Some of my thoughts. Your milage may vary. Thanks for reading.
It is harder than it appears...
Published on March 27, 2004 By DesignGuy In Blogging
I came to JoeUser.com originally because I had discovered Brad Wardell's blog and enjoyed reading what he had to say. It wasn't required daily reading, but every few days or couple of weeks I'd stop in and catch up. It was a pleasure to read thoughts from an average guy that didn't mind sharing his opinions.

I came back one day a few weeks ago after a long absence and discovered the JoeUser.com had changed. There were other people writing. I discovered NickyG first and enjoyed reading all of her articles, the lady has style. Since then I've discovered several more writers that I've been enjoying in addition to Mr. Wardell's articles.

But, now that JoeUser.com was accepting other writers I thought I would give it a go. I signed up for an account and wrote an article on religion that was pretty lame. I followed with another forgettable article about a woman's descent into codependancy. Both of those articles are gone now because they just weren't the voice that I want and they weren't good blogs.

Then, on a whim, I wrote about my Mac in the article I Joined The Cult. Interesting enough (to me anyway) it was placed on the main JoeUser.com page. Thanks Brad. It got a lot of looks there, but not many comments. OK, there really wasn't much to comment about anyway.

My next article on terrorism was OK, but the timing was wrong (I discovered several other articles written before mine right after I posted it). This was followed by another article on outsourcing that surprisingly enough was featured again. Wow.

In my initial article Hello JoeUser.com I said I wanted to try and make the change from reader to writer. This has been a pretty hard change for me to make. I think I know how to approach this but I'm still not sure. I'm going to write about what I feel like writing about. There is no grand plan, just whatever happens to be on my mind at the time.

I hope some of it becomes interesting reading. I'm still looking for my voice so I guess time will tell.

Thanks for reading.


Comments
on Mar 27, 2004
if you're looking for the voice in your head, this is a good place to start. I've read a couple of your articles, but i don't know how many if any i've replied to. this may be the first...

anyhoo, here's an idea for you to consider when looking for 'that voice'...

don't write a title to your blog right away... after you're done writing, you can always pick something out of your blog that sums it up, and make that the title. You can also look for recurring themes once it's done, and try to come up with something catchy to use as a title...

another good idea when looking for 'a voice' is to sit before your blank screen (blank blog window) and just start writing whatever thoughts come to mind. and i do mean anything that comes to mind. you can start out writing about what you had for breakfast, writing some fantasy that you have, or even writing about what someone might find in the trunk of your car. The idea is, once you put the pen in motion (keyboard?), the thoughts will just kinda take over. that's one method for letting the voice speak. doesn't always work, but it sure can work in a pinch.

just a thought
on Mar 27, 2004
We're all looking for that voice, that transition. I think you're doing a pretty good job.

Trinitie
on Mar 28, 2004
Thanks imajinit - didn't mention you by name in the article but you are one of the people that I enjoy reading.
Your suggestion is the way my "cult" post came to be, and this one too. I need to try what you are suggesting with titles, that could help a lot. Thanks again.
on Mar 28, 2004
HI Trinitie!
Thank you for the encouragement, I really appreciate it. You are another of the dozen people that I read on a regular basis.

on Apr 24, 2004
I'm wondering what happened to you? I hope all is well in your world.
on Apr 24, 2004
DesignGuy,

This is my first day of 'blogging' and my first day at JoeUser. I'm here to find my voice too, among other reasons. It's been 12 years since university, so my writing skills are rusty. I'm going to try to bang out the words as best I can, though. Cheers, man.

"Got to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight" - Bruce Cockburn
on Apr 24, 2004
Hey! Thanks so much, I appreciate it!

The thing about writing blogs is that you never really know what's going to fly and what's going to sink. Some of the best stuff that I think I have written just fade away, while other stuff, that I feel that I am writing outta my ass tends to get recieved fairly well. Incidentally, I almost always start with a good title (so there! MJ) and work from there. Glad to see you, and I will keep on reading.
Blog on!
on Apr 24, 2004
There are a lot of new joeuser members coming in lately... I say welcome and I hope you enjoy the posts as much as us who are already addicted....
on May 12, 2004
To WiseFawn - thank you. Just not enough hours in the day. Good things were and are happening, and I hope that I can become active here now.

To David St. H - I'm going to find your blog. Thanks for visiting mine.

To psychx - thank you also. A comment like yours is one of the reasons I really enjoy this site so much.

To NickyG - You're welcome and Thank You so much for making me intested in the "new" JoeUser.com. You're the best.