This morning I was sitting in my office, trying to get some writing work done, and facing a spell of Writer's Block.
So, turning to mindless activity to get my brain working, I tweeted. Hashtag writer's block. Topically and conveniently, Seth Godin was writing about the same issue today. Godin released a short and sweet post, "Writer's Block and the Drip: Why Do We Get Stuck?"
Godin's suggestion for conquering every writer's internal nemesis? Avoid writer's block by lowering the stakes of what you write. If you write more (higher quantity), your words will mean less (lower quality), therefore you won't run into the issue of writer's block.
It is this very suggestion that infuriates me.
The idea that if you write more content for the public to read, you'll have more winners, is total nonsense. It's equivalent to saying, "take 1000 pictures; 10 might be good". Through that logic, everyone becomes a professional photographer.
I'm not saying that writing - or photography, or painting, or any other art form - should be exclusivist or elitist, that only a few can truly master it. Everyone should of course have their shot and give it their best and (most importantly) enjoy art for art. However, to suggest that "building a popular blog" comes from pumping out content like you're a machine - some good, but most less than mediocre - is hammering into our online culture that it's okay to have an excess of (sorry for this) shit.
In 2012, I have seen far too many reproductions of the same garbage; some are hitting the mark, some are not, but let's face it, most people are simply copying what the other has worked hard to do. I fear that my daughter is going to grow up in a culture where having ten thousand photos from one calendar year is acceptable. Where blogging daily about anything your mind can conjure is entirely acceptable. Where instead of setting goals and making lists of priorities, one Pins - hundreds and hundreds of Pins - about things they'd like to do, when they're done Pinning, and once they run to Wal Mart to buy craft supplies, and learn to sew/knit/crochet/write calligraphy.
Don't get me wrong, I am one of these overdoers, too. But let's get something straight: the secret to creating a good anything - a blog, a set of images, paintings, even a fashion line - is not by pumping it out mechanically. It's by thinking. The blogs I follow and love consider what they write before they write it. Heck, one blogger I know writes her posts often weeks or months in advance and each one has a point: a craft or a life lesson or a something-more-than-just-a-thought-that-popped-into-her-head. That's what makes it GOOD. My husband (a photographer) manages to create some great images, not by taking thousands, but by executing the shot with precision and consideration.
This 2013, let's not settle for overdoing it simply to see a few happy accidents. Let's attempt for success: when we achieve it, we'll have cause to celebrate. When we don't achieve it, we'll be able to evaluate what went wrong. What's so happy about a happy accident?
well said Sam. This is why I stopped blogging so much. Some days though,, I do think what I'm blogging might be considered "poop" to others, but is something I simply want to document for myself and family. In that case, when you're doing it for yourself and not to be famous or others, I think it's okay to blog something that others might not gravitate towards.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I find blogging is so hard. Every person has individual taste. Some blogs hit the mark with a lot of people. Some blogs with only a few. Sometimes I blog about a topic that I think is AWESOME and nobody comments or views it and my heart hearts a bit. I guess each person views art differently too.
I hear what you are saying, Sam.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Dave Ramsey's new book EntreLeadership and he kind of talks about this in a section about building momentum. He says that all things you do some together to build momentum (in business or life) and that what may look like a "happy accident" to some actually IS a result of a lot of hard work coming to fruition.
Having said that, I don't think we, as bloggers, should just crank our stuff just to have posts on our blog. There is a lot of information out there, and we need to make ours count and matter.
Nice blog, I look forward to reading more!