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So What the Hell Should I Write About?
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This blog started as a lament. As most of you know, I started writing at a time when I most felt like my personal dreams were slipping from my reach. Though I had been working hard at “jobs” (many hours, etc.), I was operating at half-throttle, chomping on the bit with some fire in my gut, wanting to get going toward the pursuit of my education but entirely unable to. I watched five years of my life evaporate. Writing a blog seemed like a good way to do something creative, something the mundane machinations of restaurant management, then “cubicle monkey” didn’t accommodate.
Then, out of the blue, some opportunities opened up and I kindly rewarded my readers for listening to me by practically stopping writing ever since. Though I haven’t been writing, I’ve often been thinking about writing, which of course, is the important step in writing. I’d like to share with you what I’ve been thinking about.
1. My general theme is too narrow.
I started writing because I was full of passions that I could not spend. I felt like my dreams were dying and I so heavily identified myself with those dreams that I soon thought of my dreams’ death as my death. The metaphor seemed meaningful, so I ran with it. My original objective was to write about not giving up on dreams. But one can only write so many things about that, and, I may not be very qualified to actually write about that. Here’s what I mean: I didn’t start writing because I felt like I was going to make it, I started writing because I was afraid that I wasn’t.
2. I can’t write about what I really love
All of you know: I love the subject philosophy. One might suggest that I write on that topic, but, I’m merely an undergraduate who is still learning, and anything I felt like I learned about philosophic writing I acknowledge as merely tentative, a step on the way to a clearer understanding later in life. I would insult the great thinkers and even myself if I wrote about what I’m studying.
3. Even if I tried to write about philosophy, most people wouldn’t appreciate it
I’ll be the first to admit, philosophy isn’t for most people. Most people are interested in things that philosophy isn’t. That is, most philosophic topics don’t enter people’s day-to-day lives in a way that would appeal to them. And of course, the themes I focus on are still generally unsavory to most people: atheism, liberal in many respects, non-patriotic, etc.
4. So now what?
I’m left with non-philosophic topics in my life, which, might still be a rich source of material. I have lots of hobbies and interests that might have broad enough appeal. But, writing about these things will be a significant deviation from “I Will Not Die.” If I tried to stick with the theme of not caving in to apathy or something, I would have something of a journal talking about what I’m doing in the post-I-almost-died phase of my life, and that doesn’t really appeal to me.
And as always, do accept my apologies for being absent. I have a somewhat significant class load this semester, plus work, etc. See you soon.
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Dereck :: Apr.19.2009 :: Uncategorized :: 12 Comments »
12 Responses to “So What the Hell Should I Write About?”
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Welcome back!
Hayden Tompkins´s last blog post..How to Thwart the Biological Shopping Imperative
Well, everything you just argued against writing about, I would probably be interested in reading about.
How can you say that you don’t know enough about something to write about it? The worse case scenario is you can get feedback, and learn further about the subject. Even without feedback this is actually a great way to further understand and think about your own views.
I’ve taken a couple philosophy classes and am taking another one starting in a couple weeks on public affairs.
Dereck,
It seems to me that your domain name is a “positive” one. Since you started the blog you say a lot of good things have happened to you that have take you away from blogging.
Well, convert your blog into a blog about being positive. About not giving up and of course about not allowing yourself to die.
I am sure there is room for philosophy in there too, if this is what you are doing, then I suggest you write about it. Not in the authoritative sense, but just maybe a journal of your path to becoming a philosopher.
Jim Gaudet´s last blog post..Blog Traffic Jumpstart 2
You reference “most people” too much. You are passionate about philosophy yet are concerned that “most people” wouldn’t be interested to read it. So what?
It seems that you are overly concerned with being able to earn from your content or at very least receive an ego boost from high (generic) subscriber volume.
Do what you love for simple love of it. All of the details will work themselves out.
Kevin´s last blog post..What’s up dog?
I’d like to suggest one domain of philosophy that is generally interesting to most people: Ethics.
It’s great to hear from you again. I sympathize completely with your puzzlement over what direction to go in with your blog. I’m at a similar point – having recovered from depression more fully than I ever dreamed possible, it’s not clear how to proceed with Storied Mind.
Good luck to us both in figuring this out! I would agree with one of the comments above, though, that waiting until you feel ready or accomplished enough to say something worthwhile is a sort of trap. I think the best thing about blogging is that we get to read about and share the work of discovery that people go through. That’s what makes blogging interesting to read and to write.
All my best –
John
John Folk-Williams´s last blog post..The Recovery Tweets
Hey, I’m Dylan and I want to thank you for writing this blog. I’m a 16 year old high school student who went through the angsty “people don’t understand me” for a good three years, and I just discovered it was due to a lack of a passion.
I’ve always been passionate about things, but I never could find a way to channel my creativity. I never got a B till about the 7th grade, then I just sorta gave up on the school because I thought it was “beneath” me. Ridiculus, I know, but us teens are fuckin crazy. Hormones or something…
But then I found my passion, music. Bob Marley says “the great thing about music is when it hits you, it doesn’t hurt”. Bob’s cool, but I beg to differ. I was going through an all-too-common-at-the-time personal crisis of mine while listening to my mp3 player when all of a sudden Beethoven’s 7th hit me like a ton of notes ment to build me up into one strong whole. I teared up for the first time since elementary school. Then an Arcade Fire song came up, and I was struck down again. It was the first time I felt anything since growing up as an “overly emotional genius”. (I detested being called a genius, all the other geniuses in my grade bored the hell out of me. Nice people though).
I also used to be oddly ashamed at my talent for music. I can sit down at a piano and improvise roughly what’s on my mind despite only playing the insturment for a few months. On the guitar I’m already “ahead” of people who’ve been playing it half their lives. Now my voice itself is starting to soar into the “Jeff Buckley, Thom Yorke” range, and 16 year olds shouldn’t be able to do that! It frightened the hell out of me.
Of course I need to improve myself as a writer, but that comes.
I’m now starting to come to girps with who I am as a human, and I feels great. It allows me to put up with bullshit and accept it. I had all these revelations before I happened on your blog, but its always nice to see others with the same thought process of “if its your own damn fault, that’s great because you can fix it”. So good luck with what you do in the future, life’s fuckin nuts.
To life,
-Dylan
Philosophy is a huge, wonderful topic. Maybe we imagine nobody cares about what we write. So what! I have an even more obscure, unappealing topic I blog about, but I am passionate about it and I don’t care. If I have one or two people who read my blog, I am fine. We need to follow our muse.
David´s last blog ..Surviving fatal cancer with vegetable juice
What about using the blog for philosophically inclined observations/musings? Not like you’d have to write your life’s work.
I did a journal along those lines and it gradually developed into a book. Sometimes writing can be exploratory and lead you indirectly to ideas you wouldn’t have otherwise thought of.
Write about non-philosophic topics, in a philosophic manner. 1000 on traffic lights, please.
You have one week. Begin.
Dereck?
Waiting to read a new inspiring post from you, bro.
Take care,
JJ
This post scarily sounds exactly like me, love your blog, stick with it