I had no choice.

If I did, this blog would not have existed. Better for it. It’s no love child I can tell you that. But apparently, in today’s web-world, if you don’t labor over your own blog, you’re nothing. Nada.

So here we go. Well, actually, there are some posts before this one, but they are old. I made them some months ago (more like 18 months, actually), as a first-dip-in-the-web’s-cold-water, so for romantic reasons, I left them here (and here, here, here, here, here and here).

Many words have been spilled over the how and why to write blogs. Regarding the “How”, the winner of them advices is “Make ‘how to/most’ lists. People love reading them” (or, in it’s original form: “How to make your post read by millions in just 10 easy steps”) .

Here’s my list of why it’s a bad idea to write a blog. Starting off with on the right foot, so to speak:

1. You don’t really have anything important/clever/new to say. That’s major. In my point of view there are six types of blogs: the silly (didn’t say not successful) sites using a blogging platform, the news blogs (which are more like online newspaper, only vertical), the commentary ones (where people who really have something to say like Seth and Mark, are writing), the expert in one field ones, the really know how to write and all the rest, talking about whatever and enjoying number 3 in the list hereafter.
2. It’s time consuming. I’ve been laboring on this post for the last hour and a half. not including the nearly-complete post from last night deleted by mistake (of the computer, naturally). What’s the up-side? Let’s say you put into it hundreds of hours a year. Think you could use that time to achieve other, productive, goals? or just sleep? or watch TV?
3. No one will read it. And when I say no one, I mean no one. Including your family and friends, which, after almost forcing them to read, sending them numerous emails and embedding the RSS feed of the blog in your Facebook profile, will conclude that they have no idea what you’re talking about, you’re a geek, and as they always suspected – you have no life.
4. You don’t like writing. It is NOT burning in your bones. In fact, your bones start burning when you think of the 3 days that have passed since you last wrote. Ok. Make it three weeks.
5. You’re a perfectionist. So every word has to be written correctly, the design has to match your desktop, you have to use the best off-line blog publishing tool for Mac (though you never are off-line, the back office of WordPress is much better and it DOES NOT ERASE POSTS, THE MF &#$#@!!!!).
6. You’re not native in English. But you have to write in English because somewhere deep down you hope No. 3 above will not apply to you. You’ll have a readership of millions, the Wall Street Journal will cite you twice a week and you’ll be on Opera’s speed dial. So you’ll laboring over it. And have your spelling mistakes show to the world. What’s next? A Chinese version?
7. It won’t serve its purpose. Self marketing? Broadening networks? Marketing your sites? Pff. Go to 3.
8. It’s time consuming. I know I said it before. Heck. It’s been 2 hours now.
9. No one will read it. Ok. Sorry. The joke of re-writing the same point (and omitting number 10) has been chewed to dust. But still. No one here to notice even that, right?

That said, hope you enjoy my blog.

This post is tagged Blogging, Culture, Writing