I read this column by Jakob Neilsen this morning and I had to stop and think about it for a while. It’s about the common mistakes that bloggers make. Nielsen lists two things I’m guilty of doing as a blogger.
The first one is burying the good posts. Neilsen recommends a greatest hits lists. I don’t know if I feel the need for that, since I think I’m so damn funny and/or insightful all the time. But okay, I guess if you haven’t been reading for long, you wouldn’t understand about the llamas or the ukuleles or the snow. Okay. I guess that makes sense. Still, I think you can get caught up pretty fast and I try to write stuff that stands alone.
The other thing he says is to “remember that you’re writing for your future boss.” I’m torn about this. Do I want future employers to know what I think about the President or the Supreme Court nominees? Maybe. I am, after all, a total tree hugging lefty hippie. I probably don’t want to work for someone who’s big on guns or thinks intelligent design is good science. I’m an open book as far as my politics are concerned. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don’t really know.
I have a friend who’s said about transparency in job interviews: “I want them to know right away that I’m a big ol queer. That way they won’t hire me if it’s going to be a problem.” In spite of the fact that discrimination is illegal, people will do it. They just end up saying things like, “You’re not a good fit for our team” when what they mean is “We like big ass SUVs and you took the bus here. We think you’re a dork.” I’m not always sure that they’re not doing me a favor. Just because I’m qualified doesn’t mean I want to work with you – or you with me.
This is more food for thought than a call to change my ways. I guess if I was a theiving lying evil doer, I’d probably not blog my theiving lying evil doings. I try to avoid personal attacks – unless they’re on public figures, then all bets are off. And I don’t blog much about Microsoft because I know on which side my bread is buttered. Don’t think I don’t want to! I do, oh ho ho I do. But for now, I’m shutting up.
I do send blog excerpts out from time to time as samples and for travel writing stuff, I send people to my Austria blog. I’m political there too, but it’s who I am, you know? Anyway, I’m just sort of wondering, when you write for your future boss, where do you draw the line? Politics? Personal issues? Tales of late nights hunched over illegal substances? I guess I’d narrow the field a little around this issue. No bashing employers, current or past. Coworkers, probably not safe to blog about unless it’s positive. Come to think of it, I don’t blog too much about work at all, do I? I write about the adventures I have while writing, like my glove tour, or a publication I’ve recently scored, but I don’t really talk about the bread and butter stuff around the office.
I do use profanity. I probably shouldn’t, not because I think it’s offensive, but because it’s a crisis of imagination that leads to swearing. I might be able to find better, more clever ways to say things, but I don’t think profanity is as, well, profane, as it used to be.
Shutting up. I’m not very good at it. Thing is, there’s lots of stuff that’s probably okay to blog freely about, so there’s no shortage of material for me to not shut up about. Hello future employer, what say you?
You might as well buy stuff from me, that way you know where your money is going, right?
I got paid today for my book sales. Thanks, everyone! 45.00 is off to the Red Cross. If you haven’t bought my book, you still can. It’s a newer manuscript, now with many less typos!
Today I picked up the first batch of prints. You can get St. Regio Preaches to the Ants for a mere 75.00 (unframed) and I’m here to tell you, they look really nice. Later this week, I’m picking up The Flying Fish Leave the Red Planet. Same price, 75.00, and just as swell looking as the original. And yes, I take PayPal. You know you want one of each.
Pleased to meet you, won’t you guess my name?
Once again, it’s time for you to introduce yourself. I can see that you’re reading because I check statistics, but I can’t tell who you are. You, New Orleans, say hello, k? Plus, are you dry and safe at home? Long Beach, CA, you too. Hello back atcha, thanks for visiting so often.