Growing up
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.
September 7th, 2005 at 9:25 am
I see..
September 7th, 2005 at 9:37 am
i hear…
September 7th, 2005 at 9:39 am
Is blog-block normal? I’m finding myself nothing significant to update on my weblog lately. Or perhaps I should just let myself go? Style-wise, I think I’m long-winded.
September 7th, 2005 at 9:56 am
i guess it’s safe to say that…vince has “blogevolved”?
that’s true though I mean it takes time to be a good blogger, I remember discussing this with Kamigoroshi over and over again. You get used to your crowd, your thinking and writing skills develop…and you become a better blogger. If people were to equate life as to a blog, then I believe that blogging is a learning process…just like how live is.
Good post MS
September 7th, 2005 at 9:57 am
dear seraphe,
I think it’s possible to get blog-block…especially when you haven’t blogged in a regular periodic schedule or you just run out of ideas…thankfully nothing like that has ever happened to me thus far (touchwood), but I’m sure I’ll eventually face this problem as school starts for me in a few days time…
September 7th, 2005 at 11:41 am
seraphe: I don’t know about others, but I get blog-blocks a lot. The first few times it happened, I deleted my blogs, only to start somewhere else a day or 2 later. After sometime, I just got used to the fact that, sometimes I just have nothing to say so might as well not say anything. I probably fit into mediocrely trying category.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:03 pm
heh. If you get blog-blocked, then just don’t blog at the time lar. Why bother posting just for the sake of posting? (I used to this a lot last thime though. Now I’m just lazy. haha)
September 7th, 2005 at 12:09 pm
i don’t blog every day also… sien lah … lazy to log on.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:48 pm
Aye, the Force within him had increased tenfold since the last time I saw him.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:33 pm
Right. So are we suppose to focus on the topic we WANT to write, or focus on the topic the readers WANT to read?
September 7th, 2005 at 1:34 pm
Seraphe - If you get Blog-Block, then ask a friend for a MEME or just get someone (a friend perhaps) to ask you your opinion on something and blog on that.
I don’t get Blog-Block … nor writers block … I guess I must love the sound of my own typing!
Ideas are easy … finding time to write (and play music, and paint and read and everything else in life) that’s hard!
But, like the other’s say, if you don’t have anything to say, then best not to speak! If you speak just for the sake of it, then you are just being a noisey gong being rather meaningless without a reason.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
If you get blog-block, just start a blog-war with a famous blogger 0_o
September 7th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
ST: spoken like a true blog-ho
September 7th, 2005 at 1:41 pm
I’ve been blogging for almost 3 years now. Each year lain tempat…and the way I blogged have definitely changed alot. Heh
September 7th, 2005 at 2:02 pm
Heeh It’s nice to know I’m not alone. I don’t like to write just for the sake of posting something. Tried that but ended up deleting after an hour or so of typing and editing. Gave up. It’s only either something I notice, conclude or remember. I do agree it helps when I get comments that gives me more ideas.
I do log on everyday, just to update either by posting a new blog or changing the feel of the site (w/ music or pix) according to my mood.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
[...] She’s got a point and you know it. Update: It turns out Minishorts blogged about it as well and I just realised it. Hmm…this is really weird and uncanny. [...]
September 7th, 2005 at 2:06 pm
Hey…you blogged about the same thing as well? Dang…now I don’t know whether I can pass mine off as original.
September 7th, 2005 at 4:15 pm
Jeromnimbo - write about what YOU want to write. The audience will come. (ie you will attract the audience who wants to read that sort of thing).
If you write what you think they want, you may find yourself in the same situation as Hollywood movies, where everything looks and feels the same because someone decided it was a winning formula.
If you notice, every now and then an original type of writer/movie comes along … and everyone then tries to copy/immitate them etc. So they all start looking the same again. You don’t want to be part of the ‘I’m blogging like this, because it’s what the audience wants’ type crowd. You want to build your own audience. Being yourself should attract a loyal audience.
After all, if you start blogging what you think they want (or whatever the new craze is), then you will only attract the shallow fad followers, who will abandon you as soon as a new craze starts. You’ll find yourself either perpetually changing styles to keep up with the FAD, or find yourself whoring yourself to a style/subject etc that you wouldn’t normally subject yourself to.
After saying all of that, thinking through what you are saying/talking about will help. (After all, many a blog war has been started over people NOT thinking before they wrote … or deliberately baiting other people etc etc - depends on the motive).
But just be yourself.
A large audience isn’t always as good as a good, loyal audience. (In rock’n'roll, how many one hit wonders has there been … yet all the great bands are the ones who have endured the years. Some of those bands considered great, never had a number one hit. Frank Zappa comes to mind … never having a single in the top ten ANYWHERE in the world … and his album ‘Apostraphy’ was the only one which made it to number ten in the US .. and no one else … yet he is considered a guitar legend by many, and is imortalised in the Deep Purple Song ‘Smoke on the water’.)
Hope that example is helpful.
Sorry for writing so much ppl.
September 7th, 2005 at 5:54 pm
You know… his ego is jut going to get bigger with this post. Heh..
September 7th, 2005 at 6:12 pm
September 8th, 2005 at 1:06 am
I want to hug Vincent.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:18 pm
suanie will hug just about anybody.
September 8th, 2005 at 9:49 pm
How do I shock you Minishorts?
By the amount I write?
September 9th, 2005 at 8:22 am
dabido: YEAH! hahaha
September 10th, 2005 at 10:00 pm
Oooo, sorry Minshorts! I don’t mean to write so much … it just sort of flows!
I hope you forgive me everytime I do it!