Almost exactly a year ago, I sat in a downtown pub having a shot and a beer and a bowl of chili with a friend who writes for the local newspaper.  We were commiserating over the difficulties that writers of all stripes face in this competitive, impoverished society.  Simultaneously we were attempting to solve all of the world’s problems.  

We were both in way over our heads.

During our conversation, my friend mentioned a web site that some of his writer friends liked to use.  It was a creative writing site, he said, a blog site, that seemed to enjoy decent visibility and readership.  He was familiar with my work and recommended that I give the site a look. 

The next day I found that I had written “open.salon.com” in my notebook.  What’s this, I wondered, some gay haircuts place?  But it was in amongst my notes from my evening at the bar and I recalled (barely) the discussion about the writer’s site.  So I looked it up.  It was interesting.  It was attractive and well designed, there were interesting articles and it seemed to be easy to interact with.  You could even leave comments.  So I signed up and posted my first post.  I got one comment (BBE) and about 10 reads.  Ten people!  I was pumped.

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“The next day I found that I had written

“open.salon.com” in my notebook.  What’s

this, I wondered, some gay haircuts place?

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I posted another dozen pieces to little fanfare before I sent ”I Witnessed A Murder” off into the blogosphere.  As I checked on its progress, I noted that someone had placed a little box on the front that said “Editor’s Pick”.  Suddenly my reads went from the 10’s into the 100’s and the comments went into the 20’s.  So THIS is how this blogging stuff works!  I was hooked.

In the year gone by, I have gotten a half dozen EP’s and four OS covers.  It’s no Saturn Smith or Jocelyn Testes-Harder but I’ll take it.  I figure I’ve posted in the neighborhood of 150 times (although I’ve taken more postings down than I’ve left up.)  Slowly, I’ve built up a comfy readership that now assures that anything I write will at least get looked at.  Some posts do very well, some fail miserably, but most settle in with low double-digit ratings and very nice comments.  In June I won the Father’s Day Essay contest with “When The Baby Exploded” and, of course, in January I was awarded The Tiara for which I am enormously proud.  The best things I’ve written are “A Young Man’s Encounter With A Hawk”,  and “Mountain Cabin With A Tin Roof.”  The things that have most escaped people’s attention are “Dad, They’ve Taken Grandma To The E.R.”, “Where Do Mountains Come From?” and “The Unorthodox Church Of The Holy Moly”.  There are at least three that are totally regrettable.  But all things considered, it has been a very good year.  I’ll take it.

The biggest effect OS has had on me over this past year is that it has made me a much better writer.  It has provided me with an outlet, and I can’t express how important that is.  It’s been perfect for focusing and developing those out-of-the-blue ideas that pop up while I’m driving in the car or walking the dog.  It not only provides me with an outlet but it forces me to be more productive.  As a result, this year has produced a body of work that I certainly wouldn’t have produced otherwise – a pile of pretty good stories and essays that I can continue to rewrite, edit and shop.   

My experience with OS has made me realize the importance of a snappy, interesting title and explosive opening sentence: no matter how brilliantly your piece is written, it won’t get read if it doesn’t get looked at.  You have a very brief opportunity to state your case before your reader is off down the feed.  That’s why “I Witnessed A Murder” works, it explodes out of the blocks. 

I’ve realized the need to be brief, succinct and to the point.  In my opinion, the reason that most posts don’t do well is because they are unfocused; they ramble on beyond the main point.  They may initially make a point but then they hit it again and again unnecessarily.   Beginning, middle, end – hook your reader, make your point, seal the deal, hit the afterburner and get out.

There’s also an unfortunate trend towards avoiding capital letters or punctuation.  Why ignore the tools you’ve been provided?  More to the point, why not use every tool you can get your hands on to say-exactly-what-you-mean?   I can only attribute this to the texting/Twittering trend.  I generally avoid those posts… and the three word comments that follow. 

When to post?  Good question, I haven’t figured this one out yet.  I used to think that around 10 a.m. (EST) was good because both coasts are up and the editors in NY are making their morning EP choices.  But that doesn’t seem to make any difference.  If I have something that is of a lighter, more raucous nature, I sometimes post at night when the night owls are prowling.  Late night posts sit on the feed a little longer because there’s less traffic.  Personally, I’ve come to enjoy posting on Sunday mornings.  There’s always a good group of readers that are up with their morning tea and content to spend a little quiet time with OS.  They’s my kind a folks.   

