I was listening to someone (via podcast) talk about developing an audience on the web. He made a very good point, or I'm remembering it as I wish it had been, in that case I guess I'm making a very good point, about focus. If you do a bit of everything, really you are doing nothing.
That's the way I've been feeling about this blog and about my creative life in general (not my work life, there I'm doing a lot of one thing). My room is full of 80% completed sketch books, half finished projects on a theme that have been laid aside for so long that going back to them now hardly makes sense, as the original impetus is long gone.
As for this everything blog, what's it going to be? Music? Art? Boxing? Clever musings? Porn?
Careful. Once you open that "porn door" it is very difficult, nigh, impossible to close. So you should call it "Porn Door-Cum on in".
ReplyDeleteHey, you spelled "come" wrong. Oh, wait... I get it!
ReplyDeleteI tend to concentrate on the music related posts and the updates
ReplyDeleteabout your day-2-day stuff. But that's just me. If you start
blogging about porn, of course, I would skip it.
I think there's a difference between doing "a bit of everything" and periodically switching up between 2 or 3 topics. We've got it narrowed down to 2 sports - hockey, boxing - music and some personal musings, often relating to physical activity.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing is, how much of an audience can we strive for? I wouldn't want to write exclusively about the Habs just for the sake of hoping to get another dozen readers.
I do wish that it was possible to separate posts by topic in the archives, instead of everything mixed together and split up only by date.
I guess my one constructive suggestion - for both of us - is focus in a one topic, for a few posts. Right now I'm doing all-playoffs. After that, maybe all-boxing for a while, then music, etc.
The boxing posts are interesting, I think we can bring some insight, but the readership will be very limited. It'll be us reading each other's posts and Mitch reading and that's it.
Music expands the audience a bit, but I lose part of that hockey audience.
But there is a certain overlap with the hockey and music.
This comment is running long.
My point is, I have no clue what to make of this, other than I don't want to settle on one topic at this point.
I just re-read my comment. That was the worst comment ever posted. I'm tired, gotta go to bed now.
ReplyDeleteI guess my point was less about getting an audience, as I think the chances of someone I don't know personally becoming interested in this are slim, but more about clarity. Mental, and creative clarity.
ReplyDeleteI guess as I write more the two or three different topics I jump between may start feeling a bit more unified and related. Continuity. I've always suffered from wanting to do everything and ultimately doing nothing. I hope to get over that soon.
Thanks for the comments guys.
And Martin, Ramble on!
You have to embrace your jack-of-all-trades personality. You are a generalist. You just have to go in each direction, when it presents itself, fully. One of them will take precedence, not fully, from time to time.Just go with it and don't worry about what you aren't doing, but what you are.
ReplyDeleteThat's some damn good advice!
ReplyDeletei keep meeting these amazing people who have done a whole bunch of weird shit , only to figure out at 40 that their greatest passion was the surgical grafting of their pet fur hobbyism/ medical degree and passion for wine into a health conscious wine with furry labels...
ReplyDeleteit is a pressure we all feel to make what appear to be parallel lines converge- i truly believe that they are converging- at some point in the unseen future.... thats what i tell myself as a psychotherapist/professor/musician anyways!
These comments are getting a bit away from the porn stuff I think
ReplyDeleteyou really wanted people to encourage you on. They're well written & thoughtful and all, but c'mon...Brazillian women...horses.......Premium Plus crackers....there's a lot of unexplored territory out there.