Have you set an end-date for your blog?
I believe there is some merit in the saying, “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing … badly.” We need not always build a cathedral. Sometimes a tent will do. In that spirit, I regard a blog to be a sketchpad for ideas. (I’ll save my best writing for print.)
Still, I admit that I speed-read and speed-write too often on slow reading. The irony is not lost on me. I speed-read other people’s blogs using my handy feed reader. I have made an effort to draft posts more often; most of my “Preferred Posts” were written as drafts over time. But too often I am quick to dash off a post or a comment. One of the reasons I value slow reading is that when my day of high-tech is done, I need time to slow down and get balanced.
I have an idea that helps with slow blogging. I have set an end-date on my blog: one year after its first post, thus ending on August 27, 2008. This logic flies in the face of blog analysts who grimly note that most blogs do not last more than a year, as if that mattered. I do not think the end-date has to be iron-clad. It is just a target. Why do I think an end-date is important for a blog? How does it contribute to slow blogging?
- It gives your blog focus. You have one year to say what you have to say. You will be less likely to dawdle on about silly topics (like “blogging about blogging”; eek, that’s what I’m doing).
- You can let go of worries about building your readership or career based on your blog. Who cares about the size of your readership when you know you are going to politely bid farewell at the end of the year.
- Things without limits tend to be dangerous: cancer, GDP, greed. Good things have a natural end: fun days, stories, lives.
- You can shake off the baggage from your old blog when it ends, and start fresh with new ideas on your new blog.
Have you set an end-date for your blog?
(This post was inspired by a conversation earlier today with Peter from Slow Reads about slow blogging, a topic that got started with a post on Carl Honoré’s blog).
Update, December 7, 2007. A book that never ends? “The digital age — and devices such as the Kindle e-book — could change the art of storytelling forever. And not necessarily in a good way.”
Hmm. For a “project blog,” sure: It makes sense to set an end date.
Otherwise, though, setting an end-date is unnatural, as far as I’m concerned. A blog isn’t like a book or a story; it’s like a serial publication–or like a writing career. Very few magazines begin with set end dates: “We’ll stop publishing five years from now.” They may end, but for natural reasons.
I don’t choose to set an end-date for my life (I’ve suggested a target, but I’m not serious about it). I don’t believe it would be natural to choose a target date on which to stop blogging, or stop publishing Cites & Insights, or stop writing in general.
It is an arguable assertion, perhaps stated more moderately as “begin with the end in mind”. I do think that the concept of story underlies many more activities than we generally think (I’m guessing you agree) and so benefit from some thought to their beginning, middle, and ending. I think of jobs where I stayed too long; the lesson learned is to leave when the tide is high(er). You see this on television series like the Sopranos; the producers have the wisdom to end the story even though it’s popularity might keep viewers watching for seasons yet. A target end-date is exactly the idea (personally, I’ve targeted the year 2100 for my final end-date)
Well, I’ve inspired yet another blogger to quit!
I have a friend who starts a blog, lets people know about how long it will be around for (something like a year, usually), watches it grow in popularity and influence, and then follows through on his intention to kill it. He’s gone through something like this cycle two or three times now. His reasoning is something like yours. He’s quite a writer. (I just wish he’d leave the stuff on a server.)
I think your approach is a healthy one. I think there are other healthy approaches how long a blog should run, of course. I have seasons of a lot of activity and seasons when I just don’t have the time. Sometimes blogging works on my mind the wrong way, and I hem and haw and then take a break. I haven’t felt my blog’s natural end, though right now it feels like it was about three months ago.
Your fourth bulleted reason is the most persuasive to me. I’ve taken to repackaging my blog each of the past three years in part to refocus it. In the process, I delete the posts that have come to sicken even me. Mission creep is not necessarily bad, though. A blog can be like an old friend to regular readers, I guess, and we expect to discover new things about friends, expect to watch them become “round characters.” Differing a bit from Walt, I’d say that it’s precisely because a blog is a story that one may choose to keep it going indefinitely.
Reading your post and responding here are helping my thinking.
As for the final end-date, I think by 2050 you’ll probably change your mind!
Here’s an interview with the blogger that Peter mentioned. (It’s more than two or three blogs he’s killed off, by the way – more like six or seven.) I too was reminded of his philosophy here.
Me, when I get restless I start new blogs or blog-like projects without discontinuing the old ones — a far less sustainable approach!
I suppose it depends on why you are blogging. My blog is the flytrap to attract readers to my writing even though at the moment there’s nothing out there hardly for them to read. It is a part of a project. There a full website, a MySpace page, a Facebook page and plenty of others in various communities all ready to go live but, because of the popularity of blogs at the moment, it is the one that is getting all the attention. No point trying to sell books without a audience waiting in the wings. (Okay so actors wait in wings – you get my drift).
As I intend to continue writing and will always have something new to promote I can’t honestly see an end to my blog. Even those authors who are successful keep blogs (jeanette Winterson’s being a good example).
