Blogger identity crisis; please save me from my happy, boring self
Do you ever feel that some of the best blogs are written by people who are fairly miserable?
Before anyone takes offense to that (as in, you're happy which means I must not like your blog, or you know I love your blog and therefore that must make you miserable when really you're quite fine, thank you very much), let me clarify.
I've found that the majority of my favorite daily reads are composed by people who are grappling with an issue. The issue may be a struggle with parenthood, with depression, with dating (or not dating), or whatever, but in these cases the writing is usually so passionate and engaging that I can't help but get hooked. Or, maybe I just get off on other people's pain, who knows.
Personally, I think most of my best posts were written in times when I was in a downward spiral, like back before I moved, then back in the fall of last year when I started to get really homesick, and then again in the spring of this year when I was overcome with anxiety about turning 30. Now that I've spent the better part of three months, though, really pretty happy and stable, I'm boring the crap out of myself with these banal posts.
Since I'm in no way looking for a reason to become all Sylvia Plath again, I think I need some inspiration to get writing. But because I've been suffering from this sort of creative hangover for the better part of the summer, I'm looking to my readers (all 10 of you!) for suggestions.
Some bloggers hold regular Q and A sessions via the comments section. I would totally do that except I don't know if I have enough commenters to make that interesting on a regular basis. Want to prove me wrong? I could do a weekly rant, but like I said, I'm pretty happy these days, and don't know what I could find in my heart to complain about. I could start a dating column about all the imaginary boys I'm not meeting, but that would be fiction and this is the real deal, baby. I could write odes to ex-boyfriends sung to our favorite makeout songs of 1991, but my parents read this and even from 3000 miles away I'd rather not go there.
If you have an idea that could save Lori MacBlogger from total banality, please share. Lurkers, this is an open invitation to come out of hiding and tell me what you'd like to read about. Because I honestly think I can do better than horoscopes and computer problems.
posted by Lori @ 4:38 PM
17 Comments:
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What about guest posts from fellow bloggers?
Jill, I totally will.
Anonymous, are you offering?
You could go on a date with me and write about it.
Huphter - I could, but I, as a rule, don't write about any of my dates. Acknowledging that I go on some would give my family entirely too much hope for my future. I'm all about managing expectations. :)
Let's not call it a date, but a "bloggers meetup". Maybe get some more people involved as well. That should be pretty family safe to write about right?
This post made me laugh. I hear where you're coming from. Although I haven't been blogging for very long, I feel like I haven't much to say because life is pretty good. There must be something in the air, I just read a post aabout similar issues. Sorry I couldn't be more help to you.
Huphter - that's a good idea! Who's in?!
TFL - there must be a reason so many of the famous writers are known for being depressed/crazy/recovering somethings. My bookshelf would be bare without Augusten Burrows or David Sadaris.
It's some kind of sick thrill we get out of reading everyone else's misery. It makes our own lives seem 'normal'. Yet we secretly wish for some of that craziness in our lives. Make life seem fuller.
OR
We just think it's funny.
First reading and I am already amused. I don't even really blog unless something has gone wrong in my life. Just doesn't seem worthwhile otherwise. So, I know where you are coming from.
So let's plan this meetup Lori. I can't make it next week+weekend, since I will be in SF for a Web Conference. But anything after Sept 18 is fine with me. Where should we meet? Farmers market? FM seems to be the spot of choice for LA bloggers.
There was an episode of "The Larry Sanders Show" where the head writer got a girlfriend and was oh-so-in-love, and everybody was pissed off because his jokes now sucked. Then she dumped him and he was miserable, but at the end of the episode, he picked up his pen and went back to his normal, angst ridden but hilarious self.
Happy writers can produce great work, but give me a barely literate 19 year old who is bearing his or her soul about a Saturday night where they did something they aren't proud of, and I'm hooked.
Mommy blogs or blogs where people are in oh-so-happy relationships are boring. Even people who are happy do not want to read about someone else's happiness.
What we really want to read about are strip clubs, drunken binges, cheatin' and rehab. Those are the blogs that get 100,000 hits a day.
Short of that, a lot of blogs suffer from a Thanksgiving table factor. If anyone you eat Thanksgiving dinner with reads your blog, chances are, you will self censor yourself to the point where everything is OK, life is good, you never curse, drink, stay out late or kiss boys. This also does not make for a loyal readership.
I think the best blogs are a combination of the two. I don't need Hunter S. Thompson excess, but the blogs where all the rough edges of life are taken out, where we never get a sense of how the author feels about sex, lies, or foolish behavior they've experienced are fake. Because we were all teenagers at least once. We all make mistakes and feel some kind of pain. That's what people can identify with.
My advice, Lori, start an anonymous blog that can never be traced back to the Thanksgiving table and where you'll feel free to be honest. Writing that lacks honesty is bullshit writing. I know that first hand from writing a lot of crap. Hope this helps!
Huphter - my email address is on the right.
Joe - All good points. But for me personally, one of the most gratifying things about this blog is that my family reads it. I think many of them have learned more about me this way than they ever did in person and I wouldn't change it. And frankly, my life is pretty boring so there isn't much that I'm not writing. If and when I ever start blowing rails with Lindsay Lohan, I'll definitely start an anonymous blog. Until then, I just need some fodder. :)
Everyone thinks their life is boring, Lori. I'm sure Lindsay Lohan is like, so totally over herself right now. No one sits around and says "Man, I am so exciting. I could be no more exciting than I am currently."
I keep reading your blog for a reason. Writing about how you feel or what you're thinking on a given day, then sharing a personal story about yourself that relates might be a good way to start. The experiences of other people fascinate me and you're no exception.
Why not try using one day of the week, say Tuesdays, to blog about something that you enjoy and want to learn about or experience more? Whether it's health, travel, fashion, or food, you could pick something that you are currently or would like to participate in and dedicate one day per week to write about it. That way people can check back to find out what you learned/experienced in that area for the week. Your writing is entertaining, so I'm sure people would like to hear cool info on something that is imporant to you but still universally appealing at the same time. You know what I mean...
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trust me don't be stupid. if your happy, it's then best you are because you just jinxed yourself by writting this. i would rather be happy and boring then be the miserable, intellectual, manipulative, identity crisis homosexual etc that i am
so be happy with who you are and stop whining
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