Blogging is a new form of communication. One that has not been mastered yet. Most blogs are amateurish, and pathetically boring. I am not a good writer by any standard, but try to be interesting and unique in each post. But, not everyone can be a blog writer. Being a blog writer involves a particular type of lifestyle and temperment.
Most writers get an assignment, they do some research, or write based on their knowledge. They do not have to figure out what to write about. If you run a blog, you need a minimum of 12 posts per month, or you will lose your regular readers. But, how do you come up with 12 ideas per month of issues to write about?
You more or less have to live your work. If you write about sailing, you need to be sailing all the time and talking to other sailors. Then and only then will you be confronted by the hundreds of issues effecting sailors. If you simply sit at home and think about what to write — nothing will come to you other than some boring and technical aspects of sailing and good places to go for a sail.
I had a happy experience watching cable television yesterday night. I saw a Canadian guy move to Taiwan (I have lived there before and speak the language). This gentleman struggled with the language differences, and had a lot of trouble finding a place to live that could accomodate his surfboard which was 10 feet long and wouldn’t fit into most elevators. He had moved to Taiwan to write blogs about surfing and he lived his job. He is thinking like I am. By living next to the beach in Southern Taiwan he will have the opportunity to experience a particular environment surfing, and swap stories with other surfers. I could imagine that after one good (long) day surfing and socializing with many others, he might have ammunition enough to write ten fascinating articles.
Well, I am planning a trip to Dubai, Manila and India where I hope to meet with many different call center managers so I will have lots of things to write about in my blog entries about call centers! Wish me luck — and don’t hang up on me please!