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I wasn’t going to write tonight because a few hours back I went on a writing tear and put out about 10,000 words, but I probably only published around 2,000 or so.
Not really sure because I wasn’t trying to figure out how much content I could produce. There was no race or contest to be won today, it was just one of those times where I wrote because I had to get things out.
It was old fashioned blogging, the kind where you write not because you want a book deal or to become a brand ambassador but because you are compelled to write.
The kind of moment where you write because it hurts to keep it all in and so you put your pen to paper or finger to keyboard and let it fly.
Sometimes I feel foolish talking about the good old days of blogging. It feels silly to talk about a golden age as if it was so much better than now because in many ways today is superior.
But it is human nature to look back and think about how a time that lies just behind us was so much better and so here I am. Except this time around I am looking backwards and thinking about a time not long ago that was better.
I am thinking about some choices I made and wondering if I made the right choices because this current moment has been much harder than I ever would have guessed and I am confused by it. Confused because I never would have anticipated that it would be like this or that I would feel this way.
So I am using the blog to air out the space between my ears to see if maybe that provides some clarity. And I am writing things down because I promised myself that I would be cognizant of moments and take joy in the journey.
What Was Old Fashioned Blogging?
I think of it as a time when we were more interested in sharing stories. I think about a page on my first blog called Conversations With The Kids that is filled with stories that were created by things my children said or did.
People laughed and or cried along with those tales. Other parents nodded their heads because they understood, asked questions or shared advice because they had been there and done that or were about to go where I had been.
I need to make a page like that for this blog. I want to take those links and update them so that they can be found here. I suppose I could just provide a link to the children’s archive but I don’t think it is as good.
Confession: I Wanted To Add Some Fake Work to My Resume
It is true, I thought about making up some stuff to add to my resume but it is probably not what you are thinking of. A while back when I was in between jobs and looking for work I grew frustrated by the lack of responses and started thinking about ways to improve things.
One of my ideas was to pretend I was an actor and start adding lines to my resume that said I was Stormtrooper #3, Bad Detective #8 and guy in background.
I thought it might be fun to say I was the star of some failed Karaoke videos and infomercials too but I couldn’t bring myself to add these things to the resume because I was concerned with the consequences.
Even though I thought it might be fun I was worried that something like that would tarnish people’s opinions and so I didn’t do it.
But sometimes I wonder about that and sometimes I wonder what happened to all of the readers who used to show up here. Did they move to RSS or email feeds?
Did I bore them into finding new places or has life just gotten too busy and it is too hard to be on all these different platforms.
Yeah, sometimes I miss old fashioned blogging.
Hey! That’s me up there on Facebook!;-)
I’ve been thinking about this a ton lately. I miss me, the one who wrote for the sake of writing (and often sanity, don’t comment!). It seems I’m trying always to fit in a mold or put a piece somewhere or write for a community. That’s all fun and good but I miss the old, sometimes squirrelly, me stuff. I’m going to pick a starting point and stick with Just Write for this very reason. Great post, Jack!
Looking forward to seeing that post. Just write and all will be well, except for the weather. And maybe your sanity. 😉
I didn’t start my blog until 2012, so I missed out on the heyday of the blogging world. However, the way you describe it is how I see it in my head – the romanticized version, I mean. That’s how I wish it was, without all the other BS.
Hi Natalie,
The question I ask is are you having fun? If the answer is yes than this is the golden age.
I think everything is always changing. My blog has evolved and changed over the years. I started in 2008. And I blogged like no one was reading. Hell, NO ONE WAS READING! I had no concept of blogland and how to handle comments and finding other people, my tribe.
Now I have a greater understanding. But now, it’s less about me and more about all the cool things everyone else has to say. I read blogs and then feel stifled, like nothing I could write would be any good.
I keep making promises to myself to get back to writing. My own fear is the only thing holding me back.
So good on your for churning out all those words, my friend. I’m a little green.
😉
Hi Erin,
I don’t know about anyone else but sometimes fear has been the best motivator I have to write and to put that extra piece of something into it.
I also know that I am one of those people who can’t keep a story bottled up because I am compelled to put it down on paper or on the screen. I just can’t keep it locked up inside
Yes. I do. 🙂
I am not surprised. That is a good thing.
I started my blog in early 2011, so I don’t know if I missed the old fashioned way of blogging. I’ve always blogged the same way – I write what I know, what I love, and I write for myself and my children. I suppose, along the way, I’ve thought harder about whether what I write will resonate with people. I do try to stay true to me though, to who I am as a person, as a writer.
Hi Alison,
I like what you said. Write what you know, what you love and for yourself. That is awesome and I see it as being a significant part of producing posts people want to read.