On Lowering My Standards

Hi All and a Merry 2011!

So, FWF has been on hiatus whilst I tried to get through my writers block and some other stuff.

One of the main problems I’ve been having is that I feel the need to write long pieces and if I can’t write at least a couple thousand words on a subject, I don’t feel like the piece is worthwhile.

However, my wonderful and loving Fiancée, who, for reasons unknown, is always there for me, no matter how stupid my problem, has assured me that I don’t always need to write huge posts.

The main reason I started this blog is because, in my every day life, I rant a lot and people tend to find my rants quite funny so I thought I’d try my hand at internet comedy. At first, I got a little hung up on list-based humour, being a big fan of Cracked.com, but I couldn’t make that work for me as I often get angry at things that don’t lend themselves to numbered lists. I also did a couple of “Nature/Computers wants to kill you” articles, but that too was not sustainable (although I may still do more in the future).

Eventually, I started to find my stride and posted some good content, but I was still getting hung up on length. And we all know that it’s not the length that matters but what you do with it. Or maybe it was Girth that matters… I don’t think this metaphor is working.

Anyway, one day I was having a little rant to my Missus and she said, “You should write stuff like this more.”
I explained about being hung up on word counts and how I didn’t feel I was putting the effort in if an article was short.
She told me that was stupid and didn’t matter; that a short but funny rant could be just as good as a long article and that I shouldn’t worry so much.

I have mulled over her words a lot since and I think she is probably right, as usual.

I was discussing my writers block with a friend who reads my blog, explaining how I tend to be a lot funnier during spur of the moment rants when something has annoyed me and he asked if I’ve ever thought of using a Dictaphone to record my rants so I can transcribe them later.

Although it’s a very good idea, in theory, I don’t think it’s something I could do. First of all, my rants tend to be off the cuff and mid-conversation. Secondly, they’re spontaneous. I’ll be having a conversation with someone and something will set me off. I can’t exactly pause and say, “give me a sec to get my tape recorder.”

It wouldn’t be natural.

I’m not going to start promising lots of posts and I am not going to stick to any sort of schedule but I am going to try and be less hung up on word counts and just post what I want.
After all, it is my blog!

I’m currently editing a post, so that will be up soon.

Thanks for bearing with me. I will be back.