Blogging Ahead

The rules of the blog are simple and they dictate brutal honesty. This is the third time that I have written this paragraph and unless something changes there will be a fourth and fifth time. This is unusual because I rarely edit my posts. I like to compose at the keyboard and just let fly with whatever seems to be on my mind. Rewriting is what I do when I allow others to serve as editor. Rewriting is what I do when there is a paycheck attached to the words I write. Here I share what I think and what I say without regard for whether it will play well or not.

After seven years in the blogging business I know a lot about this. I am well versed with many of the tricks of the trade and there is much that I could do to make this joint a hipper and more happening place. But that is not me. I don’t want to do anything that doesn’t sync with a feeling I have. It is kind of funny to me because I am one of the writers for a blog that helps to teach dad bloggers about blogging. I suppose that you could say that it is not much different from the father that says “do as I say not as I do” but than again maybe it is not. Maybe it is a logical contradiction.

I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I prefer blogs that are authentic. I prefer blogs that are written by people who aren’t afraid to tear at the scar tissue and see what lies beneath. I think that this honesty provides a great foundation for building a community of like minded individuals. That is part of the joy of blogging, the chance to reach out and click someone. Critics call it narcissism but I call it introspection. Sometimes the posts make me feel foolish. Don’t think that it was easy to write Real Men Don’t Cry. A thousand years ago when I had complete anonymity that kind of post wasn’t a big deal.  Actually it is easy to write, the words flow write from the fingertips onto the page.

There is a plan and a goal, Writers Write. It is what we do.

I like that quote by Emerson because it is a call to action. There is a time to and think and a time for action. Now is the time for action and that is something that I take seriously. I am writing for as many publications as I can. The discipline of writing on deadline is healthy and useful. There is merit to the constant practice of pitching ideas and providing substance to support them. There are rewards that come to those who take risks and though I sometimes burn myself in the fire I find that I succeed more often than I fail.