A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Blogging lameness

I’m starting to realize that my heart isn’t really in the quickie link-plus-two-sentences-of-pithy-commentary posts these days. And I really can’t bring myself to work up an opinion on the “hot” topic of the moment (whatever that happens to be at any given time) simply for the sake of having one, hence the relative lack of posts lately.

I feel like it’s really easy for a blog to become purely reactive, either to something you read in the news, or something some blockhead said on some other site, or whatever, and that gets really old fast, at least to me. There’s a danger of getting mired in ephemera. That, and you end up saying the same thing over and over again.

I’m thinking about ways of refocusing this place, maybe toward lengthier but less frequent posts. (My schedule doesn’t really permit frequent lenghty posts.) Do readers have any preference here? What kind of posts do you like best? I started this primarily as a way to organize my own thoughts, but I’ve really come to value the interaction with commenters and other bloggers.

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5 responses to “Blogging lameness”

  1. ktismatics

    Though I am a blockhead who’s getting old really fast, though I kind of like a quickie mired in ephemera from time to time, I think the longer posts are better. Extending your own evaluative process, clarifying complex thoughts, perhaps engaging in more thoughtful and intensive exchanges — I admire that sort of effort. Plus it sounds like the trajectory that’s calling you.

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  2. Jonathan

    I’m feeling pretty lame right now, too, with respect to blogging. In so much as I have a preference, I would prefer a mix between long, thoughtful pieces, peppered by a few link/one-liners.

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  3. jack perry

    So the season of our bloggers’ discontent spreads further? 🙂

    You guys are hitting on something that pestered me in the last months of my weblog. I could have written lots of short things that would have been reactive, wouldn’t have been well-developed, and that I likely wouldn’t have been proud of, but would have made the place something worth visiting. Or, I could have invested a few hours once every couple of weeks or so on one long, better thought out entry (not the same as a thoughtful entry, of course).

    The general preference in blogging seems to be many short, shallow postings rather than a few long, thoughtful ones. Most of the long ones themselves tend towards boring, self-centered, and not worth the effort of reading.

    In the end, I just quit, partly from a sense of responsibility to my new job (but look at me now :-)) and partly from embarassment at my penultimate post, which falls into the reactive category that Lee describes.

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  4. Thomas Adams

    Hey Lee — I sympathize with your plight, as my interest in blogging comes and goes. The quickie posts are certainly a mixed bag – they’re more convenient for the reader, who usually doesn’t have the time or energy to read a 5,000-word essay, but they’re ultimately less satisfying for the author. It’s a tough balance, so perhaps as mix of short and long posts is ideal. That way you can keep your audience but also deal with more complex issues.

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  5. Russell Arben Fox

    Well, as is obvious Lee, I gave up on short posts a long time ago. I don’t miss them, though of course sometimes I wish I had more readers. I do admire the people who can do the punchy little thought posts. But if that kind of writing doesn’t appeal to you any longer, I’d say work to discover a style that suits you, however long or infrequent the resulting posts may be, and don’t look back.

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