as part of the whoar experience i would like to bring you a sort of a diary within a diary. what it’s like to blog, from the point of view of someone just starting out.
here’s the first one.
whoar has been on air since feb 10th. i have long wanted to do something like this, (in fact have; doing breakfast news and other stuff for a few years in the 90’s on 95bFM.)
i find this is similar to that work, in that then i strove not to just rehash the same four or five stories every day,as most other stations did, but would hunt down interesting titbits for the bulletins on an eclectic range of subjects; from petrolhead stuff to philosophy.
i always assume a high degree of intelligence/understanding on the part of the audience; they don’t need someone banging on, explaining everything to them in detail.
(also everyone likes stuff that makes you go whoar!)
on radio i also did op-ed pieces on a regular basis. the thing is, that unlike this effort, all that work just went out over the airwaves, and that was it. satisfying in itself as a job well done; but lacking any record of that work, (op-ed esp.)
what i found was that writing for radio is different than the more formal writing styles;( and i feel this transfers through to blogging.
it is far more conversational; more attuned to how the groupings of words sound when spoken aloud, rather than how they look on the page. (I still write that way; this is why i mumble while scribbling; disconcerting to view. i sometimes find my son looking askance after a particularly passionate mumble from his aged parent has unsettled his world)
95bFM was a wonderful training ground, perhaps most of all because people were left to make their own mistakes and develop, (and find) , their own skills. sink or swim. some would argue a lack of formal training is a negative; but, of course, the opposing argument is the creative strictures/blocks imposed by teachers and accepted(?) methodologies.
( started my tertiary studies doing english, and ran screaming from the room by the end of the second year, fearful they had forever killed my love of reading).
so to the blog; it cost me $65 to set it up. $45 to register the name, and $20 for a months hosting. cheap as chips.
the software i’m using is freeware, (open source), and is, i think, up to the job. (bless those pioneers of open source software; they have done more for the democratising of information than any others).
that the site is not yet firing on all cylinders is down to the driver being a luddite. further driver training soon will lead to an upgrade for viewers/readers.
i love doing this; for me this is fun, and you can’t ask more than that.
one of the downsides of scribbling is that it is usually, by necessity, a solitary pastime. with little or no immediate feedback on your endeavours; (journalism perhaps excepted).
what’s different with blogging is that contributors to the comments options can, (hopefully), question/challenge ideas raised; this also gives readers the chance to eavesdrop/contribute to, on a, (once again,hopefully), reasoned exchange of ideas, every now and then tinged with passion, and leavened with humour; (that’s the mission statement anyway).
but perhaps the most exciting piece of software used in blogging is the tracking of visitors/readers.
you not only get the numbers each day, they also tell you which of these readers are new, and which are repeat visitors, (who, by implication, endorse/show an interest in, your work).
the software also tells you where your visitors/readers have come from. that is also a buzz; among others, there’s usa, argentina, australia,switzerland, britain, and oman! (good grief).
that’s about it for now, (the dogs need a walk).
if anyone out there feels the desire to start a blog, i would be more than happy to offer any advice, point people in the right direction, if so desired.
cheers