PAULA'S SOUTHAMPTON BLOG

From Localism Posts To A Book...Sound Like A Good Idea?

I wrote a post in 2010 about my adventures in blogging here on ActiveRain. Most of my posts are about The Hamptons with local information and history being my focus....and I do review some of my posts from time to time. 

I thought it could be quite enlightening to read this one again since it had to do with my ultimate goal of writing a book. I just wanted to see what I was thinkng about back then.  To my total surprise and joy, I discovered that I was on my way, at that point,  to writing a book.

I began my book last year and started with short stories that have evolved into something much deeper. It is fiction because I found there are so many stories that can include the really good things about The Hamptons if told in story form...

It is a book of fiction but based on many of my life experiences living here in this bucolic place called The Hamptons. I want to convey the REAL stuff that The Hamptons is made of, stepping away from all the celebrity and over the top, luxurious lifestyle that it has become.

Just to bring you all up to date, I started that book, right here on AR and there are several chapters that have been published here. I used the "Localism" posts that I had written over the years (I joined AR in 2007) and even though the first few years were relatively unproductive in terms of really good posts and features, I stuck with it.

Please read the post below here that began my inspiration to write a book; if you want to see the portions that were already published here on ActiveRain, go to:

• The Sled
• Purposeful Life
• Untold Story
• A Little Bird Told Me

If you feel like it, (and I always do appreciate a good critique!) Please leave your comments. There are re-writes to come, of course, before the book will be ready to publish officially and there are several more chapters to come. But I like the idea of an interactive experience with writing and ActiveRain is such a good place to get good opinions!

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Written on 4/22/2010

BLOGGING MY WAY TO WRITING A BOOK!!!...SOMETHING WE ALL CAN DO!

After reading a featured post today about how Activerain has been such a vaulable source of business for Susan Goulding ("What A difference an Activerain Blog Makes--a Retrospective") and responding to her inspiring post I decided to consider something: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I TOOK MY LOCAL POSTS AND PUT THEM  TOGETHER IN A SORT OF HYPER-LOCAL TRAVEL-LOG? Then I discovered/realized something: I have been BLOGGING MY WAY TO WRITING A BOOK!!!...SOMETHING WE ALL CAN DO!

 I have been blogging since 2007 and it has been a challenge to get a lot of public attention, especially since I live in a resort/second home area--so, finding that I am not on the radar that the person looking for a primary residence is on, I decided to take the approach of revealing the precious information that no one really knows about the Hamptons....giving people a place to read about the wonderful things to do here in the Hamtpons, should you choose to visit here...as a result, I have begun to write a travel log--not even close to being published but it will all come together one day after I have shared some of the most spectacular, funny, historical, and revealing things that make the Hamptons one of the greatest treasures in the USA! The person who buys a house here in the Hamptons is the one has visited here and has fallen in love with the "light", the weather, the beaches, the culture, the artists, the food, the wild life, the life style and just about everything else you can imagine about a place to have a second home---or a primary one!  Here's how to develop the possiblity:

Isn't it a good idea to review some of your posts?--Look back to the early days too (sometimes those are the best, freshest and genuine ones) and look for the juicy themes, the ones with lots of meat to them. That is where you will get a "thread" of an idea and then start blogging away like mad on the theme!!

It just may be another "travel-log" for some OTHER area, unwritten about or just more revealing than most other books that have covered your part of America. I have found the books that have been written about the Hampton's in the past are good but they all share one common theme: BOARING!!! The most colorful ones are the cookbooks and coffetable books---but there are not that many and there is room for lots more!!!...and don't forget the new "readers" like the ipad or even Kindle...these are new venues for good reading and I think a place to keep in mind when you are writing.

So, join me on a campaign of writing something of value from our precious treasury here on Activerain! I would love to hear if someone has already done that? Have YOU written posts that you think would make a great book? (big or small) I think that is something to consider at least--and share whatever you think you can without giving out TMI..:)...Let your creative juices flow and lets see who can do it first!!!

 THANK YOU,  ACTIVRAIN FOR BEING A PLACE OF IDEAS AND INSPIRATION! ...WHO KNEW THIS PLACE COULD BE SO FRUITFUL AND CREATIVE TOO!!!