Diary of an old cheeser

Hi there! Like other blogs, this is my chance to wax lyrical (some might say talk utter cr*p) about a) what's happening in my life b) all of my pet obsessions in particular music, tv, movies, books and other generally connected things, quite often of the retro, old and "cheesy" variety. Hence the title of my blog. Feel free to leave a comment if the mood takes you. There's nothing like a good chinwag about one's favourite topics and besides I love to meet new people! Cheers, Simon

Monday, April 14, 2008

Decisions, decisions...

Well. I haven't put up a post for over a week again. Obvious to say, but time is both fleeting and precious at the moment. In fact it ALWAYS seems to be. So much so that I've had to come to a decision.

I'm not going to be writing on my blog so much any more.

Hark! Can I hear a chorus of protest bubbling up in the background?! I hope so! Or maybe I'm just being a delusional Old Cheeser....

Anyway. At present there are other things which I need to be focusing on, job-hunting being one of the major ones. And the weekend just goes toooo quickly. I am sometimes neglecting my hubbie in favour of the computer which isn't a particularly desirable thing. Etc etc.

The thing is, I really do love to write and if I had one wish that could be granted, it's that I would be making a living from doing just that. In this respect, writing a blog is an excellent "apprenticeship" (though thankfully not of the Alan Sugar variety) or testing ground for practising one's writing skills. It's certainly kept me active in that department. God knows though, I am such a major perfectionist I have sometimes spent literally hours editing and tweaking just one post until I've got it the way I want (and then even when it's "up", I usually spot a spelling mistake or missing word and have to go back and correct it again...) I can also get seriously carried away when I'm waxing lyrical on a favourite topic and don't know when to cease my ramblings. I've stayed up past midnight finishing off some posts, such has been my intense and insane dedication to my craft.

But, if I'm to ever make it as a legitimate writer, I've got to finish off some of the stuff I started! And submit it to publishers! (Yes obvious again I know). And those hours dedicated to my blog have eaten into that time, in fact they've served as a diversion/distraction/excuse not to properly complete all my other writings!

It's funny, but with blogging you can almost feel "duty bound" and become very conscious of your readership. I know several of you out there who have had periods of "going quiet", so inviting the usual "where are you?" or "are you alive/okay?" type remarks. You almost feel like you're letting your audience down when you don't put up a post for a while and become very aware of time ticking by. But at the end of the day, one can't submit to such pressure, tempting though it is. To thine own self must thy be true.

So as of today I am going part-time.

Sorry folks! What that means is that I'll probably do about 2-3 posts per month from now on, as opposed to the more frequent ones I was doing before.

But wait! The new series of Doctor Who has just kicked off! I hear you all cry. And he loves to write about that! Is he mad? All true (except perhaps the last bit) but I'm afraid that the reviews will have to wait....for now.

This does not mean that I am ceasing to exist.

This does not mean that I won't be returning on a more permanent basis at some point (though I can't say exactly when at the mo).

This does still mean that I will continue to read and comment on all of your blogs, because I love catching up with your news, gossip and info. Yes sirree.

This does mean that I will try to do some decent quality posts when I DO write.

This does mean that I still love you all, and thanks to all of you who have been with me to date. I really appreciate you being here!!

So ciao for now. And thank you!!!

Ta ta
OC xxx

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10 Comments:

  • At 4:18 pm , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I feel a bit odd commenting first since I am not a regular here.

    But you are right of course - Real Life must come first. We should all just blog when it suits us and not feel we should commit to anything ie blog every day for a week and then not again for a while or whatever seems right at the time. I really don't think readers have expectations of us (they worry if we disappear for a while without saying I guess) - it's all in our own heads, our own sense of duty and conscientiousness.

    I hope you manage to make good progress with your other writing. And certainly you must not neglect your husband!!!

     
  • At 6:51 pm , Blogger Steve said...

    I can totally relate to where you're coming from but will nevertheless miss your regular postings! But as RB says above: real life has to come first and so do more material ambitions... blogging is great fun and a marvellous discipline in itself but it's not going to get you a book published. Great if you can manage to do both but if time is short then you have to make the logical decision.

