I’ve got a piece this week over at Piker Press. When I started writing it, I had a much different idea about where it was going to end up; but this ending presented itself, and, like a parking place in Prague, you just don’t pass that up. The first part of the story appeared here, I believe, as a Chapter One a while back. It’s the cover story – I’m not sure they gave fuego the photo credit, but that’s his work photographing the pizza.
Muddled Ramblings and Half-Baked Ideas
Words and pictures and stuff
OK, here’s maybe possibly a poll question for you to put out: “Should Carol Anne start a ‘Five O’Clock Somewhere’ blog?”
Dr. Pants has suggested that I ought to have a blog of my own, and indicated that it’s only a matter of time before I do. But I see a number of criteria for a successful blog, and I don’t know that I could meet those criteria.
1. The blog has to be interesting. It can’t just be a diary that I invite the world to look in on. Can I create interesting material that the rest of the world would want to look at? Would I have some sort of individuality that distinguishes me from the rest of the world?
2. A successful blog has a community of friends that contributes to the blog and nurtures it. A blog is dead unless it has people contributing to dialogue and debate. If I were to create a blog, would anybody really care what I had to say?
3. This may be the most critical issue: Do I have time to maintain and nurture a blog? As adjunct faculty at a community college, I do have more free time than most people have, but is it enough to see to my duties as blogmeister?
4. If all the other questions are answered in a positive way, this question becomes trivial: What technical matters do I need to master in order to create a blog? I know that Jerry has a whole lot of #2, so I can be pretty sure that if I do start up my own blog, I’ve got a community of support through this one.
My current idea for a blog would be “Five O’Clock Somewhere,” devoted to maximally pleasurable use of leisure time, the beauty and foibles of Rio Arriba County, and the occasional grammatical issue.
So, should I go for it?
Some people would even say I’m full of number two…
Really, starting a blog is all about whether you have something to say, or just need a place to practice writing. The definition of a successful blog is one that makes you happy. Technology is not an issue – check out LiveJournal or Blogspot or any one of a host of others.
I spoke to Madame Editor yesterday about making sure photo or illustration credits were included somewhere on the Piker Press front page. As I understand it, there is some sort of database field that needs to be added to the template.
Or however the hell one says it in Tech.