skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Also, there may be some instances when I'm simply too busy or too tired during the week to sit and think of my ideas slowly and carefully. So, in the weekend, I spend time jotting down titles, and then some bullet points underneath each one, as a general guideline I can follow when the date arrives. It makes my writing easier, makes me more efficient and organized, and guarantees better content, because I actually spent time thinking my topics through, doing research if necessary. Plus, on the actual day I come to put these ideas on Blogger, it's kind of like my second chance to self-critique my ideas, and I feel like I've got a little bit of an editing process going on.
If there's one day you go on Do you hate it too? and don't see new content, that means I'm not doing the job I intended, because I ultimately aim to do one entry every day. When I miss one day, it can only mean I was too lazy to blog that day, even if it meant I had an idea written down already. In fact, I already have ideas written down to last me 'til the end of February. I have no excuse to miss any day, so if I do, I'm slacking off, and I apologize for that. Trust me, I hate the lazy pig I am just as much as you do.
As for this blog, my personal blog, I give myself Tuesday and Wednesday off, a bit of a holiday on the busier weekdays. So if I'm missing some days out, it again means I was being slothful, and if I'm blogging on the Tuesday and Wednesday, it means I had some thoughts/feelings I really wanted to publish.
I can't say it's easy to come up with substantial subject matter. In fact, brainstorming interesting stuff is more often difficult and time-consuming than it is fast and smooth. If I didn't go through the process I outlined above, I'd be lucky to even produce just more than five posts in a whole thirty days.
Someone told me that I could ask people to do guest posts on both my blogs, more so on Do you hate it too? as it's the more popular one. As difficult as the idea process can be sometimes, I still don't think I'm going to open that door of opportunity any time soon. These blogs were started by me, all by myself, and it would be like I was giving up a part of me, my own integrity, and in my mind, ownership, as the sole author of all the posts that have been written so far. I'm proud of what I do by myself, and as much as I would like to share the space on Do you hate it too?, I don't think I'm ready to welcome anyone else's work - that of my friends, my family members, my fans, the people I go to school with, and all the bloggers I've come to meet through Blogger.
Some day, maybe, I'll be open to offers, but I'd like to see how much more I can do by myself. I'd like to really be confident in my own style, and have the appropriate mindset for sharing, before seeing if anyone would be interested.
I've been thinking about getting a Twitter account, but am not entirely sure if I'm up for it. There's a lot of ideas brewing in my mind at the moment, and I think I want to list them all out just so I can then focus on what I want to do. So here it goes:
My profile
I don't like my profile. I don't know why. I'll have to perhaps wipe it all off and start on a clean canvas just to paint the perfect picture I want.
Do you hate it too?
I need to keep posting daily, and I need to sign on to more blog directories and communities (like Twitter). I might possibly do a slight reformatting as well, but nothing too drastic, just maybe add a few more widgets and fun stuff on the side bars. As for The Book, I will need to start picking out fifty posts, what I reckon would sell to consumers everywhere, put them in a single word document, do a bit of editing and formatting. I need to pitch a concept for the cover to my best friend, who is quite skilled in the world of photography and graphic design. My other close friend might also be interested in writing a foreword for me. [To-do reading: the publishing process, marketing and advertising, how to work together with your mom, how to be even funnier]
"If you're going through Hell, keep going."
I sometimes feel like this blog is a bit of a mixture of loads of different blog themes put together. Sometimes, I talk about my travels, sometimes I talk about my past, sometimes I talk about my feelings, and sometimes I just post up a Youtube video. Despite the versatility, I feel that it's not really encapsulating my whole self - I still don't talk about the TV shows I watch, the anthropology course I study, the books I read, or where I want to go in the future. In the end, I meant for this to be about my daily life, and it's just really difficult to stay focused on that, when everything else also occupies my mind. Which is why my solution is going to be...
Anthropology blog
I've been doing quite a lot of reading since I've been here in university, and it's starting to get on my nerves how long it's taking me to actually announce the commencement of this blog. The problem is that I just haven't sat down yet to get started on posting anything on it, and well, now I'm pissed at myself, to be honest. So, I vow to post something on there this weekend, because it has to start some time. And if I just can't be bothered, I know I'll be guilted into doing on Monday morning, I'm sure of it. [To-do reading: nature of anthropological study, history of mankind, Sicilian women, the Kwaio, the Azande, loads of other societies...]