    But at least you're not disappearing for good - more like taking a sabbatical which will hopefully refresh you and galvanize your ambitions. Best of luck and I shall keep returning to savour your more select postings...!

     
  • At 2:09 am , Blogger Deemer said...

    I can't believe that I was thinking the same exact thing for myself! I think you've made the best decision. To not completely stop this blog because you do enjoy it. But to just do it less and prioritize.

    You write very well. You need to do something with it! 39 is your year OC!! Get to it!! Of course your fans would love to hear from you occasionally as well.

     
  • At 2:11 am , Blogger matty said...

    Oh, no!!!!

    Well, we all have to take breaks from blogging -- I hope this is just a break.

    You know you can just do quick updates as we like to know what is going on in the life Old Cool Cheeser!

    (I watched the first two episodes of Torchwood last night! ...I have to say I rather enjoyed them! I think I prefer it to Dr. Who! ...Don't get mad at me! But, it has cute boys who kiss each other! ...always a plus!)

    Sending you a hug from Oakland, CA!
    matty

     
  • At 4:02 am , Blogger TimeWarden said...

    Good luck, Simon. There's no denying it's tough getting your name on the cover of a book, and onto the shelves of all good stockists, not to mention shifting copies once you have! An agent, other than 007, and a good marketing man can help immensely!!

    I look forward to reading future posts, especially on all eras of "Doctor Who", as they always make for interesting discussions even though they can sometimes be time consuming to write! But, I'm sure that one day, hopefully sooner rather than later, you'll be back, Back, BACK!!!

     
  • At 7:27 am , Blogger The Sagittarian said...

    That should give me time to catch up on Dr Who, darling!! I'll miss the regular read but look forward to reguslar comments eh? All the best, babe.

     
  • At 9:51 pm , Blogger Glenda Young said...

    I'll still pop in for a look around and dust for you.

     
  • At 1:09 pm , Blogger Old Cheeser said...

    Hi everyone

    Sorry for the delay in reply but thank you very much for your comments!

    Reluctant - No problem, you can comment whether you're a "regular" or not and it's appreciated!

    Maybe you're right about imagining what our readers think but the sense of duty is there nevertheless...

    Thanks for the good wishes!

    Steve - Well I'm not going away entirely - just don't have the time to be as regular as I used to be! And everything you say makes perfect sense - a man in the know! I shall have to make my select postings highly savourable then! (Not to say saucy, succulenet and sensational...)

    Deemer - Thanks - yes you're right, time to start submitting my stuff to publishers etc. I hope 39 is indeed my year!

    Matty - True, I can try to quick updates, the problem is that "quick" doesn't seem to be a word in my vernacular!!

    Glad to hear that you're enjoying Torchwood! I can kind of understand why you'd enjoy it more and of course the boys kissing boys is a definite plus...Don't think it went much further than that though *growl*

    Tim - Thank you. You're right of course, in our case, DW always generates interesting discussions!

    And getting promoted / marketed in the right way can help, true enough.

    And WHO knows, I will of course be back, back, BACK!! (Ha ha)

    Amanda - Thanks m'dear! Of course you do have some DW catching up to do. Time for you to write a post on the sci-fi prog! Or how about get one of your lovely kiddies to write a review?!

    Nora - Awww, ha ha! I'd love you to come and dust my accoutrements and thanks for the offer. I thought that was Hilda Ogden's job though?

     
  • At 3:42 pm , Blogger Brand New W said...

    but I just got here!

    no i totally understand, being a writer-wannabe myself! i say go for it! finish it off, submit it, and then tour the world! that's my plan at least...

    coincidentally, i just got a letter from a publishing house to which i submitted a poetry manuscript a few months ago. they said they had already picked their books out for this year but that they wanted to keep me for consideration for 2010! woo hoo, at least it wasn't a full-on rejection, right?! anyway, if i can do it, u can do it!!

    best of luck and happy part-timing!

     
  • At 5:04 pm , Blogger Old Cheeser said...

    Hot lunch! Welcome, belatedly!

    You're absolutely right, I've got to finish the stuff I've started. I'm such a procrastinator sometimes...

    That's great news about the poetry! Here's hoping you get published in 2010! It's true, you just have to keep plugging away at these things...

    Thanks lots for the positive affirmation!

    OC xx

     

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