Monday, April 18, 2011

Our Blogging Manifesto

At approximately 10:00 PM the night before a weekday, either one of us will ask the other the same question.

Any ideas for the blog tomorrow?

We usually (unless Laura breaks it) have an unspoken rule about having a blog post scheduled/edited before turning in for the night. And, we're not gonna lie, sometimes the posts flow freely, must-be-written type of writing, perfectly timely and witty and entertaining and enlightening, and others just...don't.

But we've been doing a whole lot of talking about the how and why behind our blog, so here goes nothing.

1. We're committed to random. Books? Check. Writing? Check. Kids? Check. Live-streamed thoughts on a crappy Lifetime movie? Check. We are incredibly random individuals (thanks primarily to our dad) and we love to share the random. No, it's not always going to make sense and yes, sometimes you will be offended (we're looking at you Regulator), but, hey, at least it's (sometimes) entertaining.

2. We're honest. We aren't known for beating around any bushes. If we're having a crappy mom kind of day, you'll be the first to know about it. If we cried when we saw our cover, yep, we'll let you in. If we think Gywneth would give the old D-Bag-O-Meter a run for its money, we'll put it out there. Honesty's the best policy, bitches.

3. We're not afraid to be the butt of the joke. We grew up with people making fun of us. Constantly. I have a memory of my parents joking around about how my braces and my general disdain for personal hygiene (In my defense I was 11! Ok, fine, it's still pretty gross.) wouldn't exactly earn me prom queen votes. It's kind of difficult to take yourself seriously after that although I made a valiant effort while dancing in a very unfortunate production of Swan Lake at Sharon's School of Dance. Yeah, I was the oversized swan in the back who was consistently five steps behind the rest of the class.

4. We try to admit when we're wrong. We make a lot of mistakes. Thinking about some of them makes us cringe. (Is it ever a good idea to give a book a thumbs down and TAKE A PICTURE OF IT??? Um, no. No, it is not.) We hope that when we make announcements about how we got rejected by 100 literary agents when we queried our first novel because we had no clue what we were doing and sent it out WAY too early that you'll learn from our complete lack of judgement. We're nothing if not a walking, talking cautionary tale about how not to succeed in publishing.

5. We're here because we love it. At the end of the day, we're not trying to be anyone except who we actually are. Some days we're rookie novelists launching our debut novel. Other days we're posting humiliating pictures to reminisce about the tragedy that was 90's fashion. And a lot of days we're hanging around in yoga pants wondering how people survive without Nick Jr. (aka preschool on demand). But mostly we're a couple of moms trying to have our cake and eat it too. Now, if we could just find that fork....

19 comments:

Tabitha Bird said...

LOL! You guys always make me laugh.

Great thoughts to have behind the blog. I'm sure most bloggers can relate to these manifestoes.

Laura Pauling said...

Don't stop doing what you're doing. It's great. :) Even if I don't always get the pop entertainment refs until I go to the doctor and can catch up on my People.

Catherine Denton said...

I like your Manifesto! These are the reasons we continue to read. ;)
http://www.wingedwriter.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

You guys always make me laugh. That's definitely some great points to have behind your blog.

Stina said...

I'm random, too (just ask my husband), but I don't have your knack for it when it comes to writing blog posts. They're just not as entertaining.

Katherine Longshore said...

"At the end of the day, we're not trying to be anyone except who we actually are."

And this is why we love you.

Matthew MacNish said...

How dare you dis the 90s?

Matthew MacNish said...

Seriously though? It's the honesty and the humility that has endeared me to you both more than anything.

Unknown said...

Dear Lila,

You're like the awesome of awesome. Without you there is no blog universe. You are the peanut butter to the blogger's jelly. You are that awesome. You also have stalkers... that's when you know you've hit it big.

Your biggest fan,
The Badass Stalker

Krispy said...

I love the random on your blog! Keeps things fun. :)

Marsha Sigman said...

Testify!!...

As you know, I too am a fan of the random. I like to call it an artistic thought process, I think doctors call it ADD.

But what the hell do we care?

Carry on, my sisters.

Christa Desir said...

Can I steal your womanifesto? Or maybe I can just direct everyone to your blog instead of putting up random on mine. Is that okay?

erica m. chapman said...

LOVE you both. LOVE the blog. You guys do it up right. and LMAO at the oversize swan! Ha. Keepin' it real is the best way to do it <3<3

Elana Johnson said...

I have forks! You guys are awesome. I don't know how you don't have your posts scheduled until 10 PM though. I might have a nervous breakdown if I did that. (Yes, I currently have the next five days' worth of posts ready... so sue me. At least I'm sleeping at night. Sort of.)

erica and christy said...

Thank God there's another set of blogging partners that operate the same way as we do. It might not be pretty, but it's honest!!

Bethany Elizabeth said...

You two are fantastic! This post reminded me of one of the first posts I saw by you guys, talking about not being afraid or shy to be who you are. I'll never forget the way you phrased it, "What are you afraid of? People laughing at you? Here's a hint: laugh first."
I've always loved that.

Nicole Zoltack said...

I love your honesty and your spontaneity. That's what keeps me coming back or more. :)

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

All the reasons I love you guys listed right here. How convenient for me.
Okay, so it's really only the first 5 reasons, but important ones.

*hands you a fork*

Sara B. Larson said...

I love this - all of it! You both rock, and I can only hope to be a little bit as awesome as you are.

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