Youtube blog
I have a good friend who lives in Hong Kong, and whenever I ask her what she's doing, more often than not, she's going on Youtube. I, myself, have found a lot of funny, intriguing, thought-provoking videos there, and I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog with this friend of mine. Together, we find one video to post on it everyday, and whoever found the video will briefly talk about why it's worthy of your attention. I'm quite excited about this, but with our schedules, we said we would officially release this blog in mid-February. But anyway, just something to think about for now. [To-do reading: video-sharing rights, joint ventures]
Television blog
I felt like I wasn't being myself with that television blog I started, and consequentially, shut down a couple months back. I was being forced to write about everything when I didn't want to, I wrote reviews for some reason. What I really wanted to write about instead was about the thoughts that TV shows provoked in me, because writers put forward ideas that sometimes make quite an impact on the way I think after watching them. I'll try and get to reopening that one around the holiday season, 'cause I was quite unhappy that that didn't work out the first time.
Travel blog
When I turn 25, my best friend and I are leaving our lives behind to travel the entire world in all its power and beauty for however long it takes. We mean it when we say we'll do it, and everything we're doing in the next seven years is to make that voyage possible. We're learning languages, we're doing a lot of reading, and we're only in university, and soon to be working, so that we can earn money to give us steady beginnings as we get accustomed to the traveler's life when we first set out. In my reading, I've been finding a lot of interesting things about how to prepare for such a trip, and information on a lot of places we might want to visit on the trip. This journey requires a whole lot of planning (seven years worth of it), so perhaps compiling them in a blog as a pre-world trip logbook might interest some readers? [To-do reading: travelogues, other world trip experiences, travel destinations]
Hm. I feel a bit better now, 'cause all of that was getting difficult to keep in my head. All six blogs, I have passion for, but I'm a tad concerned about whether I can handle it. Somewhere in my heart, I know that the hard work will pay off, and that this is one of those things that I'm meant to do in this stage of my life. I play no musical instruments, and I do no sports - this is my talent, and I have to embrace it. All I can do is hope for personal fulfillment, recognition and happiness, so might as well hope for more... might as well dream big.
I've thought about the book thing and I have realized that I want to publish a Do you hate it too? book for the same three reasons I have written Do you hate it too? from the very beginning. The three reasons are:
1) I easily get annoyed by a lot of things, and typing it all down helps relieve stress,
2) and to present my ramblings to the world would mean that I am forced to think carefully about how I write, in order to successfully communicate with readers,
3) and as readers go through my work, they are able to relate, to share their stories which I enjoy reading, to catch a break from their busy lives, and perhaps get a good laugh out of it.
Never has this been for earning money, or fame - the greatest joy for me has always come in entertaining others, and knowing that as I blog, I am continuously refining my sense of written style and my sense of humor.
So what if it's a funny, silly book? It still sells, and the sole reason I believe that it would sell is because the premise for my blog has already 'sold' to hundreds of viewers already.
There are millions of people without the Internet, without computers, who prefer holding text in their hands, as opposed to reading it on a screen. I can reach a greater number of people, attract more viewers to my blog, and there is, of course, that short, sweet little aside - the fact that I might get money from it - that may help fund my own education and life-living.
And if it all doesn't work, it would still be a good experience, and I can take away from it the pride in knowing that I effing tried.
Your comments since I wrote my last post really helped me focus again on why I still do this. Thank you so much, and I promise you guys a mention in the acknowledgments, and a signed copy of the book when it hits the shelves. *wink*
If you have read my last entry on Do you hate it too?, you will know that my blog has been well-praised. This got my mother very excited, and she pushed an idea forward for me to consider: publishing a Do you hate it too? book.
When I first began doing this about a year ago, I had already begun to think about compiling them all up one day and putting them in a publication. 'Why I didn't do it earlier' is a question I often answered with weak claims that I'm too lazy, can't be bothered, or haven't got the time for, but to be entirely truthful, it's because I don't think it's good enough. I still feel like it really is just me giving a childish rant everyday, and honestly, what contribution to the world do I give, by exerting negativity within the blogosphere?
