The Well's Been Dry

I have been suffering from an ailment that many bloggers have been stricken with -- writer's block, or in 21st Century terms: blogger burnout. Even when I have found a subject I had strong enough feelings to warrant a blog entry, I couldn't find the motivation, nor the energy to write. It's been a busy week, and the spare time during my evenings and weekends have instead involved concrete, and galvanized steel. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Yes, I was building a giant phallus. A large steel erection. A work of art.

And no, I am not gay.

As far as my blog entries, one thing that has amazed me over the past year, is how this site has evolved. In recent weeks, the subject matter of this site has changed, and though this has happened unconsciously, it is beginning to concern me. I am having feelings like this weblog is becoming too political.

On one hand, I want to blog about these issues, as I feel I have some strong feelings regarding the subjects I have chosen to discuss. I believe my opinions are warranted, and valid. Sometimes, I think my perspective on some issues, tied with some deductive reasoning and creative thinking, can shed some light on some very complicated issues that are happening right now in the world.

But blogging about world issues is not my forte. There are millions of political blogs out in cyberspace -- and most of them do a much better job of discussing the facts than I could.

Blogging about political issues can also be very depressing. It's no secret that in the last few weeks, I have been going through a major depressive cycle. There are a number of issues that are contributing to this, but I think what's hitting me the hardest is the fact that in a few short weeks, I will be entering the fourth decade of my life. Discussing the daily tragedies of the world doesn't help either.

People who read blogs don't want to be depressed either. They read people's blogs to be entertained. Entertainment, of course, comes is various shapes and forms, which might explain why there are blogs of very subject imaginable. People like to laugh; people love stories. People don't want to know what shirt you wore, if you brushed your teeth that morning, and people shouldn't want to know what name you've given to the little guy that stands at attention first thing in the morning.

If you are a good storyteller, it is likely you will have a successful blog, though the competition is fierce.

Many of my favorite bloggers, including Wil, Tony, Raymi and Matt are published authors. Even though Xiaxue (though I may be mistaken by this assumption) has not yet published a book, she has been lucky to land a deal (including endorsements) where she is paid to blog. One thing all five of these bloggers have in common, are that they are fantastic writers -- which is no secret if you have any idea what kind of traffic they get on a daily basis. When you are the little guy in a big pool, you can drown -- and in cyberspace, when you blog, you are in essence, competing with the above bloggers, and millions more.

Even though I admire the above bloggers, and I hold them in high regard, I would not think of imitating their style. They have got their own thing going, and I would rather make my own statement in my own way, rather than try to ride on someone's coattails and win friends (and readers) that way.

I guess I'm still trying to find my niche, even after writing for some fourteen months.