me", I'm out of there.

[spaceoperadiva.livejournal.com]

Originally I started what I called my flaug (faux-blog) because someone I loved very much was going to be out of the country and incommunicado for a few weeks. It was my daily letters to him while he was gone. Then I discovered that I rather liked online journaling and moved from my own little isolated flaug meant for two people to lj. I stay for the community and because I have a big mouth and what a wonderful outlet for that!

I have a really diverse flist. I love that. I collect lj people who are witty and entertaining and who have something to say, even if I don't agree with it. But as far as writing goes, I think it mainly serves to distract me from doing other writing. Though I do like the company of other writers here on lj, I think I was more productive without it.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i think we all need to rant or whine now and then ~ it's just anything pervasive, consuming, and self-obsessed (dramarama) that puts me off. personally i try to limit myself to one kvetch a week if i feel i must kvetch publically at all.

i have enough unhealthy behavior in my own life that i need to wrangle with. i don't need to be daily bombarded with other people's. it's basic self-preservation.

hahahahahaha ~

: D

[dragovianknight.livejournal.com]

Hey sis, wasn't there supposed to be GOOD NEWS SQUEE this morning?????

Widow Twankey says you should SQUEE::exclamation point::

[nugatorytm.livejournal.com]

I first got my LJ about three or four years ago, when you still needed an invite to get one. I originally got it to try to keep in touch with some of my chat friends, as my chat program was going wonky on me and I had to delete it (I have old, trashy computers).

Later it turned into a safe snarking zone when I had to vent on stupid-assed stories that was only good for fireplace kindling or birdcage lining. Tam in full-out Snark Mode is a terrible/wonderful thing to behold, or so I'm told.

I did find out it was a wonderful place to post stories before actually posting them on a fic list, as I can get some great feedback on how it could be changed for the better. (hugs her flist)

I don't post often; I'm lucky if I post once or twice a month. It's not that nothing happens in my life, I just let everyone know when something fairly momentus happens. I don't post just to get responses, but I'm happy when they do. I never go back to read old posts, either. Anything I want to look at more than once (like the snark fests and the stories) I tuck away in "Memories", for easy access.

But I mostly use LJ for reading my flist and seeing what other people are doing.

[nycshelly.livejournal.com]

I have my LJ for about 2 years or so. I like the format and the friends page and if I want, I can friends lock posts. I like the threaded commenting and I like that there are a lot of writers on LJ, so there's a community feel.

But I love blogging and LJ is just one service/format I use. Most of my blogs are on Blogger and one is on WordPress.com. I blog for myself, but not as I would in a paper journal which I was never good at maintaining for long. I blog to share my thoughts and my photos and other areas of my creativity, like the Mal photo set. And I blog because it's fun and I enjoy it, and yes, I'm addicted. ;)

But I do like discussing writing on LJ (and on usenet and in days long gone, on AOL's message boards). I also like having my thoughts recorded somewhere for later review, tagged and put in memories and otherwise easily accessed.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

i've been on LJ for two years as of this past may. i originally created the account because a number of friends of mine in RL that were scattered across the country had accounts, and so it was a good way to stay in touch with them. it still is: i comment far more often than i post.

i already keep a pen-and-paper journal for documenting my thoughts/feelings, so my LJ is intended for quasi-public discussion. i like meeting new people but i prefer it to be via "freinds of friends," so i purposely don't have any interests listed. i don't post to get comments per se, but i post things i want to share with folks i know. i have to make an effort to post non-friendslocked entries, remembering that's how i make new friends.

i prefer to file off the serial numbers, keeping my online/personal and real life private which is why you'll never see me using my real name, or referring to other people by their real names. they know who they are. if i ever decide i want a blog for "professional/promotional" reasons, i'll create an account using my real name.

while i don't post very often, i'm on pretty much every day reading my friendslist and commenting. my sweetie would say i'm addicted. :)

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

I think I've been LJing for about two years... somewhere between one and two, at any rate. It started as a way to keep track of progress for NaNoWriMo, but I quickly dropped out of that but kept the blog. I use it mainly to hold myself accountable for lack of production... and yet that rarely works. :-/

I enjoy LJ because...........

[dracschick.livejournal.com]

I like talking about writing, my fandoms and reading what others have written.

[mmarques.livejournal.com]

I've been LJing for a little over 2 years. I have a few purposes:
(1) Self-promotion .... my public posts are almost exclusively about my fiction writing. When (if?) I get published, it will be a way to communicate with readers.

(2) Keep in touch with friends..... a group of friends I met doing nanowrimo all have LJs; it's a great way to keep in touch with them.

(3) Learning more about the literary world. I subscribe to blogs and communities of authors, editors, and agents.

[hkneale.livejournal.com]

I have an LJ to maintain a professional presence among the Up 'n' Coming writers in my peer group. I do it so people who don't read the magazines I get published in still know who I am. Networking is the second most important thing a writer can do. (The first is to write.)

I've got three blogs: my LJ for networking purposes, my Blogitorium one for a pseudocolumn and my self-hosted one for pure ranting. (Sure, I need to rant every once in a while, just like any other person, but I don't think it has a place on my pro-face blogs.)