Excuse me while I talk about other things first yeah?
I was talking to Vince about our sites and how we have grown through the years, and the topic of 'maintaining integrity' popped up.
Vince is an old-time blogger (for now anyone who has blogged over a year is an old-timer in my books, hmmkay?) and my my has he grown through the years. Once popular for the amount of bitching in his blog (hence, Very B*tching Log), Vince has emerged to be one of the more prominent bloggers of this day, only for the incredible accuracy of observation that he demonstrates in his writings.
Bloggers with good writing skills are pretty hard to come by nowadays.
Now, not that I am an authority in defining the good writers from the bad, but all the same, you know a good writer, from a bad one, from years of experiencing the field. Almost like how you pick the good apples from the bad ones, really, but of course you need to minus the other factors of preferences. Count out the issue of whether Washington Apples are better than Fuji Apples, and you can see it CLEARLY.
The division of those who are 'good' and those who are mediocrely trying. But trying nonetheless.
***
In everything that you decide to begin doing, you need to have goals and you need to, of course, strive to become better at it. As much as we can bang on the tiresome roll-call of 'This is my blog and I can damn hell blog anyway I want to', it gets tiresome.
Even if you are famous for a style, there is NOTHING WRONG in developing that style.
Much like how you are in a relationship and you don't want anything to remain stagnant yeah? You want to improve, and you will strive to improve. At least, that's how things should be.
It's in the normal evolution of things.
***
So blogging evolves as well. Now in its toddler-stages, the babblings of its many voices are now emerging clear and louder, we see the rising waves of varieties, where bloggers find their niches, and readers find their favourites.
This post of course, is directed to bloggers who have decided to start a journal (because it's popular), and to readers who I hope, will begin your own journey of thought-recording online.
When you write, and when you decide that you will do this for good, try to remember not to be too rigid in that 'maintaining' the same style mantra. Because nothing is constant.
As you grow, your writing should grow too.
***
Back to Vince. (I simply MUST remind myself not to digress so often).
When Vince was younger, he was loud, brash and very very provocative. He cussed like he didn't give a fuck about things, and you know, he was young, observant, honest, but on many occasions, his honesty got pretty grating.
Vince has matured since. Contrary to the ugliness of his site (!), and the less frequent appearences of foul slang in his blog (!), you see that he has maintain his integrity all along, even though his style has developed.
It doesn't mean that he has changed. Oh no, not a bit. Vince is still, and always Vince. But has he grown up.
