And by you, I mean me.
Sometimes you make mistakes.
When venturing into uncharted territory, you try to choose the right path. You use your logic, reasoning, and past experiences to make a decision that, based on everything you know, should be right.
And then you get to the dead-end of the maze and the Mouser eats you.
Look how scared that mouse is!
I started this blog in January and I didn’t know what I was doing.
I was (and still am) just writing randomly about anything. Look at the categories (on the right), they’re all over the place!
Sometimes I wish I could start over. Do it right from the beginning. Start flawless and carry that through everything I do. Perfection.
But what would I do differently?
I would write about interesting stuff.
I would use an engaging title for my posts that makes readers WANT to read the post.
I would gather my thoughts and provide clear, concise paragraphs.
I would proof-read my work.
I would stress quality over quantity.
What if I started like that now?
Well, first I would need something specific to write about.
Web Design? Nah, not my strength.
Web Development? I’m not up-to-date to write anything. Anything I write would have questionable reliability.
Comics? I haven’t collected them consistently in over 5 years
Anime? I don’t watch new stuff too frequently
Manga? I don’t read new stuff or even manga in general too frequently
Games? I’m not a real gamer. I mostly just replay old games…not much to write about when you play side scrollers, puzzle, and fighting games
Photography? I’m still learning, I don’t know anything yet
World of Warcraft? I quit that game
Toys? I only buy specific toys…and it seems like it’d be expensive topic to write about
I can’t even get past the first step! Okay, the optimist will say I should pick something, maybe the thing that interests me most, and go with it. The thing again is that I don’t want to write about any one thing. My target audience is someone like me. Well, it is me.
Now you might be thinking “Who says you’re doing anything wrong?”
Multiple sites on “How to blog” tell you basic 101 things that I don’t follow.
I dunno, I’m just trying to…figure it out. I’m not happy with this blog. I’m not happy with the content I write about. But I enjoy writing. I guess I just wish that I had readers that enjoyed my writing as well or the things I write about. It’s just that with a blog like this, I really feel like I’m not accomplishing anything. I can’t really say “I made this” and show it off with pride as it’s not something I’m proud of. I’m proud of the site itself, that I got off my ass to do something. But this blog isn’t an accomplishment, it’s just something that…provides an outlet to an over-thinking mind.
/needs direction. much like this blog, i’m all over the place. this blog really is me in blog form.
You should do a blogging project! Like how I’m doing the blogging every day for NaNoWriMo. Maybe that will help you focus your blog and help you get a sense of what you want to do :)
I think if you were to try to follow all the “How to blog” and “Top 10 Things to ____” type things, you’d lose what makes a blog unique and worthwhile. We don’t need more formulaic things, we need true human creativity.
I enjoyed this post, but have two comments:
Web design — not your strength? Clearly this must be you being humble :P I think you’re a better designer than me, and while being humble and having humility are good, this is just inaccurate :P All of these people who write guides on “How to” web design are just other people, living their lives, either trying to make a niche for themselves or imparting their knowledge onto others. I’m sure you have good insights into the field that would be useful to others
Quitting WoW — good on you! The real test is not rejoining during Cata! I predict in the next 20 years we’ll be seeing a WoWAA – WoW Addicts Anonymous type groups cropping up.
@Anthony – Thanks for the compliments dude. To be honest though, I don’t feel Web Design is my strength anymore. You knew me when I was a web designer (both work terms) but at lot has changed since then. I’ve left much of the design to people I would refer to as “Real Designers”, Jamie Maing for example. I think I’m decently skilled at it but I don’t think it’s my strength.
As for WoW, I don’t plan on rejoining during Cataclysm :) I used to play a lot but it’s not longer something I want/need to do anymore.
@Karol – A blogging project sounds interesting. I’ve been trying to think of something to do since your comment…I was thinking something Web Development or Web Design related but I also don’t want to….drop the stuff I currently write about either. This thing is like a diary of sorts and I don’t want to stop writing about “important” aspects of my life.
I do like how you’re blogging every day for NaNoWriMo…your blog hasn’t been that active in…well, ever :D