I asked myself this question quite frequently. What is it I hope to accomplish with this blog? Who do I hope will read it? What should I be reading? Should I be focusing this on one topic? One area? What?
When I first started this blog, I did intend on focusing a lot on my area of research, which is virtual worlds in general and Second Life in particular. But that soon started to change. In fact, I think I changed it from day one. I was mixing things up, changing things around, but still coming back frequently to virtual worlds and technology. I soon realized I really enjoyed the queer readings as well, and I really enjoy throwing the odd bit in from magazines.
Then I ran across an article in Writer's Digest that really resonated with me. The name, "Pitching the World", piqued my curiosity. Steven Rowland discusses his journey of querying "every market in the latest freelance directory" (8). Rowland is, you guessed it, a freelance author. But he's had his ups and downs. At one point he decided to get out of that business and write really boring things for the government. That didn't last long either, and he hated the thought of going groveling back to the editors he had once written for.
So he had an idea, an idea not completely unlike my own, but his is on a much larger scale. He also wanted a challenge, and so he decided to "pitch [his] way through the directory [of freelance directory], front to back" (9). 642 listings of magazines. Even though there are times that he wonders what possessed him to take on this challenge, he admits that he's "thinking more rigorously and more creatively than ever before" (9). He has busted through his comfort zone, and he realizes that he had "been too reliant on pitching in a standard, uniform manner on subjects that seemed varied but actually weren't" (9).
So while my blog doesn't even begin to touch what Rowland is doing, I still feel as if I am stretching . . . reading things that I probably wouldn't have without this challenge hanging over my head. I've had to modify my goal (no, I no longer believe I can make 260 post in one year), but I am determined to have 260 posts, or some combination thereof, before I end.
When I first started this blog, I did intend on focusing a lot on my area of research, which is virtual worlds in general and Second Life in particular. But that soon started to change. In fact, I think I changed it from day one. I was mixing things up, changing things around, but still coming back frequently to virtual worlds and technology. I soon realized I really enjoyed the queer readings as well, and I really enjoy throwing the odd bit in from magazines.
Then I ran across an article in Writer's Digest that really resonated with me. The name, "Pitching the World", piqued my curiosity. Steven Rowland discusses his journey of querying "every market in the latest freelance directory" (8). Rowland is, you guessed it, a freelance author. But he's had his ups and downs. At one point he decided to get out of that business and write really boring things for the government. That didn't last long either, and he hated the thought of going groveling back to the editors he had once written for.
So he had an idea, an idea not completely unlike my own, but his is on a much larger scale. He also wanted a challenge, and so he decided to "pitch [his] way through the directory [of freelance directory], front to back" (9). 642 listings of magazines. Even though there are times that he wonders what possessed him to take on this challenge, he admits that he's "thinking more rigorously and more creatively than ever before" (9). He has busted through his comfort zone, and he realizes that he had "been too reliant on pitching in a standard, uniform manner on subjects that seemed varied but actually weren't" (9).
So while my blog doesn't even begin to touch what Rowland is doing, I still feel as if I am stretching . . . reading things that I probably wouldn't have without this challenge hanging over my head. I've had to modify my goal (no, I no longer believe I can make 260 post in one year), but I am determined to have 260 posts, or some combination thereof, before I end.
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