I know I make people laugh, but in the end, I cannot collaborate with, let's say, an anger management-orientated business, seeing as I don't offer tips on how to deal with the hates I write about. I don't give advice on how to use the English language, or how to deal with stress, or how to focus on thinking positively - even though that's what you would associate with my blog, if it were just a little bit different.
But it is the way that it is, and being an active consumer of the book-selling market myself, I know that this would merely sell as one of those silly books uncles buy for their nieces, and mothers would refuse to spend money on for their children. 'How about this novel on vampires, sweetie', 'Check out this book about dinosaurs' and 'Trevor, come see if you'd like this one full of brain teasers' they would chime. The blatent truth is, I believe Do you hate it too? is silly.
I need people who can change my mind about this, so if you have any words of encouragement, please share them with me, because I'm in a place with no self-confidence right now. I would love to begin this whole adventure right now, to find a distributor, to format a book, to sell it online, and to watch it sell on shelves in Hong Kong, Canada, the US and the UK. I probably would anyway to my mother's insistence, even if I still don't believe in the book.
But I know that if I don't believe in my own work, it won't be a success.
Sigh. What do you think? Any words of advice?
I want to start two more blogs.
One about English literature. One about television. Here's why:
English literature - I'll confess: it's been a long time since I've actually read a book for pleasure (we're looking at around two or three months). I feel that I know how to appreciate the sanctity of the written word and reading is something that I can do for hours and actually enjoy. And as I go around day by day, I come across these quotes that I really like, or I read a poem that I want to share with more people, but I can't find anybody in my real life that actually wants to listen. Posts about English text don't seem to fit in either of the two blogs that I currently have... I want to start a new one because I want literature to be a 'part' of my character here on Blogger, unlike my friends who indulge themselves with other media such as games, sports, film, music and television...
Television - Now, I want to start a new blog about movies and television. I watch a lot of movies, but I watch even more television series. You think you're a television nut? Here's a list of shows that I watch that air in the US and the UK (some of them don't air anymore, but hey, I still know the shows):
Friends. 24. Lost. Nip/Tuck. Survivor. Grey's Anatomy. Big Brother US. Big Brother UK. Skins. The OC. American Idol. Men In Trees. Desperate Housewives. The Big Bang Theory. Dancing With the Stars. Top Chef. Without A Trace. CSI. Ugly Betty. America's Next Top Model. Family Guy. Prison Break. Bones. American Dad! CSI:NY. The Simpsons. Merlin 2008. The Office US. House. South Park. Torchwood. The Apprentice US. Alias. America's Got Talent. 'Til Death. Project Runway. Veronica Mars. Saturday Night Live. The Office UK. Monk. Six Feet Under. The Amazing Race. 30 Rock. The 4400. Chuck. The Bachelor. Ghost Whisperer. Gossip Girl. The Knights of Prosperity. The Ex List. Pushing Daisies. Doctor Who. Scrubs. Medium. The Life and Times of Tim. Worst Week. Sex and the City. Little Britain UK. Phenomenon. Kid Nation. Teachers. Everybody Hates Chris. Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip. Windfall. Tell Me You Love Me. Fonejacker. Two and a Half Men. Dexter. ER. Privileged. Little Britain USA. My Name Is Earl. The Amazing Race: Asia. Robot Chicken. Hidden Palms. Kitchen Nightmares. On the Lot. Beauty and the Geek. Californication. Cashmere Mafia. The Apprentice UK. Curb Your Enthusiasm. Fringe. The Bachelorette. American Gladiators. The Secret Life of an American Teenager. The X-Files.
I'm not kidding around here. My list is dead serious.
I want to write about all the movies and TV I watch, but is there anyone in the blogging world that cares? I know that a large percentage of bloggers are English teachers, established writers, journalists and students who really love English. I know I'll be able to share my thoughts in that regard. But are there people that watch TV as well? Will people read my reviews on movies, on TV?
Or are they all satisfied with the digital media provided to them by the World Wide Web?
Posts
