In January, I made a weak attempt to do the Ultimate Blog Challenge (31 blog posts in 31 days) on my esoteric blog, Gleamings from the Golden Dawn (at first) and on this blog (after seeing the initial results on GFGD). There were reasons why the attempt failed...including the fact that I was working on a major project that needed to be partially finished by February 1st. But it was mainly what I learned about my personal results that made the attempt weak.
One of the benefits that is claimed for the Ultimate Blog Challenge is that it helps build up your traffic. I saw absolutely no evidence of this--but then again, it was a weak attempt. Of course, it could also be the simple fact that neither this blog or GFGD is really set up for selling people stuff, saving their souls, or simply posting for the simple sake of posting.
In other words, the benefits that other bloggers report for the Ultimate Blog Challenge may not even be possible for me. After all, the type of audience that I am writing for is very limited. Plus my readership on GFGD is interested in a very specific type of post (they merely tolerate my cat fetish), just like the readers of this blog are interested in a very particular type of post.
And there was also the simple fact that I did not feel like just writing junk posts just to hit the goal of 31 posts.
So what did I learn from the first attempt at doing the Ultimate Blog Challenge?
One, it is not going to boost my number of readers or pageviews. (I have yet to see any scheme that actually works for any of my blogs.)
Two, I am not going to get any more comments than normal (even the daily comment thread on the Facebook support group would only net me one comment, and not the two that it was supposed to).
Three, I have a really hard time commenting on other people's blogs when they are just trying to sell a service (or product), or are trying to get people to embrace Jesus.
Fourth and most important, if it is really going to benefit me, I need a posting plan--an ongoing planned series of posts that naturally fits into the existing audience of whatever blog that I decide to use. Fortunately, I have a couple of ideas that would result in a series of posts--ideas that I have not followed up on simply because they require a certain level of commitment.
And doing the Ultimate Blog Challenge would help me get the series done--it is a daily checklist type of task if you are working on a long series.
Therefore, I am going to do the March 2013 round of the Ultimate Blog Challenge on GFGD, but I am going to be aiming to accomplish a long series of interelated posts, and completely ignore the claims of improvement that other people make--the type of gains that I will collect are going to be different. After all, I am not really trying to sell people salvation. No, I am merely trying to inflict the possible first draft of an ebook on an unsuspecting audience.
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Saturday, October 1, 2011
What I have been up to lately
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| Halloween and kittens---what could be more fun? |
There is also the added bonus of monetary worries. Under normal conditions, I would attempt to make it up with quick and dirty writing...unfortunately, as I have already noted, this semester is a PITA.
I am no longer doing an astrology column for Campus Connection, the student newspaper of the Community College of Denver. I am not sure why I wasn't contacted for this semester; and after the difficulties of getting payment from them last semester, I am not sure that I even care. While it means that I have to make up for that bit of income loss, given the fact that this semester is a monster, it might have been a good thing in disguise.
Outside of the lack of money, time and energy, I am doing well. I may actually get a test-project up on Smashwords before the end of the year. I hope. Maybe not. Who knows? Time will tell.
Being honest, I will admit that the only thing I foresee accomplishing for sure is the 31 Days of Halloween Kitties that I am doing on my Golden Dawn blog. And that is just a bit of fun to lighten up the mood. Ironically, there may not be a single picture of any of my own cats in the set. You would think that given the number of cats I have that I would be able to get one of them to wear a hat; but no, I can't. They tell me that they are much better than the cats you see on the internet wearing silly hats. They may be right.
So anyways, if you don't see me updating this or the other blogs, presume that I am busy reading books and writing papers instead...because if I am not doing that, then I am busy trying to sell my blood for money.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
OMG I am a blogger
Last night, during the tossing and turning brought on by the most recent email from my sister, who I feel is trying to convince me that I am one hundred percent at fault for our bad relationship, I came to some conclusions. Not pleasant conclusions, but still they are conclusions.
One of my conclusions is that I am NOT a writer, and NOT a journalist. No, I am a blogger.
Yes, this is a step down in the way I describe myself. I have always considered bloggers to be less classy than writers and journalists. Hence, in the interest of feeding my ego, I always called myself a writer or journalist, rather than embrace the truth.
The point of her email that made me realize that I was lower on the classiness totem pole than I thought was came when she asked me how I felt about everyone in the world knowing how she currently felt about me.
Do you see?
Yes, that is right. I didn't care. In fact, I thought it was slightly amusing.
