Charline Li from Forrester is back at blogging after over a month-long hiatus….
Her latest post provides a profound insight of what can happen when blogging and life collide and the perils of second guessing yourself–or in Charlene’s own words, “analysis paralysis”:
"I realized this past week that I’m suffering from analysis paralysis — I’ve been holding myself to a level of analysis and writing that is simply unreasonable given what I want this blog to be. My last substantial post was on the YouTube acquisition by Google, which was quite the event. But those kind of blog post opportunities come roughly about once a year, and for some reason, I’ve been trying to write similar posts for the past month with no success.
So I’ve vowed to follow Nike’s mantra and "just do it", or in this case, to "just blog it". Damn the idea of quality and depth of analysis — I’m better off getting something out there and getting your reactions to it. So here I am, writing a stream of consciousness and finding my voice again."
Charlene’s post provides a deep insight into the nature of social media (and maybe life). It’s less about perfection and more about being an individual–strengths, flaws and all. Charlene’s blog provides an opportunity to understand how she sees things and expresses her opinions in voice that is uniquely hers. She says it best:
"I’m often told by readers that my blog has an interesting voice which
always I find so curious — because it’s not something that I
consciously do"
So maybe that’s part of the appeal to personal publishing. The opportunity to be personal. Having access to someone’s subconscious in addition to their conscious–and the freedom to be creative without being "perfect". Go check out the rest of the post. And welcome back Charlene. Both to you, and your voice.
Photo originally featured on Waiting For Dorothy
Hi David,
Welcome back. You’ve been missed. To your point, it isn’t necessary to write about momentous things in the Daily Fix. Sharing your own experiences and what you’re learning in your work and life’s path are more important to us. And thanks for giving us a link to Charlene Li’s blog, too. She’s always been high on my list among marketers with great insight.
DA –
Two quotes struck me in your post:
1. “It’s less about perfection and more about being an individual–strengths, flaws and all.”
For writers like me, and maybe researchers like Charlene, publishing a less-than-perfect *anything* (even a blog post) is a cause for anxiety. It’s hard to let go of the standards you set for yourself as a professional. When you do, it’s liberating, but it’s nonetheless difficult.
Which is why that I find, so often, that some of the best bloggers are NOT professional writers…because they aren’t hung up by the ability to craft and polish a perfect post. They just, as Charlene says, “…do it!”…without regard for anything but the process.
Confession: I’m jealous of them.
2. “Having access to someone’s subconscious in addition to their conscious–and the freedom to be creative without being ‘perfect.’”
Another good lesson of blogging. It’s about being part of a process: launching, participating, enjoying a discussion. A blog post isn’t the end…it’s the means.
Claire,
Ha! It is ironic that I would come back myself here with this post. Thanks for welcoming me and good food for thought as some of the best posts here are often brief, informal nuggets of insight.
Ann,
Great thoughts! Of course I expect this kind of thinking from you regularly now, so you better keep it up.
I can speak from experience on this one. I am not a writer and have never taken a writing class–yet I have readers now and some consider me to be a “writer”. So to your point. Yes–”just dot it”. You’ll be glad you did. I know I am.
Great post David and I share in Charline’s “analysis paralysis” from time to time. One of the amazing things about blogging is that you can actually develop a community of readers that want to visit your blog to see what you have written. This amazes me to this day. But the flipside is, I personally feel a great sense of responsibility to my blog’s readers to give them something worth reading, as I’m sure most bloggers do.
So whenever I go a day or 2 without posting, an internal ‘blogging clock’ starts ticking, and I can seriously feel the pressure to get a post up. But as time has gone by, I’ve learned to not sacrifice quality to simply get something posted. It’s a difficult lesson to learn, and one that I continue to struggle with from time to time. And I must admit that as sorry as I am to hear about Charlene’s losing her blogging voice, I’m a bit relieved to hear that it has happened to someone else! Looks like she’s made a wonderful recovery, both literally and figuratively!
David,
I had to think about this before because I have never had the experience that you describe. Perhaps it’s because I have spent most of my life making a living as a writer, and I don’t believe that writers learn to write. They can learn to write better, but writing is more art than science. That is the primary reason that I am not surprised that you have never taken a writing class.
Instead of taking writing classes, I think most writers have these qualities:
1. They write from the heart not their brains.
2. They are excellent story tellers.
3. They are passionate and soulful.
4. They put words on paper as they come, and they often come faster than we can type.
5. They write for their readers, not themselves.
6. And they write every day.
Ann,
I think “publishing a less-than-perfect *anything* (even a blog post) is a cause for anxiety. It’s hard to let go of the standards you set for yourself as a professional. When you do, it’s liberating, but it’s nonetheless difficult.” says more about the editor in you than the writer. Just let it flow, girl. You are a wonderful writer.
Writers write, editors worry about perfection. Separate the two and you will have fewer sleepless nights.
This is a great post David.
Many people run into this. Hell, I’m one of the wordiest people you’ll ever meet and it happens to me all the time. Many folks who are new to blogging or just thinking about it get really intimidated by that fear.
I’ve recently started doing a daily post where I just take a picture of myself driving to work and then a pictures of my socks (they are very special socks). These posts are largely filler until I have the time or the words for a bigger, more meaningful post. I am of mixed emotions about these posts, but my readers have really bonded to these posts for some reason. They get lots of comments and have sparked some really funny dialogs. I began them largely as a way to make sure I stayed in “practice” of posting when busy with other things. As it turns out, readership is staying constant and even climbing… who knew?
as some of you may know, i started to post comments here on dailyfix a couple of months ago and open my blog 4 weeks ago. so i find this post and the comments useful to me. the bigger stress for me, not english mother tongue, is to make my thoughts clear and comprehensible.this is a painful process because sometimes passion, irony, can get lost in it. what flows in my own language simply doesn’t work in an other. but i’ll try too follow lewis advice: let it flow.
Blogging especially, allows people nowadays to develop a personal brand that they never could before at such scale and ease.
But unlike traditional marketing, that brand’s intent isn’t to move products or services, rather it’s to develop relationships.
That’s the nice thing about this personal publishing medium.
Ann, excellent points. But whose level of “perfection” do you measure your writing against?
I think if any of us are looking for comparative standards we should just remind ourselves, “you’re only as good as your last ad.” Focus on one-upping yourself, not the A-listers in your industry.
Thanks for starting this discussion David and welcome back Charline.