When I first started blogging over a decade ago, I recall reading a tip on one of the many blogs about how to blog that has stuck with me ever since. You have to write to someone. The best blog posts are written in a way that allows the reader to feel as if you are talking directly to them. I’m not writing poetry, or an academic paper. Especially on this blog where I’m writing about things I find interesting, have some knowledge to share, or just feel like pontificating on a topic that has piqued my desire to stare at a blank page and create something.
I had delusions of grandeur in the early days, confident I’d find an audience that would subscribe to my blog, add my feed to their RSS reader and faithfully follow my written journey through life. I pictured this throng of passionate readers and created an amalgam of them all and named them Faithful Reader. I still write to Faithful Reader; a person who is interested in everything I’m interested in, who appreciates a well constructed sentence, a clever turn of phrase and a touch of irony. Faithful Reader never tires of reading my missives and often nods in agreement as they read.
It didn’t take long until I realized very few people would ever read a word I typed out and published onto the World Wide Web. Oh I tried, believe me, I tried, but the illusion eventually faded until little by little, I started shutting down the various niche blogs I had created. I would save what I thought was my best content, and move it to another blog, knowing that Faithful Reader would find it and stick with me no matter where I went. My most successful venture was the chronicle of how I finally severed the relationship I had with the supernatural that my parents had me indoctrinated into as a child. This ultimately led to the ultimate personal satisfaction of publishing an actual book. By then, I knew how limited my audience was on the blogosphere, so I assumed my book would suffer the same fate. It did not, and it continues to sell and remains one of my proudest accomplishments. I wrote it for you, Faithful Reader, with the same style and intent I put into every blog post I write. I know you’ll read it, I know you’re interested, and I know you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I don’t know that I’d still be doing this if it weren’t for you FR. I think of you whenever I go back and read any of my old posts. If it’s a particularly good one, I smile knowing you must have loved that one. If it’s a bit sophomoric, I may cringe and assume you understand I can’t bat 1.000. If it’s really bad, I will delete it, removing the affliction from my consciousness, knowing you’ll forget about it as well. Thanks for sticking with me all these years and giving me an audience to make my case to. You have my commitment that as long as I can produce something worth reading, I will continue to do so, so you’ll always have something to look forward to.
Joe's Blog 