“Red Smith was asked if turning out a daily column wasn’t quite a chore. … ‘Why, no’, dead-panned Red. ‘You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.'” Walter Winchell- talking about his friend, Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith.
I have returned to blogging with what I hope is a new sense of purpose. I haven’t posted on my blog in some time, partly because I felt I needed to re-evaluate my writing. I wasn’t getting what I wanted out of my writing and that I could do better.
Mostly I haven’t posted in a while because I have been lazy.
Which brings me to the some of the issues that I feel have hindered my blogging. The biggest issue has been the editor of this blog has been far too lenient with the writer of the blog. There have been no consequences for missed deadlines. Too much time is spent by the writer looking for gifs and cool images, not enough effort on the writing itself. A need for discipline is called for.
Another problem has been that my blogging has been too scattershot and disjointed. Lately I’ve been reading some of my favorite blogs as a blogger, not a reader, to see how they organize their content. I’m going to use one of my favorite blogs, Ace of Spades HQ, for my inspiration. Warning: if you plan on checking out Ace of Spades, be aware it’s predominantly a political blog and thus may not be your cup of tea. But in addition to politics, Ace has weekly posts that cover a wide range of subjects. Topics include gardening, books, movies, cooking and more. Very enjoyable reads.
My plan, which I will admit it is still a work in progress, is do posts on my favorite subjects on a scheduled weekly basis. For example: each week on a certain day there will be a post about beer. Another day of the week might be set aside to write about traveling or bicycling. Perhaps I’ll do a book post every Sunday. I will still continue to post about miscellaneous subjects as I see fit, but I’m hoping that by doing scheduled posts my blogging will improve.
Finally, my original intent was to do a post a week. I don’t think that is nearly enough output to make my blog (and writing) successful. For one thing, a “week” is a subjective timeline. If I post on Monday one week and then on Friday the next, I technically have done a post a week. Not nearly good enough. For another, weekly posting makes it hard for a reader to follow my blog. Nobody wants to check my site out to see if I have posted anything new when the posts are so infrequent.
So here it is, the re-launch of MrVintageMan. Wish me luck!
Oh, in other news, I’m planning on adding a subject I’ve been interested in for some time: the American West (Old and Modern). More info will be provided soon.
As always, comments and suggestions would be most welcome.
