Ever wonder how community writers become front page writers? They WRITE, that’s how. Why am I being Mr. Obvious? Because of a (to my mind) rather disturbing trend here.
Ever open up a diary headlining a breaking event, or some new political brouhaha and find a sentence and a link? The headline is written so you open it up because it makes you go “Oooh, I wanna know what happened”. But then it just gives you a link to read what someone ELSE instead of the author has said about whatever. Doesn’t that just piss you off? I see it in the comments all the time.
And then what happens is the comments in those diaries dry up. Why? Because people see the author’s name and will assume it’s just a sentence and a link and scroll right on by. No more mojo to keep the bars up.
I haven’t done a breaking news, or a report on some political tussle in a while. But when I have, I do two things in my diaries. 1. I use the fair use provisions to highlight key parts of the story. And most importantly, 2. I write commentary on aspects of the story I feel are noteworthy. And not just bland commentary. I try to infuse my personal style of random thoughts and attempts at humor in said commentary.
If you’ve ever read a diary by Hunter or Aldous J Pennyfarthing, you will understand. Yes, they use fair use, but they also WRITE. For a long time I tried to pattern my style on the way Hunter writes. Why? Because of his humor. You are informed and entertained.
That is what inspired me to actually sign up and start writing. I wanted to try to write like that. And I developed my own personal style. Of course, the more I write, the more my style evolves, especially depending on the type of diary I write.
So...yeah. Nowadays you’ll find me mostly writing “What’s For Dinner” diaries on Saturday nights. Even though I’m posting food pr0n and describing recipes, I still try to tell stories, maybe some history of what I’m making, maybe family stories for a recipe that’s handed down, and what not.
But a diary from a long time member has inspired me to get back into writing here more regularly. Look for a diary in the next week or so about how I’m feeling and how life has been since I first came out as Ace a year ago.
In the meantime, as KL says, Just. Write. Who knows? Your voice may become loved and respected by all who read here.
