I'm going to put RZ E NEWS on the shelf for a bit and return to more serious commentary. It's pretty hard for me to maintain the illusion of comedy anyway, seeing as how I was born without a sense of humor.
Sidney Williams, Stewart Sternberg, and Wayne Allen Sallee have all posted on the issue of "Why We Blog" lately, and you can find commentary on those posts at their website. Stewart has pointed out that the key to increasing your blog traffic is to "have something interesting to say." One point about that, though, is that "interesting" exists more in the reader than in the blogger. Obviously, to many people, Paris Hilton is an absolutley fascinating person. I don't feel the same way, and I'm not going to have much or anything to say about such celebrities. I remind myself, however, that I'm not likely to sell my writing to "most" of the people who find Paris fascinating. My potential audience is different and I have to find and post here that which interests "them."
In related news, C. S. Harris is posting over on her site a series about how she plots, especially related to her current historical mystery series. I found the first entry quite informative so you folks interested in plotting might check it out.
I do not blog. I prefer meddling and snoozing.
ReplyDeleteThere is a place for my kind in this world.
Finding that audience is the crucial thing isn't it? I was at a convention, looking in horror at some of the people there. William Jones leaned over and said to me: "Smile. Go be nice. Those are your readers."
ReplyDeleteHow true.