It took over three years and a website makeover/name change to get to this point, but we have finally arrived at the long-awaited 100th post. To think that this time last year, I strongly considered never writing another post for New Problem Tuesdays ever again. Between the demands of my personal life and having another passion that took just as much of my time as this does, it just didn't seem like there was enough room for a blog. Nevertheless, the saga of The Angry Musings of Dirk Scribbler/New Problem Tuesdays continues much to my approval--and hopefully to yours as well. So in this milestone post, I just want to share with y'all some of my reflections about the ups and downs of being a barely-above-average blogger...
THE NEVERENDING BATTLE JUST TO WRITE ONE POST. Confession time: I always seem to come up just short. Whether it's been spelling bees, science fairs or talent competitions, I can't tell y'all how many times I've come in second or third place--especially when I compete at higher levels. If not competitively missing the mark, then it's been personal goals that range from falling a week short of completing a workout program to tuckering out by a few tracks when doing a conceptual music project. So when I decided to get back to writing again in December, I had two primary objectives: 1) write at least one post per week no matter what and 2) treat Objective #1 like I'm forming a habit over a series of days and post for 21 weeks straight. There were so many moments during my streak where I was too stressed, too much in demand elsewhere or too tired to write--especially when writing my most in-depth posts and had multiple ideas on deck. Honestly, those rigors are a huge part of the reason I went from being a daily blog to a weekly one. However, despite my best efforts and after having an extremely rough week and weekend, I just couldn't push myself to write any half-hearted posts last week--especially one of them when I put my all into the first installment of a five-part series. Hence, I fell short by one week and failed at both of my primary objectives. Unlike other times when I've fallen short of a goal, I didn't go into hiding because of shame and disappointment in myself; as y'all can see, I'm right back like I left something. Although it was kinda early for a "vacation", it was necessary in order to reset myself and not burn out like I've done in the past or what it feels like I'm doing in other areas. With that said...
I CAN'T WRITE ABOUT EVERYTHING. In the process of trying to stick to at least one post a week, I've been able to average two posts per week since breaking my ten-month hiatus. However, although I've typically doubled my expectations, there have been several weeks when I didn't write about the hottest topic. It's not to say that I didn't have an opinion on it, but because I would be locked and loaded with my planned topics, I just didn't have the time. In a lot of those instances, I would be upset because I didn't always capitalize on the social media frenzy. That brings to mind one important factor: striking the balance between what the people want to read about and what I want people to know has been on my mind and heart. Furthermore, whether it's been with my artistic expressions, my style of dress or my writing, I don't ever like to do what everyone else is doing just because everyone else is doing it. That would go against the creative integrity of this blog and, more important, who I am as a person. Perfect example...when Beyonce's Lemonade was released, everybody was talking about it--good or bad. I had plans to buy it on iTunes, watch/listen to it several times and then write an in-depth piece about it. However, the month of May came and went and there wasn't the same urgency to write about it as, say, the backlash regarding her Super Bowl 50 performance. I've had people like Mrs. Scribbler tell me how revolutionary the album is and I wholeheartedly believe that it's a phenomenal piece of work, but I've struggled just to write what I've written so far this month. There might always be room for Jell-O, but freshly-squeezed Lemonade needs a little more appreciation than just a run-of-the-mill taste test. In short, New Problem Tuesdays is currently a one-man operation and this one man only has but so much time and energy to write. Besides, there have been enough think pieces about Lemonade to last a lifetime, so at this point, there's no need for your seventh favorite blogger to throw in his two cents, too...
I CAN'T WRITE ABOUT EVERYTHING. In the process of trying to stick to at least one post a week, I've been able to average two posts per week since breaking my ten-month hiatus. However, although I've typically doubled my expectations, there have been several weeks when I didn't write about the hottest topic. It's not to say that I didn't have an opinion on it, but because I would be locked and loaded with my planned topics, I just didn't have the time. In a lot of those instances, I would be upset because I didn't always capitalize on the social media frenzy. That brings to mind one important factor: striking the balance between what the people want to read about and what I want people to know has been on my mind and heart. Furthermore, whether it's been with my artistic expressions, my style of dress or my writing, I don't ever like to do what everyone else is doing just because everyone else is doing it. That would go against the creative integrity of this blog and, more important, who I am as a person. Perfect example...when Beyonce's Lemonade was released, everybody was talking about it--good or bad. I had plans to buy it on iTunes, watch/listen to it several times and then write an in-depth piece about it. However, the month of May came and went and there wasn't the same urgency to write about it as, say, the backlash regarding her Super Bowl 50 performance. I've had people like Mrs. Scribbler tell me how revolutionary the album is and I wholeheartedly believe that it's a phenomenal piece of work, but I've struggled just to write what I've written so far this month. There might always be room for Jell-O, but freshly-squeezed Lemonade needs a little more appreciation than just a run-of-the-mill taste test. In short, New Problem Tuesdays is currently a one-man operation and this one man only has but so much time and energy to write. Besides, there have been enough think pieces about Lemonade to last a lifetime, so at this point, there's no need for your seventh favorite blogger to throw in his two cents, too...
