As an update to my previous post regarding an evaluation of my blog, my blogging, my blogroll, and my general online habits, allow me to expand a bit on what I intend to do in this area now that I’ve had time to mull over it.
The blogroll has thinned. While there may be more entries removed, most of what’s there will probably remain. For now. I’m rather capricious with blogrolling, what with random changes in taste and interest, so as I’ve said repeatedly: “My blogroll is always in flux. I add and remove items on an ongoing basis. As my mood and interests change, so too does my blogroll.”
Also available at that link is an updated blogroll policy. I stand by it. I read blogs via RSS. Those who cripple syndication feeds, no matter the reason, fail the test for me. Disabled or minimized image presentation, post synopses only, and several other pet peeves will inhibit inclusion, and that even if I love what you do. The web has changed and having to visit a site daily to get the full content is soooo yesterday. It also robs me of precious time I can spend on more important endeavors.
On the question of my own blogging and blog, both will remain, although the former will experience a dramatic shift away from perpetual content overload to a more leisurely approach focused on quality. What does that mean?
It’s all rather simple. To date, I’ve felt compelled to offer something every other day, if not every day. That included a self-imposed requirement to proffer photographs almost as often as I proffered text.
No more.
Here’s how things will work. While I’m not penning a rigid schedule for such matters, I am releasing myself from the rigid schedule to which I’ve been tied for so long. From now on, I’ll write when I feel I have something to say. That means no insignificant updates about insignificant things, or even updates to say I’m too busy to offer an update.
It also means content will matter more than it might have in the past. Rather than blathering ad nauseam about twaddle, I want to focus on meaningful content. That includes updates about The Kids, creative writing, personal views and experiences, and whatnot. While all that may sound terribly familiar, I hope it’s the quantity and quality that will change.
I still intend to utilize the forum to keep friends and family abreast of goings on. Those entries, however, will be carefully chosen so as to remain in keeping with the new spirit of this blog. . .or at least my updated view of blogging. Or whatever.
The major change will be the frequency of posts, I’m sure. Multiple posts in a single day no doubt will be few and far between (although not extinct). Daily or every-other-day posting likewise will become less frequent. Those two changes alone I hope will aid in making what is posted better and more meaningful (cranking out content caused me to rush more often than I care to admit, and that diminished the quality of what I was doing).
As for pictures, you can continue expecting them regularly. I am by no means a professional photographer, but oh how I love to capture images at every opportunity. Sharing them here is a joy for me, an opportunity to let you see the world through my eyes (and the camera’s lens, by the way, since the two can differ dramatically!). While there are times when I’m not particularly happy with an image, but I still post it because I want you to see something, I doubt much will change about what photographs I post. I have to work with what I have, and what I have is what I took. It’s that simple.
None of this will change my responsiveness to comments. I receive comment notifications via e-mail (even for those shunted to the moderation queue). As has always been the case, I will respond to comments as quickly as I can if I feel a response is appropriate. Sometimes I think a comment stands so well on its own that I would sully it with a gratuitous answer; for all others, I will respond independent of whether or not I’m posting to the blog on that particular day.
Perhaps none of this really matters to anyone but me. Perhaps those who subscribe to this site’s feed and visit it regularly do so because something draws them here other than the particulars of what I think about what goes on here. Perhaps those who comment do so because a sincere connection is found, whether via a single post or the whole of this blog, and speaking up means more than tossing a bone to a blogger. Perhaps. . .
As I’ve said so many times before, I blog because I journal, and I journal because writing is not only a career hope, but it’s also a catharsis. Photography is a passion despite my lack of expertise. Sharing both via xenogere offers me profound joy and liberation. Feedback is not mandatory as the very act of creation satisfies me to no end, although feedback does engender a great deal of passion and, dare I say, a bit of encouragement and community.
Ultimately, my passion for what happens here will likely ensure this blog stays around for a while. . .even if I’m the only one benefiting from it. As for this new approach, I hope it provides more value to the casual visitor, less clutter for the regulars, and something more than “just another blog” to the world as a whole.
Only time will tell.