Aug052007

Blog Fixings

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I feel like I’ve been cheating my blog lately.

For one thing, I keep starting all my blog posts with one-sentence paragraphs as if it’s some shocking confession. I am starting to become full of myself. Who the hell is so interested in my thoughts that they would be put on the edge of their seat by such a sentence?

Roadside in BC

Roadside in BC

I used to read this blog that produced some really interesting stories. The guy had a pretty punishing job where he dealt with all sorts of angels and all sorts of assholes. I loved reading it to get this little peek inside someone else’s universe.

But at the same time, his writing style kind of bugged me. He’d try to cram everything into these moralistic lessons. It was kind of like watching an episode of Scrubs. Everything had to be milked of its poetic twist and had to be reflected on to find the greater lesson. Reflection is great but it sounded preachy and insincere.

Starbucks is open till 11pm

Late night at Starbucks

I’ve been self-editing too much lately, holding my blog to some stupidly inappropriate standard. I sit in front of my blog and I think, “How can I really impress people?” And that’s kind of lame. For me, writing shouldn’t be like that. When I think about my audience, I end up writing less for myself. It’s kind of like how that kid eats worms because he gets attention from all the other kids but really he’s got a severe bacterial infection as a result.

That’s why I look forward to reading Clink. She somehow manages to post every day and she writes truthfully, basking in delicious internet anonymity. It’s that feeling that I miss: being able to blog without the need to censor out all sorts of stuff. I’m in a bad position in that I am not anonymous but nor do I post about people in my life for fear they might find my blog and see my snarky writing about them.

I don’t know how I’m going to steer myself back on track. A lot of days, I find myself with an itch, a story that I’d like to articulate and put out there. After a short draft and some minutes spent questioning, I end up scrapping it and the idea goes back into my brain.

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5 comments »

Daniel

I’m a big fan on the health benefits of eating dirt in appropriate amounts.
Clink

I totally get it. Even though I’m anonymous, I have gotten to know my “audience” and when I’m in a rut, I think about writing for them.

Needless to say, those are usually my crappiest posts.

But thanks for the shout-out. You’re one of my favorite reader/commenters.
Jack

Aww shucks, Clink. I started reading your blog when someone linked me to the post where your neighbor started blasting Journey at 6am. Personally, I think that’s a fantastic way to start the day.
Mike

Two things I do with my blog, whilst probably not as “successful” as your or clinks, I – A) Spin pure crap – I write purely to amuse myself. If I can offend people along the way, thats even better :-). Offended people lead to arguments and arguments lead to more blogs. B) Usually when I’m bored at work or watching DVD’s is when I get struck with idea’s, so I write them down on scraps of paper, if the paper survives on the way to my computer, then its gotta be a good idea. I assume?

I guess my style of blogging is a fair bit different to yours, but I do recommend the writing stuff down, not just typing it as it does make you think a little more. Good luck :-)
Gerardo

Think of your writing as an honest snapshot of how you are/were/felt at that moment, that’s it. Unless you’re getting paid for writing, try to write just when you’re absolutely pregnant with an idea and won’t be able to sleep unless you blog about it. As long as your intentions are good and you’re not trying to hurt anybody (including yourself) you’ll be fine.

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