Comments on: Thoughts on Greatness and Blogging

By: Arachne Jericho

Arachne Jericho — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:44:16 +0000

Hi Tom,

None of the points above are purely about topic; indeed, content is a blend of subject and presentation, and the two can’t be divorced.

But in large part, finding a new way to say something, or finding a new insight, is a large part of greatness in blogging. Yes, the blogging world is crowded—all the more reason to find a way to say something that hasn’t been said tens, hundreds, thousands of times before.

Great isn’t easy. Passion is definitely not enough, although it is necessary to fuel blogging in general, and the aspiration to greatness in particular.

By: Tom Volkar / Delightful Work

Tom Volkar / Delightful Work — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:56:29 +0000

Being original can take many forms. It’s not just about the topic. We can be original be bringing our core voice out, in our passion and even in our attempts at interaction. Why not greatness? It’s a crowded blogging world.

By: Arachne Jericho

Arachne Jericho — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:48:48 +0000

Hi sailor! The mass repetition of content across the web can be a bit depressing. It’s why I usually google the topics I plan on writing about. But repetition isn’t, of course, limited to the web either. My reader has maybe 30 blogs in it—which sounds like a lot, but not compared to what I used to have.

Hello Bamboo! Always good to see you. Being original is probably the hardest piece of advice to implement, which is why it’s so valuable. Nick also talked about imagination in his post—applying imagination is the key to good writing, whether it’s non-fiction, fiction, or blogging.

By: Bamboo Forest

Bamboo Forest — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:32:49 +0000

Good tips. I think being original is paramount in a climate where for every niche there are literally thousands upon thousands of blogs. Many of which, are really well done.

By: sailor

sailor — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:42:24 +0000

giving your reader something they didn’t know about before

If only this was applied on many more blogs. I tend to find that one in ten posts I find normally live up to my expectations. If there was a way of removing the duplicate articles in my reader at any one time there would most probably not be much left.