The Dilemma of My Blog
>> 07 March 2011
For those of you who follow the blog (ie my five family members and friends that are bored at work), you may have noticed I have not been blogging as of late. I've been having an existential crisis, blog-wise, and have been thinking about the purpose and opportunity cost of RoSA. (I actually don't know what 'opportunity cost' means, but I'm hoping I guessed correctly.)
You all know that I love writing. The process is an enjoyably challenging puzzle of creation to me: to observe, to take scattered and unformed thoughts and make them coherent, to take seemingly disparate thoughts and to synthesize them, to refine sentences in order to achieve precision... Oh yes, I can't forget to add my personal favorite: "to make ridiculously outlandish comparisons to prove an irrelevant point."
In addition, the continual practice of writing has yielded tangible results: improved writing, where I've learned what works, what doesn't work, and why through the proces; and the forum to chronicle and document the things that happen in my life. These reasons are all part of the writing puzzle that make it fun and fulfilling.
These are also, for better or worse, the same reasons that make the writing puzzle so frustrating -- like the 1000-piece puzzle of pure blue sky I tried to put together as a kid (<-- completely fabricated for illustrative purposes). Doing all of those things that I just gushed about like a teenage girl -- and to do them well -- require thought and time. Both are premium and limited resources for anybody. This created a dilemma with the blog that I have struggled with and tried to balance for three and a half years: Because I will not get paid to write what I like, I cannot commit the time and attention to writing that I would like to. It will always be a lower priority. Unfortunately, writing that I am willing to "publish" for public consumption requires time. But if I wait to publish something I'm completely satisfied with, nothing will ever get written, because I cannot allocate the required time to write. And if I don't continue writing, then there will be attrition. It's a cycle; and a vicious one at that. I can sort of see why Hemingway went with the shotgun.
The conclusion and compromise I reached over the years was that I would have to force myself to write, even if I wasn't completely satisfied with what I wrote all of the time. So I did weekly entries that required deadlines, such as PotW and the Weekly Highlights. These self-imposed due dates compelled me to write, which was good in some ways because it kept me writing and observant... but they were bad in other ways because the same entries often forced me to put stuff out that was "meh," simply because the next day was my artificial deadline of Monday or Thursday. (Reference the last few Weekly Highlights. I've felt like a monkey flinging crap against the wall -- little thought was involved, and very little stuck to the wall)
So I have been frustrated with my lack of time to commit to writing. Where does this leave RoSA? I have no idea. To give up writing is not the solution, obviously. We shall see how this unfolds.
As a partial solution, perhaps, I will be contributing to our family blog with Mrs. RoSA here (made private at Mrs. RoSA's request). First entry should be out this week.
Read more...
You all know that I love writing. The process is an enjoyably challenging puzzle of creation to me: to observe, to take scattered and unformed thoughts and make them coherent, to take seemingly disparate thoughts and to synthesize them, to refine sentences in order to achieve precision... Oh yes, I can't forget to add my personal favorite: "to make ridiculously outlandish comparisons to prove an irrelevant point."
In addition, the continual practice of writing has yielded tangible results: improved writing, where I've learned what works, what doesn't work, and why through the proces; and the forum to chronicle and document the things that happen in my life. These reasons are all part of the writing puzzle that make it fun and fulfilling.
These are also, for better or worse, the same reasons that make the writing puzzle so frustrating -- like the 1000-piece puzzle of pure blue sky I tried to put together as a kid (<-- completely fabricated for illustrative purposes). Doing all of those things that I just gushed about like a teenage girl -- and to do them well -- require thought and time. Both are premium and limited resources for anybody. This created a dilemma with the blog that I have struggled with and tried to balance for three and a half years: Because I will not get paid to write what I like, I cannot commit the time and attention to writing that I would like to. It will always be a lower priority. Unfortunately, writing that I am willing to "publish" for public consumption requires time. But if I wait to publish something I'm completely satisfied with, nothing will ever get written, because I cannot allocate the required time to write. And if I don't continue writing, then there will be attrition. It's a cycle; and a vicious one at that. I can sort of see why Hemingway went with the shotgun.
The conclusion and compromise I reached over the years was that I would have to force myself to write, even if I wasn't completely satisfied with what I wrote all of the time. So I did weekly entries that required deadlines, such as PotW and the Weekly Highlights. These self-imposed due dates compelled me to write, which was good in some ways because it kept me writing and observant... but they were bad in other ways because the same entries often forced me to put stuff out that was "meh," simply because the next day was my artificial deadline of Monday or Thursday. (Reference the last few Weekly Highlights. I've felt like a monkey flinging crap against the wall -- little thought was involved, and very little stuck to the wall)
So I have been frustrated with my lack of time to commit to writing. Where does this leave RoSA? I have no idea. To give up writing is not the solution, obviously. We shall see how this unfolds.
As a partial solution, perhaps, I will be contributing to our family blog with Mrs. RoSA here (made private at Mrs. RoSA's request). First entry should be out this week.
