Wednesday 2 February 2011

Some navel gazing

Well, the experiment is over. A few months ago I wondered if I could get a blog post out every day. I thought I would try it for a week, but since then I have written over a hundred posts, missing only one day.

So the question is whether this verbal diarrhoea has been at the cost of quality. Looking back, there are some posts that I am proud of, and others that are frankly rather ill-thought out.

Almost every post has forced me to do some basic research, even if it is just checking my facts on Wikipedia or in books. This is something I love, and I have probably sent more time with my nose in books than I have writing.

Unfortunately the daily churn has meant that the quality has not been as good as it could have been. The posts have frequently been hurried, and in many the point I was trying to make has been unclear or obscured by layers of hyperbole.

One of the biggest problems with this blog is its lack of focus. The best blogs tend to be about one topic only, written by experts in that area. My blog covers anything that I find to be of interest, and this leads to a scattergun of topics: from writing and book reviews, through walking and computing to politics. This means that it is unlikely to be of interest to anyone who wants in-depth knowledge of any particular topic. Basically, the ideal reader of the blog would be someone with the same interest as myself; and that would probably just be me.

This was put succinctly elsewhere: "If your blog does not have a niche, then it will become niche itself."

One thing has surprised me: I have plenty to say. The problem has not been finding things to write about; rather it has been finding the time to write.

Yet all of this will now come to an end. I will soon be able to spend less time at my PC, especially if my previous joyful experiences with TalkTalk, Virgin and BT are anything to go by. My life is heading off in another direction. I will still post, but they will not be daily.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these daily posts. I have certainly enjoyed writing them!

Watch this space...

2 comments:

Alan Sloman said...

I for one have thoroughly enjoyed the breadth of your posting David - narrow blogs are just that - it's far more interesting to read and look forward to a wide spectrum of topics.

I shall still look forward to your posts.

David Cotton said...

Cheers Alan.

I write them because I enjoy writing. It's good that other people enjoy my ramblings as well. :-)