A friend of mine (the friend who issued The Challenge and who later did that write-up of me and who runs her own business) gets frustrated with me. Why? Well, because I have a complicated relationship with blogging (among other things).
Some people make money and even a living through blogging. I’m a frustrated writer and I have a blog, so she wonders why I don’t do this, or at least try to do this. I don’t market myself or my blog, and although intellectually I know you have to market yourself and your writing, and hard, I have an immediate skepticism and distrust (disgust?) for people who do.
In an ideal world, it’s all supposed to be on the page. If the writing’s good, people are supposed to show up. And if the writing is no good, people aren’t, and you are supposed to learn from this. But we all know where this is going.
Call me a jerk (okay, you’re a jerk), but in my opinion almost all blogs are embarrassing, a cross between PLEASE READ MY DIARY and throwing up. Like this. Many are people trying to flog their businesses, and after the first 4 or 5 posts of “this is how we make it happen!” and “you too can be a customer!” they really don’t have anywhere else to go – although they do keep going. And going. But I did say “almost” all blogs – I subscribe to a few blogs and they are invaluable. But the other 99.99% are all crap. An endless multiple-posts-per-day crap-fest.
So then why do I have a blog at all? Many reasons – one of which is probably to prove that I am better than most bloggers. I try to put fairly meaningful stuff out there for potential discussion. And this post could use some of that right about now.
Why do people blog anyway? To get attention, mostly. And again that raises my skepticism/disgust. People saying “look what I can do!” like we’re still in third grade, checking their blog stats for some measure of status. But wait – why do I write? If I am disgusted with people’s lame attempts for self-importance by blogging a bunch or useless diary diarrhea, aren’t my scripts – or at least all my talking about my scripts – the same thing? Is this post meaningful or just mental masturbation?
Talking/blogging about the process keeps me thinking about it, keeps my ideas flowing, but is that all? And even if it is, why? WHY does it keep me motivated and keep me on my toes? Because somebody may be watching?
Do “creative people” get attention because they are creative? Or are they only “creative” because they need attention?
And did I mention that other peoples’ blogs (mostly) suck?
Posted by Robb 
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