I’ve often described OS as a marketplace of ideas.  But over the past year it has grown and evolved into something resembling a loud and boisterous foreign bazaar – colorful, bloated, difficult to navigate and easy to get lost in.  It can be disorienting, distracting and confusing.  Similarly, the barkers and merchants have become louder and more insistent as they compete for customers and attention. Whereas a post used to stay on the feed for most of a day, it’s now there for a couple of hours before its buried down the line. Unfortunately, because of this constant barrage of material, I have become more of a skimmer than a reader.  I glaze through the “most recent” and “favorites” lists looking for something of interest.  As a result, I often don’t really read ANYTHING and, consequently, I often don’t feel qualified to comment.  I am parsimonious with my rates because I feel they mean something.  Sometimes I will rate without comment, sometimes I comment without rate.

My biggest concern about posting on OS is becoming an even larger concern and I’ll have much more to say on this later.  But I am realizing that anything, once “published” by OS becomes part of the public domain and, in a sense, is no longer mine.  Even things that have been removed remain “cached” online by OS, Google and god knows who else.  I certainly don’t want to put anything I value on OS (and I value EVERYTHING I put on OS) and it makes me regret some of the things I’ve already posted here…

When I first started blogging here, I was in awe of a couple of bloggers who I felt were most certainly stars.  At one point I sent them PM’s, asking for any advice or shortcuts on getting into the writing business.  I was sure they were wisened old writers who were successfully secure and who only did this for fun.  I got no reply.  Only slowly did I realize that, with only a couple of exceptions, NO ONE here on OS is successfully secure, everyone is struggling, NO ONE is making a living through their writing.  If they were, chances are they wouldn’t be here.  

As I roll into my second year on OS, I’m planning to take a different tact.  For one, I spend far too much time here just futzing around (oh, you too?!) and I plan to seriously cut that back.  I am a writer first and a reader second.  Socialite comes way down the line.   I don’t see my involvement on OS as tit for tat.  I’m not going to leave meaningless little one or two word comments just to check in.  I’m not going to “rate yours if you rate mine.”   I’m not keeping score.  When I do find something sparkling, meaningful, thought-provoking, heart-felt – I will say so, rate it and recommend it to others.

The way that I plan to continue to use OS is as a platform, a store front, where people can find me. (Although guarded, given my comments above on ownership.)  It’s a place where I can direct people to find my writings, it’s a place to showcase some of my material.  I post articles on bonsai, which on OS only get a few rates and a few comments.  However, they are my most widely read articles when they reach the web and I get regular emails from places as distant as China and New Zealand in response to them.  I am thankful for my regular OS readers, but I can’t count on the same dozen, or 100, or 200 people as my sole audience. 

This second time around I am making the following resolutions:

1. I won’t “flounce” to great fanfare.  You’ll know I’m gone when you realize you haven’t heard from me in a while.  If I’m gone, it’s a good thing, it means I’m directing my energies elsewhere.  But frankly, I love this little window and hope to always leave it open at least a crack. 

2. No more “metaposts”.  This is my last.  No more navel gazing, no more searching for my own reflection in the mirror.  No more obsessing about OS. No more worrying about who’s getting EPs and covers, who’s getting ratings and comments, who’s tumbling from site to site just to make trouble.  No more posts on the process or messages about the messenger - even if the very mention of OS in the title does guarantee a bump in readership.

3. No more reacting to stupidity; no more becoming caught up in other people’s personal dramas.  It serves no purpose and never ends well.  Even though whiners, one-issue wonders, creationists and Rove Republicans drive me crazy, I’m going to just shake my head sadly and move on.  What’s the old saying?  “Never try to teach a pig to sing.  It will only wear you out and it annoys the pig.”  There are some seriously needful folks out there who are like black holes from which not even light can escape. (If this stirs you to write an angry PM, don’t.  Ignore me and move on.)

4. Keep profanity, scatological and genital references to a minimum.  Sure, it ups your readership, and sometimes it’s the only way to describe something - I mean, WTF?!?   But usually there’s a more descriptive set of words.  They’re just a little harder to find.  I consider it a challenge. 

5. Post less.  I’ve already started doing this.  I’m going to let things sit on my page longer and let the “favorites” list work its magic.  This past year I’ve posted on the average of every second or third day.  I’m going to try to settle in at around a post a week, sometimes two.  My experience is that there’s a swirl of activity when you first post, another when people return to their computers and then a slow dribble as people read from their favorites list.  When the dust from the latest brouhaha settles, my stuff will still be sitting there. 

6. Expand my sphere of influence and expression.  I need to open blogs elsewhere, resurrect some old projects, fight harder for current ones.  I’ve become too dependent on OS.

After a year here, I feel pretty confident about how this site works and what I can, and can not, expect from it.  I get a kick out of being here and will forever be thankful for the experience that it has offered me.  In return I offer a heartfelt “thanks” – to OS itself and especially to a nuclear group of readers who have remained loyal throughout.  I could start naming names but I’d just leave someone out…

But you know who you are.  You’re reading this now.

Thanks.

 J.