WRITING BLOG POSTS ARE LIKE MAKING BEATS. As a blogger who moonlights as a music producer, there are some beats that take me no more than two or three hours to make, but they won't even be among what I consider my best beats. Then there are the "Talented Tenth" beats that I spend days to make--constantly changing drums, tinkering with the effects and editing the rhythmic feel of the track like a mad man. However--and most producers will tell you the following--people always seem to gravitate toward the beats to which you don't expect them--often not your favorites or on which you didn't have to work the hardest. Blogging is no different as I go into each post knowing that it may or may not be a hit despite working countless hours on it. The most recent example of this was my four-part series on Donald Trump that I originally intended to be one post, but it was way too extensive and angular to contain into one long, convoluted piece. However, despite him constantly being a hot-button topic, only Part 3 of the series had any bit of significant popularity as it narrowly missed being the No. 5 most viewed post in New Problem Tuesdays history. On the flip side, I didn't expect my post about Maze featuring Frankie Beverly to receive as much love as it did because it was about old school R&B and it's hard to garner interest in an act who doesn't have a ready-made hashtag in regular circulation. That didn't even matter because it received way more love than I expected--which made me happy because it was about my favorite band, so that was a win despite not having to work as hard on that one. (It probably benefited from being posted the same day as my Zoe Saldana/Nina Simone piece.) In the end, I realize that my hard work and best efforts are unfortunately not always predictors as to which posts will get more traction and which ones will collect dust. That leads to my final observation...
CROWD PARTICIPATION ISN'T GUARANTEED, BUT ALWAYS ENCOURAGE IT. As someone who has always been involved in some aspect of the arts, meaningful engagement with my audience is paramount. Maybe it's the whole call-and-response thing embedded in my blood--having roots in the Black churches and traveling all the way up to hip-hop culture--but making sure that everyone is involved in the artistic experience is absolutely important to me because it's an extension of my personality. I never like for anyone to feel left out because I've known all too well what that feels like. So when I create something that's meant to generate a casual or engaged discussion but only crickets are contributing their indecipherable and unsolicited opinions, it can quickly take the wind out of my sails. I want to be able to feed off of other people's responses and have "oh wow, I didn't think of that", "oh snap, I remember that" or "oh come on, you gotta be kidding me" moments. However, when that doesn't happen, I have to fight everything in me that wants to completely revert to the introvert that wants to keep all of my precious thoughts to myself; in other words, I don't wanna be that kid who gets mad that the game isn't going his way, takes his ball and goes in the house on some "if I ain't havin' fun, then nobody is allowed to have fun" pettiness. Fortunately for me--but perhaps unfortunately for the rest of you--I can be pretty determined when I wanna be and what that translates to is this: I will not stop giving my fleeting fans and faithful supporters the opportunity to be involved in the conversation. Furthermore, I know that I can never force anyone to speak about something on which they just might not feel like commenting--even if it's something that interests them--so coercion will never be a part of my promotional repertoire. You can either participate or nah, but as long as you're reading, then I'm good with that.
So as I've completed one cycle, what should you look forward to with the next hundred posts? Expect a blogger with tempered expectations of his output ability week to week, but expect a blogger who never takes a day off even when he takes off a week. Expect a blogger who might not always write about the hot topic of the day or week, but will always write about something interesting enough to be clickbait. Expect a blogger who won't be discouraged when it seems like he's having an extended "ain't nobody comin' to see you, Otis" moment or when he's not able to always move the crowd, but will continue to write regardless of who's checking for him. Definitely expect a new series every now and then from this big ol' brain of mine as well as fine-tuning the preexisting ones in order to make this blog as diverse, unique and engaging as possible. Oh yeah...and you can expect that if there's a new problem on the horizon, then it'll probably receive its most in-depth treatment on Tuesdays.
CROWD PARTICIPATION ISN'T GUARANTEED, BUT ALWAYS ENCOURAGE IT. As someone who has always been involved in some aspect of the arts, meaningful engagement with my audience is paramount. Maybe it's the whole call-and-response thing embedded in my blood--having roots in the Black churches and traveling all the way up to hip-hop culture--but making sure that everyone is involved in the artistic experience is absolutely important to me because it's an extension of my personality. I never like for anyone to feel left out because I've known all too well what that feels like. So when I create something that's meant to generate a casual or engaged discussion but only crickets are contributing their indecipherable and unsolicited opinions, it can quickly take the wind out of my sails. I want to be able to feed off of other people's responses and have "oh wow, I didn't think of that", "oh snap, I remember that" or "oh come on, you gotta be kidding me" moments. However, when that doesn't happen, I have to fight everything in me that wants to completely revert to the introvert that wants to keep all of my precious thoughts to myself; in other words, I don't wanna be that kid who gets mad that the game isn't going his way, takes his ball and goes in the house on some "if I ain't havin' fun, then nobody is allowed to have fun" pettiness. Fortunately for me--but perhaps unfortunately for the rest of you--I can be pretty determined when I wanna be and what that translates to is this: I will not stop giving my fleeting fans and faithful supporters the opportunity to be involved in the conversation. Furthermore, I know that I can never force anyone to speak about something on which they just might not feel like commenting--even if it's something that interests them--so coercion will never be a part of my promotional repertoire. You can either participate or nah, but as long as you're reading, then I'm good with that.
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So as I've completed one cycle, what should you look forward to with the next hundred posts? Expect a blogger with tempered expectations of his output ability week to week, but expect a blogger who never takes a day off even when he takes off a week. Expect a blogger who might not always write about the hot topic of the day or week, but will always write about something interesting enough to be clickbait. Expect a blogger who won't be discouraged when it seems like he's having an extended "ain't nobody comin' to see you, Otis" moment or when he's not able to always move the crowd, but will continue to write regardless of who's checking for him. Definitely expect a new series every now and then from this big ol' brain of mine as well as fine-tuning the preexisting ones in order to make this blog as diverse, unique and engaging as possible. Oh yeah...and you can expect that if there's a new problem on the horizon, then it'll probably receive its most in-depth treatment on Tuesdays.
Continue to write what is in your heart! The Law Diva digs it!#NewProblemTuesdays
ReplyDeleteThanks soooooo much for that much-needed encouragement AND for reading, Law Diva!!! As Martin Lawrence once said, "I gots to talk. I gotta tell what I feel. I gotta talk about my life as I see it!"
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