Just another in the continuing series that I write to pass on to my readers what little I have learned while writing a blog. Please do not misunderstand….I am by no means an expert….if I were I would be getting more attention and popularity…….but I have learned a bit in 9 years of blogging.
After many years of rigorous study and application I found my calling…..analysis. It was a shame that I refused to work for think tanks for they are nothing more than extensions of of one industry or another……
I have always been a writer…..that causes a few problems with a blog nowadays…..people want instant gratification with videos, steaming this or that, etc…..but I am an old fart and I like words so I will continue to write. My grandfather gave me some advice in my younger days…..he said..”Why write a novel when a paragraph will do?”
I have found he was right….most people lose interest after about 500 words…so my style is to try and keep my post between 350-500 words….I am not always successful and gone over my prescribed limit.
If I would buckle down and learn to do more with vids and such I could probably get more people especially younger people to come and stick with my blog…..but I cannot let a vid do my work for me….I will post links for people to check out what I am writing about but I refuse to let that be the total extent to my posts.
I use to flit around writing about everything and anything that struck my fancy……but I found that if I stick with one field of interest there is a better chance of readers coming and deciding to stay…..it is not written in stone….just something that I have found with my blog.
I feel like my regular visitors like my style that is why they continue to come and most important comment….it also helps if you can have a field of “expertise”, if lack of a better word, that way readers know pretty much what will be written on any given day.
Blogging for me is an amazingly rewarding endeavor…..and I thank all my readers and regulars for their good taste in choosing my blog….(sorry had to throw a little ego in there)…..
Onward and upward…..always vocal.
Ego trips are so good for the souls every so often – keep them up 😀
Ego is cool with me … it is, after all is said and done, the match that ignites many a beautiful flame in the minds and imaginations of others — and you do it so well. Never change!
Thanx john I appreciate the kind sentiments….chuq
Hi chuq. Enjoyed this post. You tell it like it is – with your style. I like that. I find that I accumulate knowledge when I read your posts.
My posts are about different subjects – those that interest me, and those for which I advocate. I use images and photos (some are mine and some not) to embellish and/or emphasize my text and to add interest for readers. That’s just my style. Over-doing is not the way for me to go. I value my followers and I hope to continue to post interesting subjects and perhaps even impart new information.
I am retired and part of my life is my blogging. I find it to be a great venue for communication – giving and receiving. I wonder what we all would do if we didn’t have the Internet. I can’t imagine life without it.
I know….I am also retired and my blog is basically my life…..I just cannot get away from trying to teach I guess….LOL
A few random thoughts:
1) Nine years of blogging? My guess is that probably represents about 7.3 million stories posted.
But I wonder if Grandpappy meant 350-500 words a story, or a grand total of 350-500 words a day. You’ll have to ask him the next time you see him.
If you hope that everyone will read every story, I doubt there’s much difference between the two. At some point, the eyes glaze over if there’s too many topics, even if they’re well under 350 each. Breaking your word total into smaller pieces may get more stories read to the finish than fewer, but longer, stories. However, it will mean some stories, the ones with “less audience appeal” (ones that require thinking, have no Khardashians, or are on a topic people aren’t already very familiar with) won’t get read at all. (I suspect some of them are your personal favourites) Those stories do better when fewer options are offered. (“Eat your vegetables, or else!”)
Blogging style is all personal choice. Do you want to waste a lot of time & effort explaining 1-2 topics in great depth? Or, do you want to waste a lot of time & effort giving brief explanations of 5-10 topics? Either way…. 😉
But there’s a sweet spot in there somewhere and I’m sure you’ll find it in another 9 years. 🙂
2) 350-500 words in length? I hope to hell that ain’t true. Shit, man! I have a hard time keeping my comments under 500 words! If I ever got around to my own
blogeducational website, I’ll probably have one reader. Me.But you shouldn’t truncate your thoughts in order to please the knuckle-dragging, mouth breathers whose brains choke in the face of a multi-syllabic word, or two. These days, they’re all on Loserbook and in The Twit Zone anyway. While it’s dumbed our entire society down and reduced our already ludicrously small attention span to less than that of a goldfish, it does make a good filter. http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadians-now-have-shorter-attention-span-than-goldfish-thanks-to-portable-devices-microsoft-study
Going into the future, I think blogging is becoming less about appealing to a broad audience and more about appealing to the small number of folks who can still read at all.
He meant per thought….or posts in this case…do you recall call TV show Dragnet? “Just the facts ma’am” Joe Friday….yep the attention span is that of a small Labradoodle….
As a kid, I did see some episodes of the late 60’sDragnet Returns in syndication. But all I really remember is the attitude, giving dirty hippies “the business”…and the guy from MASH. I am, however, very familiar with another show Jack Webb produced, Emergency!. I watched it religiously.
Fuck, that was a great show and VERY factually accurate! They used the actual stations & hospitals for the neighbourhood they were set in and many of the firemen were played by local firemen. In the first season, the Captain was the actual Captain of the real-life station. Some dispatchers and fireman played themselves as well. Webb had an unbelievable respect for accuracy.
But the facts??? The facts have meant less & less every year since…Jack Webb died! We live in an era of not just overblown, completely unrealistic, entertainment… but inaccurate infotainment and straight up lies intended to provide back up for whatever you want to believe in. Everything is entertainment now.
It’s not about facts or informing people, it’s about giving the drooling masses what they want. Everything is just a commercial transaction, merely supplying a demand.
I agree…..it is no longer the news but a way to sell a person or product….that is why that I do not use much US news sources….even BBC is better than the US stuff and that is not saying much at all….
I’d have to say today’s US media is less professional, less competent and absolutely the worst at proper prioritization/context than anything I’ve ever come across in the world. This includes “non-Free World” broadcasters like El Jazz and Putin’s RT. Shit, even what I remember of East Germany’s Aktuelle Kamera was much better https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktuelle_Kamera
I agree…..I am fortunate enough to have friends in the Middle East so I go to them when I can and ask questions to see what is what….almost anything is more reliable than US news….a decoder ring would be a better source….