My Writing Process: A Blog Tour

Amanda Nicole at Peaches in Missouri asked me to participate in this blogging event; we've considered her a friend going back four blogs and more than two years, so I couldn't refuse.  I was honored that she asked me to participate, doubly so because she is a (pardon the expression) vanilla blogger, and if I had to ventuer a guess I'd say that most of her blogging friends don't regularly read sex blogs.  So I appreciated her being so willing to introduce us to that segment of the blogging world.  Incidentally the other two bloggers that Amanda Nicole tagged to participate are Kathy from Him & Me (But Mostly Me), and Melissa from Crazy Camp Camacho.  Do yourself a favor and check them out as well!

1.  What am I working on?

Sadly, not as much as I was two years ago.  2012 was our big blogging year, and saw the publication of more than 475 separate posts.  We blogged daily (with the exception of some Saturdays), keeping our finger on the proverbial pulse of the sex blogosphere for writing ideas, and of course posting about our own life experiences as well.  It was easier then; as the stay-at-home parent of a two-year-old child, I found myself with sufficient leisure time to brainstorm and actually write every single day.  Lately I have far less time for blogging; my daughter is older, and demands more of my time with her.  As a result, I find that what little alone time I actually have is better spent decompressing.  In addition, I have a number of non-blog writing projects which occupy my time.  However, despite all of this, I do find that at any given time I have at least a couple in-progress posts awaiting completion.  That I possess a drive to get every post I write as close to perfect as possible may explain why some have gone months without being completed.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Hard to say.  As I am not currently reading as many blogs as I used to - at least not on a regular basis - I'm not exactly sure what the rest of the genre is doing, and for that matter I'm not even sure about the state of the genre itself.  However, at the risk of blatant self-aggrandizement I find my work to be incredibly well-written and polished, with an interesting if not totally unique perspective and often with humor to spare.  Ours may not be the sexiest blog out there (I didn't say it isn't, just that it may not be), but I find it pretty damn entertaining.

3.  Why do I write what I do?

From its inception, our blog has always been about giving our sexual selves a voice.  We've always found ourselves needing a forum to talk not only about our sexual experiences and as-yet unfulfilled wants and needs, but also sociopolitical issues that concern sexuality, sex-related news stories, and relationship issues including but not limited to non-monogamy.  We have less opportunity than we'd like to actually voice our feelings on these topics with family and friends, so using our blog as a forum for this purpose makes sense.

4.  How does your writing process work?

I tend to be thinking about sex all the time.  Even if it's not at the forefront of my mind, i.e. when I'm getting my daughter ready for school or disarming a bomb in my official capacity as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer, there's always some sexual thought lurking in the back of my mind.  Therefore ideas for posts are always coming to me.  Additionally, I read a lot, and often come across interesting news stories with a sexual bent.  When such a thing crosses my mind I make a note of it, often with some initial thoughts related thereto.  I tend to spend a few minutes - that is, when I actually have a few minutes - brainstorming and in doing so formulate a rough outline for said post.  Following this I begin to write out what is, for all intents and purposes, my first and only draft of said post.  I tend to type it out in Wordpad as opposed to the Blogger website itself.  (I'm not entirely sure why this is, but it may have to do with the fact that in the early days of our blog we would sometimes find ourselves dealing with an unresponsive browser.  Typing out a post in a word processing application and pasting it into the browser made more sense.)  The entire process takes anywhere from several hours to several days depending on how well-fleshed-out the idea happens to be, the topicality of the subject matter, and my own enthusiasm for it.

Next Monday on the Tour:

Shelby Cross from Shelby Cross, Writer

Donnee Patrese from Beginning My New Life as a Housewife and Erotic Writer

Cat from You Won't Tame this Sassy Cat

Beck from Beck and Her Kinks

AtiyaLuv from Sincerely Yours

Angel Shrout from Ramblings of a Southern Angel

(Please note, especially if you followed a link from Peaches in Missouri, that the above blogs may be sexual in nature.)