That is why I have to turn in my union cards at this point. Writers and journalists are supposed to care, and do their best to keep their lives secret. Bloggers, on the other hand, tend to be like stand-up comedians, if we can get a good bit out of talking about our personal lives we will.
I always joke with my wife that if I ever do stand-up, she is going to end up with a starring role in my routine. And yes, she knows that I have blogged about her.
Obviously, I need to issue the same warning to my relatives. (I think that my friends, frienemies, and enemies know that they are fair game already---I hope.) And I probably need to add the stand-up creative license warning also: If the joke is funnier when I am not telling the complete truth, then that is what I am going to say actually happened.
I have been living in a fishbowl for a long time. I had the misfortune of going to a high school in a small town where everyone knew everyone else's business. For a long time, I did my best to conceal certain facts. Not that I think that it worked (in hindsight). I bet everyone back home knows the real reason that I failed high school (and it was not the reason that I was supposed to pretend was the reason---I am not a lazy moron---everyone probably knows the real reason why I was not doing homework and skipping classes, but shhhh---no one is supposed to know the truth; it might make someone else look bad and their reputation is more important than mine).
It gets better. My mom was horrified that people might find out what I was writing about. Hence my pen-name. A few years ago, I caught onto the fact that certain people back home were not surprised by what I was writing. And if they knew already...well, the whole town obviously knew. At that point, I decided to openly admit that yes, MDE and EME were the same person.
Of course, this is all just an aspect of my family hiding lots of skeletons in the closet. If my sister was really smart, she would look in the closet and ask what was in there that installed the vast distance between the two of us. I would think about telling her directly; but earlier in the recent spat I chose to keep something off the grid, and she responded by openly exploding about it in full public view.
(For the record, responding with anger to me when I am trying to be rational and am telling you the truth just makes me more more likely to mistrust you. And mistrust does not led to close relationships.)
There have been several things I have kept off the grid. For months, one of my cousins have wanted to know who said certain things. I have been ignoring the questions. I wonder if my cousin knows who it was now.
I will admit that I am impressed by the quick clean-up that my sister did. But it makes me wonder what skeleton in the closet has a poppet of her in its hand at the moment. And part of the dance it making her do blinds her to the fact that I am NOT the same person that walked out of that house in 1984---threats, blackmail and public explosions do not phase me. After all, I am a blogger and this is just the natural behavior of the envirnoment that I chose to write in. (Proof of that can be seen everytime I do another bad book review.) And I am going to continue sharing my personal life because it is part of my stock and trade.
One of my conclusions is that I am NOT a writer, and NOT a journalist. No, I am a blogger.
Yes, this is a step down in the way I describe myself. I have always considered bloggers to be less classy than writers and journalists. Hence, in the interest of feeding my ego, I always called myself a writer or journalist, rather than embrace the truth.
The point of her email that made me realize that I was lower on the classiness totem pole than I thought was came when she asked me how I felt about everyone in the world knowing how she currently felt about me.
Do you see?
Yes, that is right. I didn't care. In fact, I thought it was slightly amusing.
That is why I have to turn in my union cards at this point. Writers and journalists are supposed to care, and do their best to keep their lives secret. Bloggers, on the other hand, tend to be like stand-up comedians, if we can get a good bit out of talking about our personal lives we will.
I always joke with my wife that if I ever do stand-up, she is going to end up with a starring role in my routine. And yes, she knows that I have blogged about her.
Obviously, I need to issue the same warning to my relatives. (I think that my friends, frienemies, and enemies know that they are fair game already---I hope.) And I probably need to add the stand-up creative license warning also: If the joke is funnier when I am not telling the complete truth, then that is what I am going to say actually happened.
I have been living in a fishbowl for a long time. I had the misfortune of going to a high school in a small town where everyone knew everyone else's business. For a long time, I did my best to conceal certain facts. Not that I think that it worked (in hindsight). I bet everyone back home knows the real reason that I failed high school (and it was not the reason that I was supposed to pretend was the reason---I am not a lazy moron---everyone probably knows the real reason why I was not doing homework and skipping classes, but shhhh---no one is supposed to know the truth; it might make someone else look bad and their reputation is more important than mine).
It gets better. My mom was horrified that people might find out what I was writing about. Hence my pen-name. A few years ago, I caught onto the fact that certain people back home were not surprised by what I was writing. And if they knew already...well, the whole town obviously knew. At that point, I decided to openly admit that yes, MDE and EME were the same person.
