Monday, January 31, 2011

Pay Attention to Me! Or don't. That's fine.

So. I haven’t been here for a while, but I’ve been feeling the urge to write something lately so here I am, although I’m not entirely sure what to write about anymore. I’ve covered most of my faults, or at least the ones I’m willing to talk about publicly, so what else is there? I guess I could do a diet update, but even I’m not particularly interested in that, so I’d hardly expect anyone else to be. I miss writing regularly, but I think having a break from it has been a good thing. I'm not sure that many people write or read blogs much anymore, do they? I know I don’t read as many as I used to, so maybe it’s just a bit old school in these days of Twittering and Facebook updating.

I’ve always struggled with the attention seeking aspects of blog writing, anyway. I normally avoid undue attention as much as possible and, if asked, I would say I hate being the centre of attention. But I realise that this isn’t entirely true. I want to be noticed as much as the next person; I’m just very quiet and unassuming about it. It’s more a case of I quite like being on the outskirts of attention, just not right smack in the centre of it. I want to be noticed without me having to draw attention to myself, if that makes sense, which admittedly hardly ever works. And we all go searching for attention in our own ways, don’t we? It’s just that I have a very odd relationship with it. On the one hand I like and need it, obviously, but on the other I don’t assume that all attention is going to be good. In fact, in my mind, the more I put myself out there the more likely it is that someone is going to come along and say something less than positive. How awful would that be?! Of course this has never happened, but don’t doubt the ability of a dyed-in-the-wool pessimist like myself to assume the worst. In fact, blog-wise, all I’ve ever gotten was lovely, like-minded people saying kind and supportive things, so it is an entirely irrational and unfounded fear, but I wouldn't let that stop me. Mostly I just feel like I’m having a constant “Pay attention to me! Don’t look at me! Why aren’t they looking at me?!” conversation with myself. It can be exhausting inside my head; I really must get out of it more often.

Anyway, on the positive side, hardly anyone reads this anymore, which in theory should make me feel less self-conscious about it, but it doesn’t seem to work that way. I now know there may be something worse than getting negative attention – not getting any attention at all. So all this boils down to me, here, writing a blog about writing blogs in an effort to get some sort of attention (hey, it turns out I do have more faults to write about. Awesome.) Not so much ironic as it is pathetic, really. I imagine you feel the much the same way having read right to the end, huh? Sorry about that, but thanks for paying attention.

6 comments:

  1. I think we read blogs if they hold our attention. I don't care to read stuff I don't care about right to the end. And I'm not reading all the way to the end just to keep you happy either. I think people read stuff if they connect with it. Your blogs, however infrequent or infrequently read, remain eminently readable. Do you measure the success of a blog by how many people read it? Should a songwriter measure how good his new songs are by how many people drop my his downloads page?

    And why aren't people reading this anymore? You need a publicist - someone who is commited to promoting you because they belieive in you. I know a little about this and it works - trust me.

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  2. It's hard for me to argue with the songwriter analogy, and it's very true that it is the quality rather than quantity of the reader/listener that counts. I'd much rather a few readers who are actually interested then a whole bunch who don't really care. If only it was as easy to publicise myself as it is to publicise others!

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  3. I read blogs too and have only just started writing one myself. I think Naked Season had a valid point, we read what holds our attention. And while I've only just begun to blog (more for my sake, as it's been a long time since I've written anything, therefore, am in need of the practice) I am not going to measure my success by how many people read whatever it is I've had to express, though, I can see where that could come into play (and not so much in a good way). You also had a point in that we want to be noticed, yet don't really want to be noticed, and would like to keep that part of ourselves low-key (so to speak). That said, I can see where it might play with the mind some if and when we happen to notice no one is reading anything we've written. So I hear you there Sandra. But I happen to think you write brilliantly and love what you have to say, so will continue to read your blog whenever you post something.

    Cheers!

    Angie

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  4. Thanks Angie, I always appreciate your kind words and encouragement! I'm really enjoying your blog too, and it's kind of inspiring me to write something more myself. I've been out of the groove lately, which is a shame because I do really enjoy it. I agree that you shouldn't get caught up in numbers and just enjoy what you're doing. I'm starting to think that, for me, worrying too much about the reader will think is part of what's stopping me from writing more. I want to get back to the old MySpace mindset where I didn't ever write to attract readers, so it was just a lovely bonus when someone did actually read it!

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  5. Well, I am looking forward to reading more of your writing, whenever that may be. And do not let what others think stop you from writing. Write! That's all that's important. I am doing my thing, making mistakes left and right, seeing them later in my writing and groaning over them, but so what?! Who cares?! I am writing! Do your thing, jellybean, and don't give a hang what the neighbors think whilst doing it. :)

    xo

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  6. That is wonderful advice Angie, and I'm working on it. Your enthusiasm is infectious, I love that! :-)

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