What the blog?

Finally a moment to write - between a week of funerals, work and sick toddlers, it's been hard to put two thoughts together let alone two written words. Anyway, I wanted to write about a session I attended at the Williamstown Literary Festival. The festival was on last weekend and I managed to get to 3 sessions on the Sunday. One of them was about Literary Blogging. I'm actually thinking of starting a blog called "Diary of a Failed Blogger". I love the idea of a blog but in practice I have started and gotten bored with a number of blogs. In the face of seemingly deafening silence and no comments and few followers, I always find myself wondering "what's the point?" Especially when there appears to be no money to be made other than in selling tips for creating successful blogs.

With this in mind, I and a friend - fellow would-be blogger Ali Karayan - went off to listen to two noted local literary bloggers. The first was Lisa Dempster who blogs about all thing literary, veganism and dogs (www.lisadempster.com.au) and is the current Director of the Emerging Writers Festival, and Angela Meyers, the voice behind Literary Minded who is the literary blogger for crikey.com. Both are young enthusiastic twenty-somethings who blog an amazing number of times per week. Ali and I (both mothers in our early 40s) raised our eyebrows and noted wryly "no kids".

The session began with Lisa and Angela talking about their blogging histories but quickly became very interactive with people (of all ages, I note) eager to ask questions. They were asked about building up a blog and about staying keen when getting no feedback. Both admitted it takes a while and also noted that while it might seem no-one is interested in your blog, you'll find people are reading but just not commenting. Lisa mentioned that she first knew people were taking notice of her blog after she posted a criticism of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Within hours, she had responses from the officialdom of the festival as well as other readers. This discussion led onto another on the literary world in Australia, and particularly Melbourne, being small. Both bloggers had been warned at various times not to annoy well known authors and figures in publishing. They admit it's a fine line. I sat there thinking that the literary world in Australia needs to be more critical - I don't mean negative - about what's being published. It seems, like with our movies, reviewers can be so keen to promote Australian writing that crap can slide past unscathed. But I digress... The issue of not making waves and of drawing a line between her blogging self and her job seems to have hit home with Lisa now that she is Director of the Emerging Writers Festival. She says she has already had a sniffy response to a suggested festival panel led by her on online writing. It's been interpreted as Lisa feathering her own nest. Interesting dilemma.

I asked a question about moderating blogs. As a past volunteer moderator of a large parenting forum, I know how vicious some arguments and debates can become and how wierd the whole business of trolling can be. When a reader signs up to Lisa's website, she moderates their first comment and there after all comments go up unmoderated. She keeps an eye on all discussions and will enter the fray to calm things down if necessary. She says she has only had to block one person in three years. Angela however admitted she's had an episode of cyber-stalking which ended in her blocking the person and changing various emails and other identifying addresses. They admit to grappling with the issue of privacy. A difficult thing when you basically use the internet as your private journal. And as Catherine Deveny discovered this week it may seem like you're having a cosy chat with friends when you are chatting online but in reality your words are out there for all and sundry to see.

I'll finish up by throwing out a question or an idea...take it as you wish. The question that started percolating in my head during this session and which I unfortunately wasn't able to articulate in the following session I attended with Jeff Sparrow from Overland and Steven Grimwade, Director of the Melbourne Writers Festival is where all this literary blogging sits with the existing field of journals, magazines and festivals. For every two articulate and thoughtful bloggers like Lisa and Angela, there must be a dozen more hacks and dolts. Does this water down the impact of literary reviewing and writing or add to it? Is blogland where our new generation of reviewers and thinkers are going to be found?

In all the session was a fantastic one. Ali and I emerged fired up and readying to go. Watch out blogland here we come :)