I think that you have to write differently for websites / blogs / forums than you do for essays / books / magazines.
Often, writing for the moment is the best way to do it, as it's what the people want to read. sure the posts will still be there, but how many people are going to go back in a years time to re-read something that was only relevant for a brief period of time?
I do agree with you that comments make blogs become more "alive" so to speak. It's always interesting, or at least it is to me, to know what people think about something I've posted, whether it be good or bad criticism.
Still, good writing, as you say is timeless. There's absolutely no need for us to be sloppy about what we write. I often write things down on paper before even touching the keyboard.
Some good point to take on board
Eiso Kant
· 1 year ago
Thank you Gareth.
When you say "how many people are going to go back in a years time to re-read something that was only relevant for a brief period of time?" you touch exactly upon my point. There's content we write that is for the moment but there are also times where we write for a lifetime. Content that is still applicable in a year from now. I am trying to find a way to separate these two and make it easier for readers to find it.
Dave Newton
· 1 year ago
I think you're onto something here. I think Scoble is right about techie blogging. And, parenthetically, techie blogging and newsflow is really a special interest ghetto -- a disproportionally large niche, since young, tech-oriented people dominate the fastest-moving traffic on the Internet. There are too many blogs to even start to get around to, and as a result, like in all pop-tech, a few blogs dominate the influence. I'm afraid that with the butterfly-attention-spanned young-tech audience, tiny blog-bursts will continue to dominate this in-the-moment medium. Nobody in this group has time for essays, even mini ones. ("mini-essay" is an oxymoron, anyway.)
Eiso Kant
· 1 year ago
I think it's a mind-set we consciously need to step away from and start making decisions about what content is actually valuable to us. I recently ordered 8 new books; instead I could spend my time staying up-to-date on the Google-Digg deal. These days I am satisfied reading a summary at the end of the day.
Eiso Kant
· 1 year ago
p.s. A teenager who reads is also an oxymoron ;-); I seem to like them.
All Comments
I think that you have to write differently for websites / blogs / forums than you do for essays / books / magazines.
Often, writing for the moment is the best way to do it, as it's what the people want to read.
sure the posts will still be there, but how many people are going to go back in a years time to re-read something that was only relevant for a brief period of time?
I do agree with you that comments make blogs become more "alive" so to speak.
It's always interesting, or at least it is to me, to know what people think about something I've posted, whether it be good or bad criticism.
Still, good writing, as you say is timeless. There's absolutely no need for us to be sloppy about what we write. I often write things down on paper before even touching the keyboard.
Some good point to take on board
When you say "how many people are going to go back in a years time to re-read something that was only relevant for a brief period of time?" you touch exactly upon my point. There's content we write that is for the moment but there are also times where we write for a lifetime. Content that is still applicable in a year from now. I am trying to find a way to separate these two and make it easier for readers to find it.