Without doubt, writing changes how a person perceives the world around him. This is already a given. But blogging? I have a sneaking suspicion it has added a monkey’s wrench into the mix.
Let’s examine the tell-tale signs of weirdness.
I’m talking with my elder sister at the dinner table. And this being a Sunday, the atmosphere is relaxed. The topic is the latest on the antics of politicians who have nothing but moist eyes for the Philippine presidency. Now, my sister is a retired elementary grade teacher. She tells stories in a linear fashion as most grade teachers do. She compounds my difficulty with her story telling by adding a prologue to it, you know? “I was in fact talking with your niece about it. And she said what’s the matter with this -”
I have to cut in, “So what’s the story?”
“Well, as you know, Korina Sanchez had to file a leave of absence with the television network-”
Silent scream.
“I already know that. So what’s the story?” And only then did my sister give me the most important details of the story. And I have to mentally congratulate her for at least catching on. If I can have my way, every conversation addressed to me should follow this form, “In this story, I learned that the latest electric bill had risen by 20%. We need to cut down consumption in seven ways, namely -”
To be followed by – kazzam! – a numbered or bullet list. What glorious relief would life be if offline interactions follow this helpful blogging formula.
In another story, a customer walked in the store. His desktop CPU needs a reformat. Our store technician, however, is on home service so I have to make small talk with this customer who prefers to wait. I find out he’s a photographer. Guess what, the next thing I know, I’m giving him an impromptu tutorial on how to market his work in a blog by showcasing his body of work. There’s a pained look in his eyes since clearly he does not know what a blog is all about – at least not yet. But does it deter me?
Nah. I have to tell him the advantage of a web presence and how it benefits his small business. Mercifully for him, our technician arrives to rescue him from another round of lecture about Twitter and the social media.
Writer on board
So you see it’s hard to put your guard down when you’re a writer or a blogger. As if you have a choice.
You’re in meet up. There’s great food. Drinks. Do you think you’d enjoy it? Nope. You’d feel you’re on assignment. You can’t relax because you never know when you’re going to run out of blog post ideas. Everything must be filed away if only in your mental cabinet. And when you’re in the company of blogging buddies, you can’t relax either. You can’t be too chummy else your enterprising buddy might cook up a post that goes, “Brokeback Mountain in Angeles City”
What if you’re heartbroken. Your significant other throws you out of the apartment. Do you think you can let it all hang out without milking it for what it’s worth? No, darn it. You’re not an uber blogger if you do that. What you do is to hide your broken arms in your sleeves and think like a blogger. Snap out of it and dazzle us with an account, preferably something like this, “Homeless in Makati”
Chronicler for life
So what if your significant other delivers the dreaded, “It’s not you, babes. It’s me.”
Fine.
So sound the alarm, round up your drinking buddies, and wallow in self-pity. But you had better make sure you bring with you your pocket notebook and pen. Or camera phone so your buddies can at least take pictures of you stinking up the sidewalk with your vomit. How’s that for your writing prompts when you come to your senses?
Writing. Blogging. It’s all the same. Having tasted what it’s like you’re now infected. There’s no hope for you. You experience everything twice. First as a normal person and then as a chronicler of stories. You can’t escape this fate unless you’re a content scraper on the web. Or a hopeless make money online creature.
So how about you, guys. In what way has blogging or writing changed your way of thinking?
Photo by: Spamily
Recommended Reading:
- The House Blogging Method
- 7 Deadly Writing Sins
- 6 Secrets Every Writer Shares
- Write First, Ask Questions Later
