Are You as Rankled As I Am?
It seems like a good idea doesn’t it, #blogging I mean?
It is your
expression.
You want to
make a difference.
Writing has
you by the throat.
You want to become
a better writer, and those little sound bites (aka #blogs) seem like a good way
to do it. You want to connect, to share, to have a human exchange albeit through
your keyboard, and those fabulous airways.
It isn’t
that you want to be “I” all the time. That is spew out a stream of self-talk.
You would like to hear what others think. You would like to ask the big
questions, like what are you doing here? “Here?” I mean on this planet, here stretching
paychecks, paying bills, driving car pools, shopping for groceries, dental
visits dentists, pets to vets, and trying to keep some semblance of order in your
house. You are even willing to get up at 4 A.M. to have some peace and quiet to
write. You love that time. It is where you can be in the “Zone.”
Painters
must feel this way, carpenters, others who work with their hands and minds, anything
that excites them. That is art.
What do we do if our art sucks?
So, you look
into the high rollers who have fabulous successful blogs. Wow, to make $100,000
a year, to quit your job, to write full time, you know, be your own boss .
“Work for yourself or make someone
else rich by working for them.” We know the mantra.
A few people
like you so they honor you by reading your material. Yet know all web searchers
have their own issues, their mouse hovers over material waiting to find a kernel
of truth, information, entertainment, something to grab their attention. On the
other hand people Web surf looking for a fix, something to solve their
current problem.
You can’t
blame them for not wanting to spend time with you.
So what are we to do?
Readers want
information on how to make their lives work, or how to make their work work. (Besides fixing that computer, car, oven
refrigerator, etc.) Well, there’s entertainment too—think of all the gossip
columns, they work. Think of all the sports events, they work. People want love
advice, child rearing advice, blogging advice, depression-lifting advice, diet
advice. Advice, hum, maybe we’re onto
something.
Should you give advice? What is your expertise?
So, back to
your blog.
“Should I pay for advertising?”
“Am I into
numbers when I should be into readers?”
“Is it
content that moves a blog along or something else?”
It’s a mystery isn’t it?
I like
personal experience blogs, like #www.dailycoyote.net
and going there, I find that her grandmother recently passed away at 95 and had
been writing a blog of her early life—such as one in 1943 or 44 when her
husband went to war and said, “Send Cigarettes,” but there were none to be
bought. So her grandmother, Svensto, acquired
tickets to a game show trying to win Chesterfield Cigarettes. (Sounds like an #I Love Lucy episode.) #www.svensto.blogspot.com
Let’s be honest, this is troubling,
frustrating, and downright irritating to know which way to go.
This isn’t
about a silver lining. This is getting down to the nitty gritty of what works
and what doesn’t. Maybe we don’t live as Shreve Stockton (Daily Coyote) does in
the wilds of Wyoming and raise an orphaned coyote pup into a beautiful
companion, plus take fabulous photographs to boot, but we have other adventures
and skills, and a lifetime behind us. And remember, no academic paper as ever
gone viral as a blog.
I am going to investigate this
blogging phenomenon further. Want to come along?
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