Informative Blogging (Part 3): The Topic of Inspiration

There are many forms of writing out there. To encompass all of them in a single blog post, or any written work, is downright impossible to do without possessing some form of literary genius.


Many people, myself included, don’t have that kind of skill. What we do have, is an desire to write and a style that we prefer to use when we publish our thoughts casually.


While those two make up the cornerstones of mainstream blogging, there is a third component that is the most important of all: a topic.


Those who regularly follow my blog have, I’m sure, noticed my brief absence from publishing my thoughts. That's not to say that I’ve decided to quit blogging or that I’ve lacked any topics to write about, because I haven’t.


The reason for my absence is something that goes along with my writing style: inspiration. This is not just any inspiration though, it’s a kind that makes me want to speak my thoughts through my blog.

Let me explain...


My post’s aren’t simply written. That is of course, fairly obvious given the fact my blog is full of thought out arguments coinciding with a commentary on the events of technology.
But recently, nothing has really caught my eye.

Sure Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all had their keynote addresses at E3, and the Apple rumor mill has been running 24 / 7 leading up to the WWDC this week, but here’s the thing:

Microsoft and Sony announced their plans for their new motion sensing game play modes / peripherals this week. I could have written a fairly in depth post about each company’s plans, so why didn’t I?


Well, given the success of the Wii (in terms of sales), it was obvious that Microsoft and Sony would announce something that would make each respective console more motion oriented.

Both are for profit companies and since Nintendo stuck gold with the Wii, so it’s only natural for them to want a piece of that market, so these recent moves were easily predictable.

Nobody wants to read a blog or article focused on just the obvious. To be blunt: those are boring. Make a quick Google News search for iPhone rumors, it’s fine, I’ll wait...




...




Done?

You found a whole bunch of similar sounding articles speculating about the next iPhone didn’t you? Did you want to read any of them? Chances are you didn’t, and that’s my point.

It’s the media’s job to drone on and on about the current state of industries, even if their is nothing new or full of predictable things. News channels repeat, and very few people watch their local news station for hours on end. Likewise, you wouldn't want read blogs like that either.


I don’t want to be like the media. When something big happens in the consumer electronics market, I don’t immediately respond with a post about it. Those usually turn out to be half baked compositions anyway.

When I post, I want it to be refreshing. You won’t find news per-se, but you will find a commentary about an event or product, sprinkled with facts and my thoughts usually a few days after the occurrence.

For example:

A new product, such as the iPhone, will inspire me to develop my opinion of such a device. Once I spend a few days thinking about how I feel about it, then I have a topic in which to base a blog post about it. This is the inspiration I am referring to.

I think that if you immediately respond to an event, you end up missing part of the big picture. Waiting a few days lets you gather the facts, come up with a reasonable stance, and present a commentary which is a good read.

For those who want to start a blog but have the hardest time thinking of topics, give my method a try. I don’t expect it work with everyone, nothing ever does, but I think it will be helpful to some reading this.

My topics stem from the process of being inspired to formulate a opinion, resulting from an event or product development.

Occurrences that catch your eye, are the ones to focus on when you are looking for a topic to write about. I guess you can sort of say, that I let my topics come to me.

I like the phrase: “Some things happen when you least expect it.” If you search too hard for a topic, you risk overlooking things making it difficult to write about something.


So to those who follow my blog: my goal isn’t to be the media. A slight absence from posting will usually suggest my patient waiting of an inspiring event to jump-start the development of a topic.



Until next time,



EE