Of course, this is all just an aspect of my family hiding lots of skeletons in the closet. If my sister was really smart, she would look in the closet and ask what was in there that installed the vast distance between the two of us. I would think about telling her directly; but earlier in the recent spat I chose to keep something off the grid, and she responded by openly exploding about it in full public view.
(For the record, responding with anger to me when I am trying to be rational and am telling you the truth just makes me more more likely to mistrust you. And mistrust does not led to close relationships.)
There have been several things I have kept off the grid. For months, one of my cousins have wanted to know who said certain things. I have been ignoring the questions. I wonder if my cousin knows who it was now.
I will admit that I am impressed by the quick clean-up that my sister did. But it makes me wonder what skeleton in the closet has a poppet of her in its hand at the moment. And part of the dance it making her do blinds her to the fact that I am NOT the same person that walked out of that house in 1984---threats, blackmail and public explosions do not phase me. After all, I am a blogger and this is just the natural behavior of the envirnoment that I chose to write in. (Proof of that can be seen everytime I do another bad book review.) And I am going to continue sharing my personal life because it is part of my stock and trade.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thought about my dad
I thought about blogging about my dad today; after all, it is father's day. But considering how much misconception and memory loss is involved in this situation (something that I was not conscious of before last year), I have decided to wait until July 12 to blog about him, and I am going to be doing it on my Golden Dawn (magical and occult) blog instead.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
One of the disadvantages of prescheduling blog posts
Today when I did my rounds of checking email accounts, online earning reports, and blog numbers, I realized that one of my blogs posted a prescheduled post overnight. Looking at it, I went "D'oh!"
It turns out that it wasn't really a blog post; it was just the notes to a blog post that I planned on doing in the future. The reason that it slipped though the cracks is that the blog that it was for is one that is near the bottom of my pile---call it one of my forgotten blogs.
I created the blog to keep my occasional political rant off of this blog (which should be about writing and business) and my occult/Wicca/eoteric Golden Dawn blog. Likewise, I also have a blog devoted to nerd stuff (aka science fiction).
The reason I started to jot down ideas and use the preschedule function was that 1) I always have more ideas than writing time, and 2) you hear bloggers complain all the time about suffering from writer's block. Not that the latter is a big concern of mine. I am not sure if I am special, therefore I have not ran into the writer's block problem, or whether it is simply that I stockpile ideas. Or it could just be the former prevents the latter from happening.
I do not think that anyone actually read the posting. It was late last night. And I am sure that I did not pick up any traffic from it on Facebook.
And I rapidly fleshed it out this morning. It was me musing about whether or not attractive people actually use the dating services, such as LiveLinks and Quest.
But it was a valuable reminder that I need to keep on top of my prescheduled posts, especially the ones that are just notes for future postings. It is also a reminder that if I suddenly die that a lot of cryptic posts are going to periodically appear on my blogs.
It turns out that it wasn't really a blog post; it was just the notes to a blog post that I planned on doing in the future. The reason that it slipped though the cracks is that the blog that it was for is one that is near the bottom of my pile---call it one of my forgotten blogs.
I created the blog to keep my occasional political rant off of this blog (which should be about writing and business) and my occult/Wicca/eoteric Golden Dawn blog. Likewise, I also have a blog devoted to nerd stuff (aka science fiction).
The reason I started to jot down ideas and use the preschedule function was that 1) I always have more ideas than writing time, and 2) you hear bloggers complain all the time about suffering from writer's block. Not that the latter is a big concern of mine. I am not sure if I am special, therefore I have not ran into the writer's block problem, or whether it is simply that I stockpile ideas. Or it could just be the former prevents the latter from happening.
I do not think that anyone actually read the posting. It was late last night. And I am sure that I did not pick up any traffic from it on Facebook.
And I rapidly fleshed it out this morning. It was me musing about whether or not attractive people actually use the dating services, such as LiveLinks and Quest.
But it was a valuable reminder that I need to keep on top of my prescheduled posts, especially the ones that are just notes for future postings. It is also a reminder that if I suddenly die that a lot of cryptic posts are going to periodically appear on my blogs.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Pre-writing and scheduling blog posts and articles
One thing that being in college when trying to run my own business has taught me is a better sense of deadlines and pre-planning. As everyone who reads my blog knows, my business is freelance writing, and part of that involves blogging.
From the beginning of my freelance career, I have stockpiled ideas. But it is only in the last year that I started to schedule these ideas, so that more of them actually get written.
