IT’S NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS … OR IS IT?
When I agreed to write a weekly blog for Serendipity I thought it would be easy. I read lots of ‘news’ articles, thousands of thoughts go through my mind every day; I talk to people about a wide variety of topics. How hard could it be to come up with just one bloggable idea a week? The answer is ‘very hard.’
The key word, if it is a word at all, is ‘bloggable’. Most ideas cannot be turned into a blog. Correction – a readable blog. The idea first has to be something that other people might remotely be interested in. My obsessive analysis of why my dog barks so much is out.
Second, the idea has to be expandable into a piece of a reasonable length. Most of my thoughts don’t seem to have expandability.
My average thought may be worth a few sentences, but rarely more. For example, every day I wonder why some people (my husband) can’t talk about what they might want to eat for dinner until it is almost dinnertime and they are actually hungry.
Lack of imagination? Inability to plan ahead? Short of commissioning a major psychological study, I don’t have much else to say except that I find it frustrating to live with someone like this since I like to plan dinner right after breakfast if I haven’t already done it the night before.
A good blog also has to have an angle, a point of view, an interesting perspective. Most topics have already been written about in some format. But you can add to the existing literature if you have a different way of looking at the subject. I read lots of interesting articles but I have nothing to add to what has already been said. In that case, I share the article on Facebook and continue my search for a good blog idea.
Sometimes something I read really gets to me and I write about it even if my insights are not new and illuminating. The theory here is that with some issues, it’s important just to expose them to as many people as possible, as often as possible.
I’m not complaining. I love writing blogs. Maybe people would be interested in why my dog barks so much. Blog readers with dogs who are hair-trigger barkers like mine might be fascinated. Probably I’m overthinking the process. Maybe I should just have a cup of tea. Relax. Wait for another idea to just come to me.
They always do.
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Categories: #Blogging, dogs, Humor
SERENDIPITOUS PHOTO STORY PROMPT – WEDNESDAY, 2015 #3 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
That is true Ellin. It is quite a challenge to come up with a bloggable idea.
Leslie
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Sometimes ideas just come to me and sometimes I really have to sit and think about it. Marilyn is right though – it’s hard to tell what people will react to the strongest. I am always excited to check my blog when it runs to see the comments. It’s always a revelation to me. Thanks for the feedback.
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A pleasure as always.
Leslie
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Come on, who knows what they want to eat for dinner after they just finished eating breakfast?!! I’m full!
I don’t want to eat anything, If I did. ,,, I’d have more breakfast!
Still, good blog.
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But you have to DEFROST it — or shop for it — if you are going to EAT it. Otherwise, there will be a lot of carry-out in your life. I don’t ask Garry. I tell him what we are having and he eats it. He’s okay with it, as long as it does not contain lima beans, cut corn, peas, peanut butter, or oatmeal.
Asking him did not work well. He always picked hot dogs or something that required hours of preparation. No choice is the BEST choice.
You guys. You are all like toddlers 🙂
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You just gave me a great idea. I’ll start making you a second breakfast for dinner!
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Garry would be THRILLED with that. He loves breakfast … at night. In the morning, he just wants coffee. A LOT of coffee.
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Yes, you’re overthinking. And, this is a a wonderful blog.
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When you get that “It’s all been said before” feeling of creative ennui then remind yourself “but it hasn’t been said by me”… everyone has a distinctive voice and perspective, and sometimes even the simplest subjects can sparkle from a fresh vantage point. Keep going!
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Most of my really popular posts have been about very ordinary stuff. I have given up trying to figure out why one thing gets a lot of attention and other stuff that I worked MUCH harder on, goes more or less unnoticed. I’m sure we all see that. After a while, you just write and stop worrying about it. You can make yourself crazy with this stuff.
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You’re right. Most people are interested in everyday stuff and a blog is the one place where you can read about the less than earth shattering ideas and thoughts.
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Thank you so much for your insight and encouragement.
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I dont have a dog, but usedta; and I do wonder why yours barksbarksbarks. See what you started. Now Im wondering why mine did. although it was usually a dog thing. And their hearing is so much more acute than ours, he may hear stuff far beyond your limits. When our dog finally went deaf, he stopped barking. aha.
Nice job with the blog entry, btw. Don’t overthink, just do.
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You know, I think it IS a dog thing. Bonnie barks, but mostly at other dogs. Gibbs is still a recent rescue, so he barks at anyone he doesn’t know which includes everyone except Garry and I (but weirdly, he doesn’t bark at delivery people — go figure) … and he barks at any infernal combustion engine that is running. He gets particularly frantic at trucks and old jeeps (my son has both). He does not bark IN the house almost ever, but outside? Runs, barks, runs, barks.
Bonnie feels that barking should be a communal activity. She has Gibbs trained. She give one sharp bark. He LEAPS UP from a dead sleep and dashes out the doggy door to join Bonnie in protecting us from other dogs.
They make me laugh. I don’t think the neighbors are as amused as we are.
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I agree that dogs hear things that we don’t and I’m sure that’s what they are barking at. Particularly when they suddenly jump off the sofa in a frenzy of barking – it must be in response to something.
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Unless they are just messing with us 🙂
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You really ARE overthinking it. But I do the same thing. We’re just wired that way.
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Even though you might have found the idea worth “paws for thought”, I thought your blog was delightful. It was amusing, and covered the idea gracefully, without getting bogged down in uninteresting detail. What could be better than that?? Good job! I enjoyed it, for what it’s worth. 🙂
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Personally, I could get into a major discourse of why and when dogs bark. We’ve gotten dogs late in their lives who were renowned for NEVER barking, yet as soon as they joined this household, they became enthusiastic and sometimes, relentless barkers. Maybe it’s US.
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lmao. Haven’t had a dog in eons. But I have a cat, who for the first year of his life, never spoke one mew. Just before he was fixed, he yowelled. We’de been informed it was a she, when I hard the voice, I knew it was a he. He’s still very quiet, mews gently, purrs gently too. My dogs when I had them, a lab and a terrier, rarely barked, the odd woof, but that was it. You just never can tell. lol
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Apparently I should write a blog about when and why dogs bark, or cats meow. I’ll put it on my list of ideas for the future. Thanks.
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Thank you. Your praise means the world to me.
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