I have a habit where I make a bunch of promises that, in the moment, seem perfectly doable.
Then a few days go by and I realize, “Ugh, I don’t want to do this at all.” In the past month alone I thought of writing an ebook unrelated to this blog, starting a site for male humor bloggers, and working on a podcast. The podcast thing is actually happening, and we’ll see how it goes. But, if after a few episodes it turns into a bust, oh well.
I’m an idea guy. I constantly think of ideas and then many don’t make it to execution phase. What I know is that success comes when I laser focus, do some serious hard work, and build a long-term plan. This blog is an example. I know I probably won’t be able to pay the bills through it for many years, if ever. If I want a book deal, I will need 70k more Twitter followers for a publishing firm to come calling. By writing every day I’m trying to share my life with my readers and also build my writing skills.
So, no matter what I write every day. This is the hard work, laser focus, and long term strategy. Maybe in 2013 this will change and I’ll scale back. I have no idea. One of the questions I do have is about all the stuff I’ve already written. I never go back and read it. I feel like I should revisit old dailies once in awhile. I can’t remember hardly anything I’ve penned and when I return to a previous post I often find one line or a joke that makes me feel like an actual writer.
Since I’m not a “real” writer I’m not sure if there’s recommendation in how to balance your writing life. Is it strictly output? Or going back and retreading old material for nostalgic purpose? I mean, once every few years I’ll go through old photos which feels good. But do people read their old diaries? I think the answer is generally “yes” if you haven’t kept a diary for years and years. But I write every day. Maybe I should read one old post a day, just to remember where I came from.
Whatever. This is stuff that isn’t interesting to you.
But, here is something that is!
Maybe!
I hereby promise to reply to every last comment on my blog that I haven’t yet. Currently there are over four hundred outstanding. I knocked out two hundred today alone. I had vowed when I started this blog that I would reply to every comment for as long as I could. Like missing a day at the gym, after missing a day of replying to comments, I let it go for a few months.
One of the nice things about going back and doing comments is that it forces me to re-read old content. Plus, it reminds me how lucky I am that people take the time to write.
Less than 1% of you reading write comments. And, trust me, I get it. I probably wouldn’t write comments either if I wasn’t a blogger. Even if 3% of you did, I wouldn’t have the time to respond. So, everyone, keep doing what you’re doing. If you just read, you’re great in my book.
I feel bad about missing so many comments. I have funny readers that I owe responses. Plus, I love reading old comments, too.
I now have over 5k comments on the site and I wish I had a better way to go back and read them. They’re backed up, so I’ll have ’em forever. Don’t ask for them back, though. They’re mine, dammit!
(if you get a lot of emails from LiveFyre, that’s just me replying to your comments – feel free to reply back!)
Young Adultish says:
Podcast? This excites me. The comments thing is cool, too. And ambitious. You can skip responding to this if it helps.
D.J. Paris says:
Young Adultish Yeah, the comment sort of sucked. Thanks for letting me off the hook!
SteveWalters says:
I see you have advertisers in your sidebar which means you are making money from this site right? If you are making money then dammit you are a professional writer. The internet has changed all the preconceived “I have to have a book deal to be a real writer” crap IMO. If you are getting paid for your writing (no matter how little), then you are a real writer. Even if you weren’t getting paid, I would say that judging by your output and dedication to blogging you are a real writer. Real writers write yo!
D.J. Paris says:
SteveWalters This is true, I am technically a professional! Cheers to me! Ha.
Katjaneway says:
Writers always re-read their stuff. I go back and re-read stories all the time. Mostly stories that I’m editing, but finished ones too sometimes… because I feel that I’m never really done editing them. I love re-reading my stuff because obviously I enjoy the content lol And I write just about every day too, so it’s technically the same thing 😛
D.J. Paris says:
Katjaneway I need to do that – I never go back!
RachRiot says:
Sometimes I go back and reply to my commenters, and sometimes I don’t. Depends on my mood. I’m not sure why, because I really do appreciate every comment, and it always gives me a little thrill when a blogger comments on my comment. So why wouldn’t I do it for others? ‘Cause I’m a lazy bitch. THAT CHANGES NOW.
