And as he stood on the cliff he began to shout into the void, ‘Answer me, you coward! Can’t you hear me howl?’
When I was in theatrical plays I would rehearse my lines in my room. Over and over I would repeat my lines. I would read them in my head and then repeat them aloud. After a few strong read-throughs I would begin to act out my lines, performing to the phantom audience in my bedroom. I would hope to elicit some response from the shadows, however that was impossible because I was always giving a private show to an absent audience.
These rehearsals would repeat themselves and their quality would ebb and flow along with my enthusiasm. If it wasn’t for the live performance that was inevitably coming I am not sure I would have been able to keep such a strict rehearsal schedule. If I knew I would never have the chance to show my hard work and talent to a real audience I doubt I would have ever memorized one line.
This aspect of my theater days is reminding me of my current blogging days.
I love writing these posts. They give me an opportunity to share what I’m doing in my life, be it frivolous or serious. They allow me to articulate and plan out my thoughts, forcing me to think through concerns that after receiving due attention sometime turn out to be of no concern at all. They keep me in the rhythm of writing, forcing me to practice my art at written word and enabling me to hone my skills.
Most of all this blog allows me to share myself with the internet at large. And I love sharing. (no sarcasm intended)
However sometimes I feel as if I’m shouting into a void. I feel as if I’m writing these posts and they are only being read by machines and web-crawlers. And these feelings can become quite discouraging. For even though I know that my posts are being read by friends and family, it is my nature as an attention-seeking individual to yearn for more.
And that is what I intend to do. It is my decisive intention to widen the audience of this blog and increase my readership. I may try and pull some SEO books from the library, or read a few web marketing blogs. To remain idle and solely wish for change won’t have any effect. I must go and take action.
