10 Comments.
I’ve been doing this thing for a long time – writing a public diary. That’s what a web log really is. Its a chronicle of what you think at the time. You usually share it with whoever can open a web browser and find you. If your site is well indexed , like this one, your thoughts are published forever by large search engines, like Google and Yahoo! within minutes.
With that sort of structure set up, one could really get a conversation started if they chose the right things to write about. This is the essence of most of the internet, I guess. Those who want to have their voices heard try their best to present the thoughts they have and hope for feedback.
I’ve been writing my random meanderings since Google bought Blogger and opened it up for free. I still write to that site and it has been the place where my gardening progress has been documented. To be honest, I’m not sure why I have split things up as I have. The goal that I had was to separate the personal/family stuff and the more cerebral or topic related stuff. So far, I’ve failed at it and am considering a consolidation of the two (here, of course).
The thing is that its summer. As hari has ruminated a few times over the years, the frequency of blog posting seems to taper off in the summer time. You will notice that here, at hari’s blog, and many others. It seems that the passion for writing drains out of you when the summer months come. Now, this is observation is centric to my hemisphere, as far as I can tell, since I don’t really have a lot to go on for those who have their summer in the opposite months to me (with the exception of RT Cunningham, who does experience the opposite seasons to me – as drastic as they are in the Philippines. He’s a publishing powerhouse, anyways).
Now, this is not always for the lack of ideas or incentive that the posting frequency slows down. I am pretty sure of that, as I’ve had many occasions in which I wanted to write something because I felt the desire to do so. But, when I sat down to actually write, I had no idea at all – none. I was totally blocked. There have been other times that I have wanted to write about my thoughts on a subject but lacked the passion to actually sit down to the keyboard.
I think that the biggest blocker for me is the time investment. For me to write something down and then actually want to hit the “publish” button, I need to invest at least 20 minutes of concentration. Usually, I want to invest more like 40 minutes. I find that my mind flow works best if I research and write (brainstorm) on the fly. I’ve never been a multiple draft kind of guy. The process seems to be write, edit, publish. All of my writing in school was done like that and my finished product was not substandard.
I guess that the way that I handled editing was really more like a multiple draft model that was handled as one draft. I can remember when I wrote things down longhand first and then used scissors to cut the paper up into sections to rearrange the text. I’d scribble my edits in the margins and between lines. The whole thing looked such a mess when It was ready for final copy. Then, it would get typed in the right order, sometimes with a few minor edits on the fly.
That whole process required concentration, as it still does. I find that I’ve got less time available for that. Other things in life pull at me and take me away from the page. Does it happen this way for you?