I did not notice this change in my operational procedure until last week. A couple of weeks ago, I had written down the writer's deadlines in a daily planner. I also jotted down the drop dates for the newspaper, and looked at the holidays and special events. This actually proved to be useful because I ended up having to contest the topic of two of my astrology columns. Bottom line, I did not want a column about love going out two days after Valentine's Day.
This awareness of time is also starting to bleed over into my school work. This is a good thing. For instance, at the end of the month I am helping someone move...it would be helpful if I was ahead in my homework before that happens.
On both this and my Golden Dawn blog, I have jotted down ideas and used the pre-scheduling function to stockpile them. The only disadvantage of this is there are going to be some ugly posts appearing if I suddenly die. On the Golden Dawn blog, I have over twenty-five ideas stockpiled.
I am also starting to pre-write and schedule posts. This is something I have learned many professional bloggers are doing. They find it easier to write a batch of posts all at once, and pre-schedule them; I am also finding it easier to do. If nothing else, it takes the some of the pressure off and allows me to focus on whatever is at the top of my priority list for the day. I am also beginning to pre-write certain columns, including my astrology column.
Pre-writing and pre-scheduling articles and posts is something that I wish I would have started doing sooner. Oh well, at least I am doing it now.
From the beginning of my freelance career, I have stockpiled ideas. But it is only in the last year that I started to schedule these ideas, so that more of them actually get written.
I did not notice this change in my operational procedure until last week. A couple of weeks ago, I had written down the writer's deadlines in a daily planner. I also jotted down the drop dates for the newspaper, and looked at the holidays and special events. This actually proved to be useful because I ended up having to contest the topic of two of my astrology columns. Bottom line, I did not want a column about love going out two days after Valentine's Day.
This awareness of time is also starting to bleed over into my school work. This is a good thing. For instance, at the end of the month I am helping someone move...it would be helpful if I was ahead in my homework before that happens.
On both this and my Golden Dawn blog, I have jotted down ideas and used the pre-scheduling function to stockpile them. The only disadvantage of this is there are going to be some ugly posts appearing if I suddenly die. On the Golden Dawn blog, I have over twenty-five ideas stockpiled.
I am also starting to pre-write and schedule posts. This is something I have learned many professional bloggers are doing. They find it easier to write a batch of posts all at once, and pre-schedule them; I am also finding it easier to do. If nothing else, it takes the some of the pressure off and allows me to focus on whatever is at the top of my priority list for the day. I am also beginning to pre-write certain columns, including my astrology column.
Pre-writing and pre-scheduling articles and posts is something that I wish I would have started doing sooner. Oh well, at least I am doing it now.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
It is the ideas that count, not my English!
It amuses me the number of individuals I get to interact with that believe that they should be judged solely on their ideas and creativity, and that it does not matter how badly they string a sentence together. And I really want to locate this fantasy world that they inhabit where editors and readers are willing to struggle with a piece of writing to get at the meat of the ideas. It sounds like a marvelous place to visit, though I doubt that my Virgo sun would be happy there for long.
I first became painfully aware of this belief when dealing with one of my toxic writing friends (you know the type---they are your friend, but you do not dare talk about writing around them if you want to get anything written in the next month, aka wet blankets).
My friend had done a draft of a novel, and he wanted my opinion of it. After ten minutes of reading, I had finally moved onto the second page of the manuscript. Yes, I said ten minutes to hack my way though the first page.
Now if this manuscript had been on the slush pile, it would have gotten the form rejection slip on the first page, first paragraph, perhaps even first sentence. Before I could even address the ideas in the script, I had to give him feedback about how to write a proper sentence.
And what he told me was that it was unfair that he would be judged on solely on the basis of his ability to write a clear sentence; all he needed was an editor who was willing to work with him; his ideas were worth the effort.
Nice fantasy world, I told him. He ignored me; he does not believe that my writing and editing experience qualifies me to have an opinion. I seriously doubt that he would listen Stephen King, J. K. Rowling, or anyone else for that matter, if they told him the same thing.
The reason I have been thinking about this is that recently I gave someone feedback about their blog, and got told that they were more concerned with ideas than learning how to present their information in a reader-friendly format. Blog T (not its actual name, sorry to whoever is actually writing Blog T) has many attributes that are going to make me talk about it often; it will serve us well as an example of what not to do.
The writer may think that it should be only their ideas that should matter; but given the habits of readers, they are dead wrong. I wish them luck in actually finding the fantasy world they think exists, where readers and editors are willing to work at reading something and do not run off to better sites at the drop of a comma splice.