I think a more important thing to stress rather than an end date is frequency of posting. I dig my heels in and aim at no more than two a week. Keep ‘em wanting more.
Hi Peter, I’ve put one blog to “sleep” so far (http://johnmiedema.wordpress.com). It was my first public blog, had the usual first blog characteristics — wandering mission, odd mix of personal and professional — and was a real learning experience. Most of all, I learned how much I liked blogging. I call it a success because it revealed a great topic for this new slow reading blog. Perhaps because it is more focussed, I know that it has a certain life span. It is possible that when it has run its course (a year, perhaps) I will return to the first blog.
Dave, thanks for posting the interview. A quick look tells me I like the way “anonymous” thinks and writes. I intend to give it a good slow read.
Jim, thanks for visiting. I confess I am not drawing a hard line on ending the blog. If I discover unexpected wells of thought, I will keep going. I think many blogs do come to an end of sorts, and start anew, without every changing the URL.
Delighted to meet you gents. Looking forward to ongoing conversation.
Hey John,
I followed you over from your original blog and enjoy your postings. I hope you reconsider putting a “shelf life” on this blog.
Hi Joe, which of my two blogs — my previous and this one — do you like better? No pressure, of course. The reason I ask is that I could have continued there writing posts about slow reading, but I am certain the current “Slow Reading” blog contributes to the focus, quality, character and readership. I’d be interested in your view.
I look forward to good endings; it allows for a discharge of energy, a sense of task complete, and something new afoot. When the day comes that “Slow Reading” comes to an end, I will likely have already planned something better to replace it!
BTW, I’ve also been reading and enjoying your “Midnight Run”. Thanks for recommending, “Little Guide To Your Well-Read Life”. http://midnightrun.wordpress.com/2007/06/07/your-well-read-life/
Sorry I haven’t been back–busy massaging other people’s stories.
I should correct one of my comments: Some blogs may be stories, some aren’t. And, indeed, some stories are open-ended (e.g., if you think of Discworld as one grand story, it’s open-ended as long as Terry Pratchett maintains interest), some aren’t. Sometimes it’s not clear: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (one of my all-time favorite TV stories) closed intentionally and with a wonderfully satisfying finale–but the story continues, in a series of graphic novels depicting “season 8,” after the series ended with season 7.
I’m always disappointed when someone not only closes a blog (a reasonable decision if that’s their style or need)–but disappears it, leaving later readers to hope that there’s cached evidence of what once was. Maybe that’s because I am a writer by evidence, and assume that, once published, things don’t become “unpublished.” The only blog posts I’ve deleted were a series of functional posts (without content) that turned out not to be functional, and unless there are legal or deeply personal issues, I’m one of those who corrects/modifies a post using strikeout, so the trail is clear. But that’s me; as always, YMMV.
And, at the same time, I can see reasons for truly ephemeral content (except that, on the web, that which you wish to be ephemeral probably won’t be). [OK, complete admission: I deliberately published one "ephemeral issue" of my ejournal, available only for a ten-day period, largely as a stunt... And, when I chose to make the whole year's set available as a PoD paperback...I included the phantom issue. Consistency is not necessarily my hallmark.]
No real conclusion here. Things to think about. Slowly, perhaps.
[...] of John Miedema, there was an interesting post and comments at a recent post, “Have you set an end-date for your blog?” [BTW, there are frequently interesting things to read at Slow [...]
Hey John,
To be honest, I didn’t know anything about slow reading until I saw your new blog. I like the concept though, especially considering that so much of what I have to read for my LIS courses is the opposite….quick reading just trying to get the general meaning, scanning articles, etc., while probably missing out on some important insights because of a lack of time.
Your original blog covered topics in LIS that were of interest (being an LIS student and hopefully future librarian) and I think you had an important voice there. But maybe this new one fills a niche for you (and your readers) better. Either way, I’ll keep reading just the same.
Thanks for the comments on Midnight Run. As you can tell, I haven’t done much updating to it, mainly because of the course workload this semester. Maybe I’ll get back to it after the semester.
I like the clean new look of your website, John. I hope you will reconsider setting an end-date to slowreading. You’ve stirred up a lot of interest and certainly got me keen on hearing more on the topic. I need time to catch up to all the great new postings, for one thing …
Thank you so much for your very generous comments on my novel Conceit in your Book Reviews section. I very much appreciate your insights!
Mary | http://www.marynovik.com
Thanks Mary. Lots of new posts are brewing for Slow Reading, but should an ending come, in time, then I promise a good ending. Best wishes with writing your next novel.
When Freud felt that his patient, ‘the Wolfman’, was getting a tad too comfortable in the analysis and not progressing he took the readical step of saying, We’ll continue for one more year, then stop. Just as you predict will happen with your blog, the patient stopped mucking about and worked properly.
The deadline-as-target I don’t know about. The mind can get pretty tricky. If Freud ahd said, Give or take a year, they’d probably still be at it.
Don’t set a deadline lightly, but stick to it once you do. Freud: “A lion only leaps once”.
Point taken, Steve. Thanks.
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