Day: June 13, 2022

Blogging Insights — Subbing for Dr. Tanya

Fandango24 Comments

Dr. Tanya usually appears in this time slot with her weekly Blogging Insights prompt. However she let us know today in this post that she won’t be doing a Blogging Insights post today. But don’t worry, Dr. Tanya says she hopes to be back again next week.

So, in her absence, thought I’d take it upon myself to fill-in for Dr. Tanya, who provides us with a quote about blogging or writing and asks us to express our opinion about said quote. I didn’t ask for her permission, so I sure hope Tanya is okay with this.

The quote I chose is from author Gustave Flaubert, a French novelist who was a leading proponent of literary realism.

“You must write for yourself, above all. That is your only hope of creating something beautiful.”

My blogging buddy, Jim Adams, says that he writes for himself and doesn’t care all that much about what others think of his posts. That may be true for him, but I believe that most of us who blog do so because we love writing and do it because we are driven by our love of words. At the same time, we keep our prospective readers in mind. Our blog posts provide a platform for us to create something at least compelling, if not beautiful, and to share what we write with our blogging community.

Flaubert, who died in 1880, didn’t write in the age of the internet, where writers get instant feedback on their writing via views, likes, and comments. But as bloggers, we do get information from our stats, almost in real time, and those stats help us gauge whether what we write engages our readers.

So from my perspective, I do write for myself, but I also keep my readers at the forefront of my mind, and I hope they find my writing somewhere between passable and beautiful.

Share Your World — 06/13/2022

Fandango18 Comments

Another Monday has come around and that means it’s time for another round of Melanie’s Share Your World.

What is one topic you really like to talk about? Or something you really want to tell people?

There of two of me. The one here on WordPress you know as Fandango. And here, I like to express my views, perspectives, and opinions about what’s going on around me, including those three classic controversial topics of sex, religion, and politics. In other words, I’ll talk about anything.

And then there’s the real world me. And for the real world me, when it comes to sex, religion, and politics, I will keep my mouth shut (except with members of my immediate family).

What do you normally never tell strangers about yourself? (Be general, I don’t need to know details or invade privacy.)

I rarely tell strangers anything about myself. Why would I? They’re strangers, for crissake.

Have you ever broken anything? (Can be health related, emotion related, or situation related – you define “broken anything” for your own satisfaction.)

I’ve broken a big toe, a couple of fingers, a few ribs. I haven’t broken any hearts that I’m aware of. But I’ve broken my fair share of glasses, plates, and bowls. And when I was in college, I broke the world’s record for continuous hours in a shower, which record was broken only a few months later.

Is having a big ego a negative trait or positive trait?

Having a big ego isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We each have an ego and our ego helps us define our sense of self-worth. A positive self-worth enables us to feel pride in our past and confidence in our ability to deal with the present and the future. There is nothing wrong with feeling positive about yourself. But the ego needs to be kept in check. The problems with an oversized, unbridled ego arise when it turns a person into a self-absorbed, arrogant person who feels that he or she is superior to others.

What aspects of your city or neighborhood are you grateful for?

We live in a safe, friendly suburban town with nice neighbors, a quaint downtown with good restaurants and shops, and all in a rather scenic area at the foot of Mount Diablo.

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #173

Fandango11 Comments

Welcome to Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge. Each week I will be posting a photo I grab off the internet and challenging bloggers to write a flash fiction piece or a poem inspired by the photo. There are no style or word limits.

The photograph below is from shutterstock.com.

For the visually challenged writer, the photo is of a girl sitting inside a tent. She’s reading a book and has a smile on her face.

If this week’s image inspires you and you wish to participate, please write your post, use the tag #FFFC, and link back to this post. I hope it will generate some great posts.

Please create a pingback to this post or manually add your link in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — Cereal

Fandango12 Comments
FOWC

It’s June 13, 2022. Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “cereal.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.