Barry Manilow Could Be A Blogger

English: Barry Manilow live at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN on January 11, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Somewhere out there in the ether is a woman I used to date whose jaw has dropped because she know hell has frozen over, except she doesn’t know why.

If she read the blog it would be obvious to her, I mentioned Barry Manilow in a positive context. I didn’t make fun of him or suggest it would be less painful to have  root canal without anesthesia.

So why did I say that Barry could be a blogger?

It is not because he writes the songs that make the whole world sing, its because the man is a storyteller and that I have the utmost respect for. The best bloggers are storytellers who know how to make the words on a page dance for them.

There is a reason why I wrote two posts about that. It is because master storytellers know how to weave a tale that does more than hold a reader/listener’s attention. It makes them sit up straight, take notice and respond to a call to action.

That is My Goal

I want to be that guy. I want to tell a story that you can’t stop reading/listening to. I want you to respond to my tales the way the crowd responds to Springsteen in this video.

Do you feel the power that comes through it all. Some of it is because Bruce has natural charisma and some of it is because his songs tell a story. They capture and captivate. They make you feel joy and they make you feel pain.

When you can do that you have lightning in a bottle.

There Is a Method To the Madness

Someone asked me to explain my theory on blogging and social media. They wanted to know why I operate the way I do and if it is successful.

My response is that it is successful. I could suggest you read You Don’t Need A Niche To Be A Successful Blogger or that you take advantage of the content in Twenty-Five Links That Will Make You A Better Writer/Blogger because that information is gold.

And I could tell you that bloggers who want to be successful have to walk the fine line of self promotion and that I am trying to do it now, but that would be putting the cart before the horse.

Why?

If we are talking about what makes a blog successful we have to start by identifying and setting goals for a blog/blogger. If you don’t have goals you can’t develop a plan of action to take you from point A to point Z. Without that information you are like a driver who is wandering the freeway with a general idea of how to get to the store but no real sense of what exit to take.

Figure out why you are doing this and you can pick up a road map that will help you find your way.

That is part of why I cover so many different topics. It is part of why I mix fiction in with business. The only way to become a better writer is to practice writing and part of my process is to not lock myself into one topic or genre.

Read about Georgie, check out the Beginning of The End, Plenty of Time or Building a Future and you will see many of the same commenters. That is because a community has been formed there and community is what drives social media.

People are tribal. People are communal creatures. My goal is to build connections and build community.

Can you see dad in center field.

I don’t know how many people will really read this post. It is chock full of layers and that is how I like to write, but we live in a time of instant gratification and short attention spans.

People love lists like 5 Reasons Why I Hate Your “Epic” Content and I kind of enjoy writing them. I kind of enjoy ranting and raving but there are lots of times where all I want to do is write letters to my children and talk about kicking drunk clowns out of birthday parties.

Most of all I like to Just Write because that is how I work on my craft and practice becoming a better storyteller. And maybe if I put some time in and god smiles upon me this post will be picked up by more than the people in my Triberr tribes and we’ll find out just how much magic is left in the night.

• Saved: Blogging, Just Write