Thoughts On Blogging
There is a fundamental vicious circle that all bloggers must face, involving two points.
One: Readers will not come back to a blog unless there is new material, if they come back at all. This is why it is necessary to keep up a somewhat steady stream of content. (on that note, it's easy to see why I don't have a lot of readers)
Two: Due to a continual flow of content, what you have written already gets methodically buried in a mountain of choices. Readers rarely look into the archive of posts, effectively losing out on a huge source of content, which supposedly is one of the reasons they came in the first place.
Those paragraphs can be shortened to: In general, readers don't come without consistent updates they can expect, and readers don't come to browse, but to read what's new.
In general. There are quite an amount of people who will dare to float their mouse over to the archive sidebar of underrated treasure (as I call it now), and venture to randomly select a year, month, and a title that grabs their attention. (yes, titles are important, and you can make them attention grabbing however you want) There are very few, however, who will root down to the very first welcoming, "HI! I JUST STARTED THIS BLOG! THIS IS THE FIRST POST AND I DON"T REALLY KNOW WHAT I'M DOING BUT SO WHAT!"
That's exaggerated. Mostly..... Anyway. There are few who will spend the clicking time to get to the start of a blog and methodically read every, single, post, a few at a time until the most recent. I'm not whining for you to do that here. But the message is essentially that- why not?
It takes time. That's pretty much the reason. It can be relaxing to simply visit a blog and browse around, reading and thinking for an hour. For the majority though, a blog is just another addition to look forward to in their internet routine, and reading the most recent post is as easy as checking email, typing a tweet, and dropping a comment on a friends status update for facebook.
And yet for me, as a blogger, that is very frustrating. Something that I have to come to terms with, that I have to be okay with. Here's why it frustrates me.
I hope that readers will eventually take the time to bravely delve in the sidebar of underrated treasure. And because I hope for that, I do not want a reader to see something on the newest post, decide to read some more, and click on another post with the same stuff in it. As of yet, I have not repeated myself on a single subject for that very reason. And that is not self-glorifying, as I only have a hundred and forty some posts. May I never boast except in the cross, even when I have thousands of posts.
And furthermore, every post has my worldview and character woven into it- whether I like it or not. This matters because reading the most recent post without having read any of the others, can result in some misinterpretation and quick conclusions as to my worldview and attitude.
That is something I just have to deal with. But for me, reading as many other posts as I can take of another blogger is a necessity, because posts of the past are like the context of the post of the present. One post contains a small bit of the person. They could be in their funny mood, and their humor is more prevalent. They could be very depressed, and what their hope is in could be mentioned. They could be angry, and how they let their anger speak is intriguing. The short of all this being, that one post is not the whole of the blogger. It is usually one mood of the blogger.
So I would invite you to try something different. Don't come to a blog with no time. Just once in a while, instead of treating your reading stop as a quickie of good content and reading the most recent post, take a mosey to the beginning. See how the blogger started out. Read their progress in personal growth over time. Watch their writing skills become more polished, their minds more mature, or whatever it is you find progress in. It needn't be a dull chore and turn into "I must read EVERY single post." Just take a month at a time and enjoy when you can.
I read blogs because there is a person behind them. Someone who cares enough about whatever it is they're writing about, to write it and want to share it with others. Someone who cares enough to share with me, if I'm interested. I get in on some of what is important to them. I like that, because I know they are real, with feelings and hopes and purposes.
And I read what they've written in the past, so I can better understand them and relate to what they've written today.
Thanks for reading. I really do hope you find it worth your time.
One: Readers will not come back to a blog unless there is new material, if they come back at all. This is why it is necessary to keep up a somewhat steady stream of content. (on that note, it's easy to see why I don't have a lot of readers)
Two: Due to a continual flow of content, what you have written already gets methodically buried in a mountain of choices. Readers rarely look into the archive of posts, effectively losing out on a huge source of content, which supposedly is one of the reasons they came in the first place.
Those paragraphs can be shortened to: In general, readers don't come without consistent updates they can expect, and readers don't come to browse, but to read what's new.
In general. There are quite an amount of people who will dare to float their mouse over to the archive sidebar of underrated treasure (as I call it now), and venture to randomly select a year, month, and a title that grabs their attention. (yes, titles are important, and you can make them attention grabbing however you want) There are very few, however, who will root down to the very first welcoming, "HI! I JUST STARTED THIS BLOG! THIS IS THE FIRST POST AND I DON"T REALLY KNOW WHAT I'M DOING BUT SO WHAT!"
That's exaggerated. Mostly..... Anyway. There are few who will spend the clicking time to get to the start of a blog and methodically read every, single, post, a few at a time until the most recent. I'm not whining for you to do that here. But the message is essentially that- why not?
It takes time. That's pretty much the reason. It can be relaxing to simply visit a blog and browse around, reading and thinking for an hour. For the majority though, a blog is just another addition to look forward to in their internet routine, and reading the most recent post is as easy as checking email, typing a tweet, and dropping a comment on a friends status update for facebook.
And yet for me, as a blogger, that is very frustrating. Something that I have to come to terms with, that I have to be okay with. Here's why it frustrates me.
I hope that readers will eventually take the time to bravely delve in the sidebar of underrated treasure. And because I hope for that, I do not want a reader to see something on the newest post, decide to read some more, and click on another post with the same stuff in it. As of yet, I have not repeated myself on a single subject for that very reason. And that is not self-glorifying, as I only have a hundred and forty some posts. May I never boast except in the cross, even when I have thousands of posts.
And furthermore, every post has my worldview and character woven into it- whether I like it or not. This matters because reading the most recent post without having read any of the others, can result in some misinterpretation and quick conclusions as to my worldview and attitude.
That is something I just have to deal with. But for me, reading as many other posts as I can take of another blogger is a necessity, because posts of the past are like the context of the post of the present. One post contains a small bit of the person. They could be in their funny mood, and their humor is more prevalent. They could be very depressed, and what their hope is in could be mentioned. They could be angry, and how they let their anger speak is intriguing. The short of all this being, that one post is not the whole of the blogger. It is usually one mood of the blogger.
So I would invite you to try something different. Don't come to a blog with no time. Just once in a while, instead of treating your reading stop as a quickie of good content and reading the most recent post, take a mosey to the beginning. See how the blogger started out. Read their progress in personal growth over time. Watch their writing skills become more polished, their minds more mature, or whatever it is you find progress in. It needn't be a dull chore and turn into "I must read EVERY single post." Just take a month at a time and enjoy when you can.
I read blogs because there is a person behind them. Someone who cares enough about whatever it is they're writing about, to write it and want to share it with others. Someone who cares enough to share with me, if I'm interested. I get in on some of what is important to them. I like that, because I know they are real, with feelings and hopes and purposes.
And I read what they've written in the past, so I can better understand them and relate to what they've written today.
Thanks for reading. I really do hope you find it worth your time.
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