Stumbling Upon Some Motivation

Found me a couple pieces of motivation today while roaming through the assembled links on BallHype.

Well, it's more like one and a half great pieces, as a portion of Henry Abbott's piece at True Hoop is taken from Merlin Mann's piece "What Makes for a Good Blog?" at 43 Folders.

The things that Mann describes as characteristics of a good blog are completely on point, at least in my opinion, as too are the sentiments that Abbott offers at the outset of his piece. They are also things that I have been saying from the first day I started writing this blog and hearing other people - talented, respected and knowledgeable people - echoing ideas that I have discussed at length with Sarah and others is both reassuring and motivational.

As someone who has predominantly built his career and portfolio through online publication, reading someone else discussing the validity of the medium is a welcome breath of fresh air. Far too often I feel like not enough credit is given to bloggers who approach what they do as a career and aim to build something through their blogs. While anyone can start a blog, it is a whole different ballgame to produce new and fresh material on a daily basis for an extended period of time.

Even though the blurb correctly describes this place as the collecting point for the daily ramblings of yours truly, the truth is that very little of what comes to be posted on this site is every done haphazardly. Everything is thought out and formulated to reflect what I'm thinking about, my opinions on a certain topic or provide further insight into me and my life, whether you want that insight or not.

Best of all, these pieces come at a very appropriate time for me, as yesterday was spent wallowing in my own misery about having to go to work and not getting to spend as much time as I would like focused in on the things I want to do with my writing. What can I say? I'm a bit of a girl some times...