I have stuff I’m writing for DMfM, but realise that with the pace of life at the moment, it’s likely to be a while before I finish any of them. That doesn’t really seem to be the point of blogging. Blogging is supposed to be (fairly) instantaneous and off-the-cuff, right?
As I’ve been hand re-posting some of the six years of DMfM posts, I see that the early stuff is very much like that – very of-the-moment – but sometimes as a result, very dull.
In later years, I strove to write more polished stuff, but that inevitably, lead to things taking ages and/or not getting finished. This was also hampered by the ‘inconvenience’ of having a job again (I’d started blogging when I was unemployed in the US).
Of course the appearance of Twitter in our lives (I’m @maxturner on there, if you care to follow) means that I – like many bloggers – now have a much more instantaneous way of communicating. We can get our feelings, humour, pathos and anger out into the cybersphere in an instant, with no need to craft a whole page, just 140 characters at a time. If you’re venting that way, it’s understandable, that the blog then becomes a more occasional thing – perhaps for when 140 characters just won’t do the job.
Maybe I should blog off-the-cuff, then go back and edit for quality? Shut up with your witty answers, that was a rhetorical question. Maybe I stick with Twitter for the everyday, and blog focused pieces that are carefully written?
Ironically, I’ve written this piece completely off-the-cuff, whilst listening to my wife chat on a video call to her dad in Shenzhen, China. We’re sitting side-by-side on our Macs like some multicultural advert for how Guardian readers should start their Saturday.
So anyway, bear with me. I started a piece called Moving Forward, which was originally about all the changes happening this coming year, but ended up going on about all the dramatic changes in my life in the past decade. In fairness, it has been an above-average decade of change (not all of it good). But if I’m honest, it ran the risk of being a bit self-indulgent, and so has stalled.
Looking to the future, it was going to mention that we are looking to buy a house, and get all settled – the most settled I’ll have felt in a decade. Maybe I’ll revisit the piece and rework the comedy angle, should there be one.
Talking of moving forward, I have to go now, as MrsT and I are off to view some houses. If nothing else, I’m sure a few hours in the company of an estate agent will give me inspiration for an amusing rant.
Now if only I had the time to write it down.
