Is it possible to deal with a topic in depth in a single blog post and still be read by a substantial number of people on a blog platform? Or is a blog post meant to be short, striking, entertaining for a moment, even intriguing, merely pointing to something more extensive and detailed? Is it meant to just keep people updated, a “Hello! I’m here” as opposed to “Hey! I’m here to visit and here’s my luggage. I plan to settle in for a while.”
Continue reading Short blog posts or long ones?
Category Archives: Most Commented
What’s a good blog?
What’s a good blog?
For me personally, it’s very hard to tell. I know it when I see it.

But what am I looking for?
One thing I know for sure–when I’m browsing a blog, I’m also looking for a good experience. Continue reading What’s a good blog?
Three reasons I like to read not-so-well-known blogs
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. (from “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray)
There are certainly many excellent established blogs out there. I love to read them. But I also like to scour the blogopsphere for hidden gems.
Continue reading Three reasons I like to read not-so-well-known blogs
Why read blogs?
Why do you read blogs?
I’ve been wondering. I’m not sure why I read blogs myself!
Why not read articles by established opinionators, stories by reputed writers, whacky visuals on established ads, photographs taken by friends rather than unknown people, instructions on how to do something or solve a problem from established players in a field?
What desires in us, what needs does the blog form satisfy that other forms can’t? What is it doing differently? Continue reading Why read blogs?
On learning writing through blogging
Blogging: Quality vs. Quantity
The challenge:
Have you ever scrolled through what seemed like a million blogs before you managed to come up with one that seemed worth reading? Have your various feeds been bombarded with numerous posts so that you have wondered if you needed to “unfollow” or “unfriend” someone while the whole time being aware of an uncomfortable feeling that you might be missing out on a few good posts by removing the blogger completely from your feed?
There are bloggers who post too much. We simply don’t feel like seeing them again. And there are bloggers who post too little. They get buried  in the avalanche of the prolific post-ers.
It’s not the blogger’s fault. My limited experience with blogging has revealed an inherent contradiction embedded in the very genre of the blog .
Continue reading Blogging: Quality vs. Quantity
Missing experiences surrounding print newspapers

We had some new furniture delivered the other day. As will happen with deliveries, some chinks and scratches appeared on the varnished surface as an inevitable part of the delivery process. The store sent a very gentlemanly elderly man to paint over the chinks. He had a can of spray with him. He cleaned the surface with sandpaper, readied the spout over the scratched area and asked me a very normal question.
“Can you give me some newspapers?”
Continue reading Missing experiences surrounding print newspapers
Six ways to become a more productive writer
I’ve been thinking about how to become a more productive writer. Here’s six ways I came up with that could get the creative juices flowing:
Continue reading Six ways to become a more productive writer
My Blog Audience
Perhaps it’s because I’m still new to blogging that I haven’t lost the sense of wonder yet. It’s summer here and things are kind of nice late at night.
I was sitting at my computer in a room with a big glass window. The city skyline was spread out in front of me glittering like a long necklace across the empty river.
Continue reading My Blog Audience