tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post5315243222965153862..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: What to Do When the Post is No GoodKen Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-13942276116469001932014-11-03T09:10:43.479+00:002014-11-03T09:10:43.479+00:00I admire your discipline, a weekly blog post is no...I admire your discipline, a weekly blog post is not something I am able to achieve. <br />The only good blog posts I've written are when I have something to say- when I have a "bee in my bonnet" about something, and I feel I can share information that could be useful to others. <br />I wish I had your writing skill. <br /><br />What to do if your post doesn't cut it? Well, when you are writing each week, aim for writing two blog posts if you can, that way you'll build up a few "in stock" for publishing during times when the creative inspired genius that we normally read in your blogs isn't in abundance. <br /><br />Btw- reading this post last night inspired me to write a blog post of my own, although I need to find/create an image to go with it before I publish it. <br />I share 4 steps which I believe are the foundation to my own happiness, it's probably the shortest blog post I've ever written. But then, I haven't published it yet, so it could grow before I do :) Claire Boyleshttp://www.success-matters.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-86095759338547879352014-11-03T02:58:39.535+00:002014-11-03T02:58:39.535+00:00Oh dear ... you don't "get it" do yo...Oh dear ... you don't "get it" do you? You see, even when your posts are no good, they're invariably brilliant, readable and enjoyable! And you keep on doing it ... consistently, week after week. I admire you and I envy you!Karen Redmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18368078023802765569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-4787174883709132292014-11-02T14:13:56.039+00:002014-11-02T14:13:56.039+00:00A couple of months back—maybe three months (you kn...A couple of months back—maybe three months (you know me with dates and times)—I fell into a bit of a slump. Now that’s okay; I plan for that. I always have a stockpile of posts, enough to last usually about three months. So I can afford to have a bad week or a fortnight and even a month isn’t anything particularly to get myself in a tizzy about but when that bad spell starts to drag on then I begin to worry and this last patch really had me sweating because I was down to three posts in hand. Three! For the first time in over seven years I was facing the prospect of having nothing to post come the weekend. But then I got better, got stuck in and I currently have a dozen posts ready to go and two more I’m working on. So I can breathe a big sigh of relief. Crisis averted. For now.<br /><br />Of course if I didn’t post it wouldn’t be the end of the world. You’d notice and a handful of other people’d notice but I do seriously wonder how <i>soon</i> anyone’d notice. I mean nothing bad by this but I expect like most of us you rely on some automated thingy telling you: “Oi, buggerlugs! Jim’s got a new post.” I usually learn about your posts in two ways, once through Feedly and then via Facebook; I am actually one of those people who <i>does</i> get told when you’ve posted something new. I never go looking for a new post from you. I’ve delegated thinking about you to computers. And so I do wonder, if they stopped doing their jobs, how long it would be before I thought: <i>Hmm, wonder how that eejit Armstrong’s doing?</i><br /><br />I now have, of course, my other blog, the McVoices one. I informed people about it at the start but I don’t exactly go out of my way to publicise it. My friends on Facebook get told—at least one assumes they get told—when there’s a new post—I actually post on the first and third Wednesdays of the month—but maybe they don’t. Few people pass comment so maybe no one knows I’m blogging there. The posts there were intended to be a bit of an experiment, shorter and more personal. Still not quite sure how comfortable I am but I committed myself and I don’t like to let people down. I think one of the comments I made on your—or someone’s blog—ended up as a post there and Carrie said that I should do something with that last one so I’ve saved it in Evernote and I’ll stumble on it eventually in six months or a year’s time when I can look at it with fresh eyes.<br /><br />I don’t like to be rushed. That’s when we say things we wish we hadn’t. That’s why I like having a stockpile because I never have to make do. I really would rather post nothing. As it is—and you may find this hard to believe—but the vast majority of my posts come under the good-enough-for-government-work tag. If I ever was to think about publishing some of these as essays in print form they would need a lot of work done on them to satisfy me. They’re not nearly as polished as I’d like them to be and most are—even at three thousand words plus—too short. I’ve just written an article on J.M. Coetzee’s <i>Elizabeth Costello</i> and it comes in at about 6500 words and to my mind it feels like a draft for something four or five times as long but one needs to be practical. Few are going to read the whole 6500 word version. I can't think of anyone who’s not writing their own thesis on Coetzee reading anything 26000 words long even though I read a helluva lot more than 26000 words in preparation for my own article. <br /><br />You’re not me. That’s what’s interesting about you. I spend every day in my company and so it doesn’t really matter <i>what</i> you talk about. I just enjoy the change of mindset. If we met on the street what would we talk about? What shopping we’re doing? What we watched on the telly last night. “Had you worked out who Missy was? No! Really!” (I had by the way, totally sussed that right from the jump. Hadn’t a clue about Bad Wolf though. And the whole Melody Pond/River Song. Well you could’ve knocked me over with a feather duster.)Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-75309046762054329122014-11-02T12:01:27.389+00:002014-11-02T12:01:27.389+00:00I'm all for posting once a week as they come t...I'm all for posting once a week as they come to you. And in between times, you'll put up brilliant post while for the rest of the time, you keep your readers and your regimen happy. Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.com