January 22, 2007

Why Keep A Blog?

Originally posted May 8, 2006

Welcome to the beginning of the personal blog of James Gannon, a little something I like to call "The Epitaph". The content of this blog isn't political commentary or general world news. Rather, it will contain thoughts I have and various going-ons in my life. I will also elaborate more on news bits I post.

I used to keep blogs off and on long before I established an official domain name, but they were usually short lived. Not knowing exactly what to talk about, it came to me that most people won't want to know what I had for lunch. Because of this, don't expect a new blog entry every day. I'll try at least a couple times a week if I'm not ready to drop from fatigue by the time it comes to write them. I will also throw in a bunch of short, random comments that I hope might make you chuckle a bit, or at least not make you roll your eyes back in your head too far. Whether I'm forming a novel or typing a blog entry, my main goal is to entertain you.

I guess a major reason that I decided to commit to this... commitment... is from what I read in a book about writing. Even though my stories are going to be the bread and butter of my career (I just made myself hungry) it appears that the writer himself is important in selling the book. By that, I don't mean I'll throw a bunch of copies of my literature into the trunk of my car and try to sell them to every person on the sidewalk. I mean that I will have to use my charisma to catch the attention of an audience so I can promote my book to them. And if anyone knows me, they know I have virtually no charisma. But that should work in my favor, as this writer's attitude matches his writings. Serious, but with hints of humor thrown in. This blog will be an online extension of my character.

I also have to restrain myself a bit on various topics, because there are certain subjects that people just can't stand hearing a different viewpoint on. This goes especially true for topics such as politics, religion, and oddly enough, sports. But if there is something I feel strongly about, I will comment on it. Hopefully my regular readers will agree with me and not go insane with the hate mail trying to sway my opinion to their side by questioning my sexuality and making inaccurate accusations about my mother with inaccurate accusations. Don't worry, I know who I am. I am a writer, on my writing web site, writing on my writing blog. I will keep things mostly in tune to my career and try not to stray too far off the beaten path.

Finally, I read a very short, useful, and to-the-point piece of advice in the same writing book I mentioned before: "Writers write". Blogging every once in a while will hopefully improve my skills in the long run.

And that is my explanation for keeping a blog. Just remember that no one is forcing you to read it, and if you choose to, I hope you enjoy it.

And that's just the way it is.

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