When I decided to create this blog, I did so with the expressed purpose of helping others (and myself) find answers that were difficult for me to come by. Either the information I wanted was scattered across several websites, buried deep in some forum, or worse still, phrased in an unclear or misleading way.
On very rare occasions, I’ve somehow managed to solve the problem and be the first (to best of my knowledge) to publish it! In my role, the emphasis is on proven technologies, so it isn’t often that I encounter an issue that’s so obscure that no one else has bothered to write about it.
Even after I’ve decided what to write about, I then will spend hours, sometimes days editing my article for spelling, grammar, readability and clarity. Not every article I write makes the cut, and I’ve got about a half dozen of these sitting in my queue that might never see the light of day.
As one might expect from this focus and model, I don’t publish many articles. I rationalize this by inferring that perhaps (content) quality is more important than quantity. But then how does an author define, “quality?”
That depends on the purpose of the blog. Some blogs are written to entertain, some for profit, others to inform while others still are a collection of seemingly random thoughts and ideas the author wanted to capture.
Does a Blog need an excuse?
For instance, suppose you’re an eccentric Welch change management consultant named ‘Rich’ with a blog whose URL suggests that it’s all about the intricacies of bovine partner-dance.
You could write about everything from social media, to technology to a badger you met on the way to the bathroom wearing a tiny badger-towel with “New Forest 1994” written on it (surprisingly, I’m not making this up – although you’d think I were given that that cheeky brit had since taken down the post it referred to)…
Whose Blog is it anyway?
Can we blog for the sake of writing? Why not!
Does every blog post have to contribute something useful to humanity? Certainly not. As Andy Leonard infers, one shouldn’t worry about what to write – time and practice will solve that for you – only that you write at all; Taking that first step.
So next time your Saudi-American friend’s eyebrow raises and suggests in an ever-so-slightly mocking tone, “You should blog about that…” Smile back and say, “Yes Yousef, I think I will!”
Disclaimer: No talking badgers, Welshmen or change management consultants were harmed in the writing of this post.
P.S. Rich, Stu and Adam – thanks for helping me retain my sanity and sense of humor in a time and place where both were hard to come by.