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ChronoLog, Discoveries
ChronoLog, Discoveries Saturday
20Mar
Pearls From Her Pocket
Saturday, March 20, 2004 at 12:47AM Several days ago, while researching Squarespace’s competition, I happened on a most informative read.
If any of you have ever been to Rebecca’s Pocket you
know that it’s author, Rebecca Blood, consistently puts out thoughtful
commentary on her weblog there. Wanting to know more about the history
of blogging, I saw her name come up frequently in my searches, so
reasonably assumed she was among the net’s foremost commentators on the
subject. Doing a little investigating turned up a terrific article written
by her, on the origins and evolution of weblogs, and verified my guess
that, after all, she was a recognized authority of the medium. She’s
also the author of The Weblog Handbook.
So you can see why I’d think it would be really special to receive an email from her.Turns out, not only did I get a thank you note for the compliments I sent her but, along with it, some very useful advice for budding writers/bloggers, that she’s going to let me pass on to you. So, on with the good stuff. Here is what the widely acclaimed Rebbecca Blood — many more praises to her name — has to say about successful blogging:
1.) Read Strunk & White, “The Elements of Style.” Read it at least once a year. Strunk’s portion is here: http://www.bartleby.com/141/
2.) Read the best writers you can find. EB White and James Thurber are two that spring to mind. Rebecca Mead and Malcolm Gladwell of the New Yorker are two more. There are thousands, from all eras.
3.) Write in your weblog. Write every day or several times a week. It doesn’t matter what you write about, but every time you update your site, include one link to an article or another website, and summarize it in one sentence. you may add one sentence of opinion if you like, but it’s not necessary. Writing short is hard, and this practice is probably the one that improved my writing the most, the fastest.
4.) If you’re having trouble updating your weblog every day, think about refocusing your site on something you’re more interested in. See if the library has my book “the weblog handbook” for a consideration of some possible approaches.
5.) Learn to think critically. The Elements of Reasoning (2nd ed) by Edward PJ Corbett and Rosa A. Eberly is an excellent starting point. The essence of critical thinking is the willingness to be wrong. It requires the ability to genuinely consider ideas you know are wrong, and to question ideas you know are right, both very difficult practices. Remember, if you don’t care about the truth, it’s easy both to form opinions and be persuasive. Figuring out what’s really going on takes more work.
6.) Make time to pursue the things that genuinely interest you.
7.) Always be reading something - something that really interests you. This can be a novel, history, science fiction, a cookbook, comics, anything, just something you look forward to picking up every day. If you get bored, put it down and pick up something else. Live by these rules. Even if you are busy, try to set aside at least half an hour every day or several times a week.
8.) Always be learning to do something, something that really interests you. Whatever: fixing cars, baking bread, perl, swimming, tying knots, how to make the perfect stir-fry, a language anything at all, whatever you want to know. Allow yourself to learn slowly—if an hour a week is all you have, enjoy your hour every week.
Thanks for your nice note. good luck!
best regards,
rcb
Thank you Rebecca. I for one intend to start integrating your ideas into my writing life at once, even if #3 gives me some trouble.
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Reader Comments (15)
Ah, and I want to thank you for visiting my personal weblog and for the comment you left. Very nice of you. And just because I find your weblog so interesting, I am also letting you know I am adding it to my Quick Links & Considerable Reads.
Do take care, and hope to hear from you soon.
- Heather
And Heather! You're welcome, every word was muchly deserved. I appreciate the links! I see you also added Rebeccas Pocket, a much wiser inclusion if I do say so myself.
Writers write, Whether they want to or not. You have to keep the pistons primed, so to speak, because they will rust from disuse.
From the perspective of someone who writes fiction, Stephen King's _On Writing_ has excellent advice.
http://www.fragmentsofshadow.com
Yours, T.
BTW, Terry, I like the design of your site for its really atmospheric, kind of surreal qualities. Nice work. One question though: Where's the journal?
you always manage to find interesting and unique ways to improve the quality of the service. Of what use is the best blogging platform on the internet if its writers are not up to par? I am a closet grammar freak and it cool reading those points in The Elements of Style - they were exactly the questions that nag me whenever I write.
I don't know what I did to merit status as a favorite ANYTHING, but I'm flattered by the acknowledgemetn nonetheless.
I consider the Elements of Style to be my most valuable reference guide to writing. I too am always eager to learn ways I can improve my writing ability, so if you drop me an email I'll point you to some other resources I have found valueable, if you like. My network is down, so it may take me several days to respond.
With respect to item #3 of Rebecca's advice, I am more inclined to update less often, paying more attention to the quality of the update. In fact I believe the key to Squarespace's success as a blogging platform is predicated on the quality of bloggers it attracts. When I can write quality work, consistantly, every day, then I will churn out more frequent updates.
As for my layout -- I've decided to let the current incarnation of the site age a little bit before I retire it. Besides, my alleged design talents do not extend far beyond my graphics application. Although I could readily conceive a much more attractive template for the site, I would have trouble implimenting it. Squarespace's template editor isn't quite ready to be used by people like me yet.
Thank you for the kind acknowledgements. Hopefully I'll talk to you soon,
Ty
Thanks You.
Thank You.