08 September 2013

Editing

I am going to set out to be a better writer.

First step is to be less of a dick.

Poor Erin gave me a bunch of advice that I need to absorb.  Poor Erin because I will be full of irritating questions.

Second I need to pick a direction.

Am I writing about politics?  Guns?  Cars?  Gaming?  All?  None?
Posted by Angus McThag at 21:09
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14 comments:

  1. Unknown09 September, 2013 08:29

    Well you could always go with Men's Rights...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown09 September, 2013 08:29

    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Erin Palette09 September, 2013 13:12

    I am flattered that you thought my advice worth following. :)

    If it helps, the current fad seems to be "Pick three areas of interest and make your blog about them." Tam has "Books. Bikes. Boomsticks.", Dan has "God, Gals, Guns, Grub" (OK technically four but stick with me), there's the self-titled "Guns, Cars, Tech" blog and of course I jumped off the bridge like everyone else and subtitled my blog "Ponies, Pistols, Pellatarrum".

    Essentially, find a small handful of topics that really interest you and make your blog the Venn Intersection of those interests. Bonus points if you can come up with an alliterative name.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Siege09 September, 2013 13:12

    As a GURPS GM, I'm quite partial to your discussions on the intricacies of the system. I run into a lot of the same problems and try to figure out a means of addressing the problem, and it's nice to get a second opinion on such things.

    I'm also quite partial to your discussions of guns, because guns. Unfortunately, it's kind of hard to talk about guns without a bit of politics, since politics won't quit trying to stick its dick in guns.

    And you know what? Cars are interesting to talk about as well, so sure, why not.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tam09 September, 2013 18:52

    If I'd known it was going to be a fad, I'd have named it something else. :p ;)

    I'm being dead serious when I ask this, but why do you keep a blog?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Angus McThag09 September, 2013 19:20

      It started as a means to vent my liver about the things that upset and delighted me.

      Then people started reading it.

      Then I started a lot of "me too" that I've come to be unhappy with.

      I enjoyed myself more when I wasn't attempting to be part of the greater blogging world to be honest, but I've discovered that I like to write and I enjoy being read. What I am really lacking is feedback that people are enjoying reading what I am writing.

      I am keeping it because I still get something I enjoy from it. This reply really helped my perspective.

      I need to get back to writing this for me and to stop worrying if there's an audience. It's not like I'll lose income if everyone stops reading it.

      Erin's been explaining to me what it takes to get the traffic up and I just can't bring myself to that level of shameless self promotion. I have the same block at job interviews when they ask, "tell us about your good qualities."

      If that ramble is an answer, please let me know.

      Delete
    2. Tam09 September, 2013 19:48

      I totally feel your pain.

      I don't really do a lot of the socialization that a lot of people seem to get out of blogging. I'm not good at socializing; I don't do IRC and wouldn't have Facebook or Twitter accounts if I didn't have to for work. I'm not good at it and it makes me uncomfortable.

      I've made some friends because of blogging, but a lot of my "blog friends" are really people I've known elsewhere that just happen to have blogs themselves. (A large chunk of the top half of my blog roll

      I blog for the same reason I always have: I like to write, preferably funny stuff that makes people laugh.

      I don't know how I got lumped in with "gun blogs". I guess if you sometimes blog about guns it's a "gun blog" and not a politics blog or a cat blog or a restaurant blog. All I know is that I write about whatever crosses my mind at the moment. If it makes me laugh, I flatter myself and think that maybe it'll make someone else laugh, too.

      I can't tell you much about promoting a blog to get traffic up; I think I've sent out maybe five "link to me please" emails to Unc and Les and Glenn over the years, regarding specific posts that I thought needed to get out to a wider audience, but mostly I've relied on the rather prosaic Field Of Dreams model.

      Write good stuff and people will read it. Sometimes they'll comment, but commenters come and go. I look at the names of commenters at old posts and blogs that don't link me anymore and realize I've probably pissed off more people over the years than actually read me now, so I may not be the best person to give advice.

      I dunno. Write stuff. Write what you want. If you want to vent, vent. But don't let it become work: Like Unc says "Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you." :D

      Delete
    3. Angus McThag09 September, 2013 20:08

      The amusing thing in hindsight is that I was not complaining about what was bugging me.

      Delete
  6. Tam09 September, 2013 20:14

    Don't feel lonely about the other thing, either; I can't bring myself to pester people for T&E stuff. I've thought about pestering Jay or Caleb to pester people for T&E stuff for me.

    Some people in this world have the personality for "Outside Sales". I am not one of them. :o

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Erin Palette10 September, 2013 00:21

      I'd happily pester people for T&E on your behalf, but honestly I'd want most of the stuff for myself. So can I just name-drop you in the pestering? ;)

      Delete
  7. angrymike09 September, 2013 23:37

    Its your site, make it the way you want it, I think you do a great job now..

    ReplyDelete

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