Do You Remember Where You Came From?
Someone asked me how I got into blogging and if I could teach them how to build a blog. The answers to those questions aren’t really a part of this post.
That is because I only have ten minutes before I have to coach soccer practice and I prefer to have time to write about those things. Instead I’ll share a thought that came during the conversation.
Do You Remember Where You Came From?
They didn’t ask me to answer that particular question. It popped into my head…unbidden.
It had more to do with my thinking about the old posts that used to show up more frequently things like Jack’s Experience In the Ladies Room or One Slightly Used Pump For Sale and Grandma.
Of course when you cover as broad an array of topics as I do it is not unusual to see a variety nor is it unusual to see a blog and blogger evolve.
I like to think that reading through the years here you’ll find evidence of evolution and growth. I like to think that I’ll see plenty of improvement in my writing.
It is part of why my writing has changed or so I think. I am more focused now on the technical and art aspects of writing than I used to be.
Not to mention that as things have changed I have adapted or at least tried to adapt to those changes.
That covers thinking about SEO, paying more attention to headlines and thinking about social media platforms.
But it is also tied into not doing some of the things that used to work.
The Media’s Influence
The timer says I have two minutes left so we’ll cover the media’s influence by saying there was  time when I would clip sections from posts on Yahoo or CNN and include a link to them.
I did it because people responded to the political and or commentary upon current events and because sites like Yahoo and CNN used to link to my stuff.
Hasn’t happened in a while but back in the day quite a bit of traffic came via those avenues.
Might be possible to do something like that again. Might be a way to leverage the size and strength of those platforms but it wouldn’t give me as much pleasure as just writing and focusing on storytelling does.
Doesn’t mean I won’t do it again, but it is not my focus.
Still it doesn’t hurt to remember where you came from.
southmainmuse October 20, 2014 at 5:36 am
I love the fact that you set the timer and wrote. I’ve been so neglectful of my blog lately. Oh I’ve started lots of posts in my mind but other things seemed to take precedent to sitting down and writing. I need to peck out something daily — even if it’s setting the timer and writing 10 mins. Thanks for the inspriation.
The JackB October 20, 2014 at 11:46 am
@southmainmuse:disqus I am a big proponent of writing daily as a way to improve as a writer and to make a habit of producing content. Hope it helps. I’ll be by your place later.
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Larry October 19, 2014 at 4:18 pm
One of the few books I’ve ever read about writing is the book you quoted above by Stephen King. One part that still influences me is the part about reading. He advises always have a book handy as you never know when you will have a few minutes to read. For some reason, this stuck with me.
The JackB October 20, 2014 at 11:44 am
@Lardavbern:disqus He’s right about reading. I think it has really helped me as a writer. It is part of why I have a Kindle and a Kindle app on my phone. I always have something to read wherever I am at.