D.J. Paris says:
RachRiot Because of your gigantic header I always think, “Oh, the poor girl, confined to a Rascal because of the gout.” I’m sufficiently bummed and have a hard time leaving a comment.
RachRiot says:
tfpHumorBlog RachRiot HA! You know what? You are not the first person to ask me if I really need that Rascal. I have full function of my legs normally but I was indeed drunk as balls that night and stole that ass wagon while in a fancy restaurant. Someone had parked it right by the door! I HAD to!
D.J. Paris says:
RachRiot tfpHumorBlog It’s a hilarious photo even if you were a cripple. I feel like nobody says “a cripple” anymore. It’s time to bring it back!
thebloggerincognito says:
if Jenny Larson can get published so can you.
thebloggerincognito says:
if Jenny Lawson can do it, so can you.
D.J. Paris says:
thebloggerincognito Ha. I love JL – she thinks I’m very handsome which makes me giggle. And once I start getting 450 comments per post I’m going to hire a team to impersonate me and respond. My friend Liz at FlourishinProgress and Noa at OhNoa respond to each one, and those ladies get a lot of comments.
ttoombs08 says:
I agree with Steve Walters (HI, Steve!), you are a *real* writer…now I just need to figure out what that means. That’s some pretty ambitious stuff, deciding to respond to every comment. Maybe your four legged side kick could help out a tad? 🙂
Why not promise to visit all of our blogs and comment as well? *hint* On second thought, scratch that…wouldn’t want you witnessing original lameness and soiling your magnificence with out pathetic attempts. 🙂 Good luck with the commenting back!
D.J. Paris says:
ttoombs08 Yes, I’ve put the dog to work. Ha – visiting every blog would not be possible, sadly. I already read about 40 and get behind there, too. I wish I could!
Erin23 says:
No need to respond to my comment, unless you feel compelled of course. I just wanted to share my method for reading my own previously published web writing back when I was in college & wrote fairly frequently on a online type diary thing a ma jig, Xanga, perhaps you’ve heard of it? Anywho, every few days or so or whenever I went on to write I’d go back & read whatever I’d wrote that day the previous year or years if there was any from years back. So maybe if you’re looking to actually read go back and read past writings you might think about reading from that day in the past? Just my 2 cents of course!
D.J. Paris says:
Erin23 I like it! I actually love going back because I can’t remember what I’ve done. Also, I forget about the points I’ve made or the jokes I’ve constructed. I’m often times proud of the work that I had forgotten about.
angieuncovered says:
New Comment Here.
D.J. Paris says:
angieuncovered New reply here.
ViolaFury says:
I understand about not reading what you’ve written. I am a big idea person myself. I’ve got enough material to self-publish a book of my posts from a blog I started when I was homeless. One thing you shouldn’t do, DJ. Don’t denigrate your writing. I come from a batch of folks who took writing and the art of using language pretty seriously, although everything else pretty much slap-dash. They were wielders of the pen and masters both verbal and written. Just because we’re typing into the cyber sphere and in short chunks, doesn’t mean we’re not writing. You rock.
D.J. Paris says:
ViolaFury Wow! I didn’t know your story! I’ve been toying around with the idea of putting a book together and figuring out do I cobble together old posts or come up with brand new content. We’ll see…
ladyjess78 says:
I know I’m way late to the party with this post, but I just wanted to say that you are totally, completely 100% a “real” writer. Just like an artist is a person who creates art regardless of whether or not that art sells, gets nice reviews or hangs in a big museum; a writer is a person who writes. Everyday. Regardless of if or how that writing gets published or how much income it brings.
I have to remind myself of that a lot, so I thought I’d take a break and remind you instead. Except I never said it to you before, so there’s no re. I’m minding you of that.
Also, I re-read based on tag.
Michelle says:
I would be happy knowing you were reading them. I wouldn’t need a response for every comment. 🙂