Living with the Truth Stranger than Fiction This Is Not About What You Think Milligan and Murphy Making Sense

Thursday 27 September 2007

A case of ‘the readers’


I have readers. Yay me! Hello readers and by that I mean the readers out there who’ve generously decided to subscribe to my blog. At least the two of you I know about. I appreciate the commitment.

The problem is – yes, I know I always have to look on the dark side – commitment smacks of relationship and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I know, I’m the one who led you on, hanging my blog out there for all and sundry to have a gander at but suddenly I’ve gone all shy. Sorry about that. You see, in my life I’ve proven quite good at the art of attainment – if I wanted something then I usually managed to get it or get as close to it as I could till I got bored being around it – but I’ve not been so hot at maintain-ment. (Okay, not a real word but bear with me).

Now all of a sudden I have readers with opinions and thoughts and expectations and I have no idea what they expect. Oh my, they might even have standards. What happens if I let them down? I have written a lot in my life but I’ve honestly never actually imagined an audience other than myself. All I had to do was please myself which actually is nowhere near as easy as you might imagine. Now I have a bloke in Tacoma who could be my long-lost brother and a cartoon character from Vancouver hanging on my every word. Christ, the pressure!

Maybe it said it on the box and I forgot to read it when I purchased my ‘Acme Instant Writer Kit’:

Just add water. Warning! May cause readers. If critics appear cease using the product immediately.

I thought I could just get away with sitting in my room scribbling away and that was it. I guess not. Oh well lads. I hope you know what you’re letting yourselves in for.

7 comments:

millar prescott said...

Did not disappoint.

Anonymous said...

Don't want to stress you out or add to your miseries, but I've been watching your blog too. Not officially, since I haven't subscribed to the RSS feed, but I'm going to.

Libdrone said...

If it's any comfort, I feel fairly certain we are not related, as brothers or otherwise. Though in your picture you quite resemble a dear friend who lives in Baltimore.

Writing a book can be a very solitary exercise. Writing in a blog is a conversation, though you can always turn comments off should we become tiresome.

And the only one anyone ever has to please is himself.

golfwidow said...

I'll try not to bother you too much. If I get to be a pest, don't bother to honk -- just run over me.

Anonymous said...

Getting those first readers is scary and exciting. Congratulations! They'll keep you going, keep you on your toes, and hopefully, keep you writing your blog! Good luck to you.

zenartnothing said...

Thanks for bringing humor to the fear.
Put a pin in Texas too.

Jim Murdoch said...

Oh, Zenartnothing, I've had to buy a whole new box of pins since then.

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