I first became painfully aware of this belief when dealing with one of my toxic writing friends (you know the type---they are your friend, but you do not dare talk about writing around them if you want to get anything written in the next month, aka wet blankets).
My friend had done a draft of a novel, and he wanted my opinion of it. After ten minutes of reading, I had finally moved onto the second page of the manuscript. Yes, I said ten minutes to hack my way though the first page.
Now if this manuscript had been on the slush pile, it would have gotten the form rejection slip on the first page, first paragraph, perhaps even first sentence. Before I could even address the ideas in the script, I had to give him feedback about how to write a proper sentence.
And what he told me was that it was unfair that he would be judged on solely on the basis of his ability to write a clear sentence; all he needed was an editor who was willing to work with him; his ideas were worth the effort.
Nice fantasy world, I told him. He ignored me; he does not believe that my writing and editing experience qualifies me to have an opinion. I seriously doubt that he would listen Stephen King, J. K. Rowling, or anyone else for that matter, if they told him the same thing.
The reason I have been thinking about this is that recently I gave someone feedback about their blog, and got told that they were more concerned with ideas than learning how to present their information in a reader-friendly format. Blog T (not its actual name, sorry to whoever is actually writing Blog T) has many attributes that are going to make me talk about it often; it will serve us well as an example of what not to do.
The writer may think that it should be only their ideas that should matter; but given the habits of readers, they are dead wrong. I wish them luck in actually finding the fantasy world they think exists, where readers and editors are willing to work at reading something and do not run off to better sites at the drop of a comma splice.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Claiming my blogs---Technorati ranks
I slipped over to Technorati today, and realized that I still had some blogs unclaimed. And some of them are blogs I occasionally think about updating. So I put in my claim form for them.
(I do not claim my blogs on MySpace [which I no longer upadate] or on LiveJournal; they are wastelands as far as I am concerned. Same goes for my blog on Multiply.)
So as of now, my Technorati ranks for my blogs are:
1,112,328 for Gleamings from the Dawn (my blog about Golden Dawn). Interestingly enourgh this is also the rank for the now hidden lulu (MDE) storefront blog.
1,603,173 for Musings from the Pen (this blog).
And my now newly claimed blogs (with absolutely no authority behind them) Dreams of TARDISes, Warp Engines and Stargates (a science fiction blog that I plan on posting Doctor Who fan fiction to...someday when I complete the stories) and Bag Full of Tricks (a political blog that I really should consider updating more often) are at 3,197,294.
(I do not claim my blogs on MySpace [which I no longer upadate] or on LiveJournal; they are wastelands as far as I am concerned. Same goes for my blog on Multiply.)
So as of now, my Technorati ranks for my blogs are:
1,112,328 for Gleamings from the Dawn (my blog about Golden Dawn). Interestingly enourgh this is also the rank for the now hidden lulu (MDE) storefront blog.
1,603,173 for Musings from the Pen (this blog).
And my now newly claimed blogs (with absolutely no authority behind them) Dreams of TARDISes, Warp Engines and Stargates (a science fiction blog that I plan on posting Doctor Who fan fiction to...someday when I complete the stories) and Bag Full of Tricks (a political blog that I really should consider updating more often) are at 3,197,294.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Oh really?! Death row ads
Looking at one of my old entries on another blog, I noticed that the entry had attracted ads about "Facing Death Row---Lawyer in XXX can help."
Now, being a writer, this made my mind start to turn over. (Occuptional hazard.)
How many death row inmates are cruising the internet? How many killers are browsing our web sites? Is there a market writing for these individuals? Is a lawyer that advertises though adsense worth it? And does anyone click on these ads?
Only the last question has an answer that I know: of course, people click on those ads; otherwise people would not be taking them out.
But what type of lawyer takes out an ad on adsense trying to attract killers and murderers (not necessarily the same)?
Makes me wonder what type of weird adsense ads other people get with their blogs.
Now, being a writer, this made my mind start to turn over. (Occuptional hazard.)
How many death row inmates are cruising the internet? How many killers are browsing our web sites? Is there a market writing for these individuals? Is a lawyer that advertises though adsense worth it? And does anyone click on these ads?
Only the last question has an answer that I know: of course, people click on those ads; otherwise people would not be taking them out.
But what type of lawyer takes out an ad on adsense trying to attract killers and murderers (not necessarily the same)?
Makes me wonder what type of weird adsense ads other people get with their blogs.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Is commenting necessary?
The other day, I was reading a friend's blog. He was posting about the attack on Pearl Habour. I read it (sort of--I was tired) and looked at the pictures. But I didn't leave a comment.
Now, I did leave a comment on his post on why TV shows go bad. So, he does know that I was there. He sends me a note asking me why I didn't leave a comment. I sent him some answer back (basically I was tired that day), but it did get me to thinking.
What is the proper etiquette for reading blogs? Should we post comments to everything we read? Or is the mere fact that we are reading the blog be enourgh?
Both me and my friend came out of the Amateur Press Association scene. One of his pet peeves was the fact that many members would just write "RAEBNC." For those who haven't been a member of an APA, that means "Read and enjoyed, but no comment." Now, this was one of the reasons that he got out of the APA that we mutually belonged to; I left because I saw the writing on the wall (I had started to write about Golden Dawn in my zine) and realized that it was the wrong audience for me. That and I was starting to tilt at the print market.
One of the reasons that I don't leave comments often is that a lot of them would boil down to RAEBNC. I don't even leave comments for the writers who take part in the Weekly Page View Reciprocation List. I figure if I make time to read the articles that should be enough to satisify them. I never actually bothered to ask the members there exactly how they feel about this notion of mine.
Truth of the matter is that I have a hard time coming up with useful comments. What use does RAEBNC have to your typical writer or blogger? And if I can't help you write better (and some people really don't want the help), why should I leave a comment? Oh, occasionally, I will leave a "Wow" on some people's work because they wrote something that I wish that I would have done.
I am not the only one that has a hard time leaving useful comments; the Creative Writing class I took a couple of semesters ago was full of people who had to learn how to give useful comments (there was one student that never did learn the knack of that one).
There is also that whole backlinking to one's profile. I understand that it does help your ranking in the search engines, but when does it become spam (remember spamming gets your links slammed by engines; they have limits and then they declare it foul play) and do you want to look like a spam artist?
But ultimately, I think that comments should be restricted to Wows and useful comments, not RMP (read my page) and RAEBNC. Besides who am I really writing for? If I am just writing for myself, comments are just going to be generally ignored anyways. And most of the time, my writing better be pleasuring to me because that is the only audience that I am sure to have.
I am not sure who he thinks that he is writing for. I am also not sure what he thinks being a blogger is about. In my world, comments are nice, but they are not really necessary.
Now, I did leave a comment on his post on why TV shows go bad. So, he does know that I was there. He sends me a note asking me why I didn't leave a comment. I sent him some answer back (basically I was tired that day), but it did get me to thinking.
What is the proper etiquette for reading blogs? Should we post comments to everything we read? Or is the mere fact that we are reading the blog be enourgh?
Both me and my friend came out of the Amateur Press Association scene. One of his pet peeves was the fact that many members would just write "RAEBNC." For those who haven't been a member of an APA, that means "Read and enjoyed, but no comment." Now, this was one of the reasons that he got out of the APA that we mutually belonged to; I left because I saw the writing on the wall (I had started to write about Golden Dawn in my zine) and realized that it was the wrong audience for me. That and I was starting to tilt at the print market.
One of the reasons that I don't leave comments often is that a lot of them would boil down to RAEBNC. I don't even leave comments for the writers who take part in the Weekly Page View Reciprocation List. I figure if I make time to read the articles that should be enough to satisify them. I never actually bothered to ask the members there exactly how they feel about this notion of mine.
Truth of the matter is that I have a hard time coming up with useful comments. What use does RAEBNC have to your typical writer or blogger? And if I can't help you write better (and some people really don't want the help), why should I leave a comment? Oh, occasionally, I will leave a "Wow" on some people's work because they wrote something that I wish that I would have done.
I am not the only one that has a hard time leaving useful comments; the Creative Writing class I took a couple of semesters ago was full of people who had to learn how to give useful comments (there was one student that never did learn the knack of that one).
There is also that whole backlinking to one's profile. I understand that it does help your ranking in the search engines, but when does it become spam (remember spamming gets your links slammed by engines; they have limits and then they declare it foul play) and do you want to look like a spam artist?
But ultimately, I think that comments should be restricted to Wows and useful comments, not RMP (read my page) and RAEBNC. Besides who am I really writing for? If I am just writing for myself, comments are just going to be generally ignored anyways. And most of the time, my writing better be pleasuring to me because that is the only audience that I am sure to have.
I am not sure who he thinks that he is writing for. I am also not sure what he thinks being a blogger is about. In my world, comments are nice, but they are not really necessary.
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