Rumble in Blogville

Rumble in Blogville
Article submitted for the January, 2007 issue of "Invalid Item" 

With the release of every issue of The Blogville News comes praise, but also rumblings of discontent that ripple through WdC, sometimes lasting for days.

This should surprise no one. The News is rife with not just news of WdC members, but opinions. As someone noted once, “Opinions are like [butt]holes. Everybody has one.” Not only does everybody have one, but no matter the subject, they differ sometimes as far apart as the east is from the west. Because of these vast differences, passions and angers flare, leaving many feeling scorched.

Some people have felt left out of the News, seeing the same names appear over and over. To them, the News appears clique-ish. If a blogger is not a Christian, Caucasian - whatever - then he or she can forget seeing their name appear in any form, let alone contribute an article.

This, however, is far from the case.

With me contributing in this issue and also being in charge of the Gossip Column at one time I hear you thinking, “That’s easy for you to say. You’re a member of said clique!”

Let me tell you a little something about my experience with Blogville. I began my blog with no expectations. I expected readers – though not many – but I didn’t expect any comments. I saw that first comment in my mailbox after adding my second entry, and my jaw plopped into my lap. Someone not only read my blog, but cared enough to tell me their thoughts?!

Okay, I thought, this blogging thing is kinda cool. Still, my comments remained at 0-3 for a long time, and most of those were mine.

Curious about the people taking the time to read and comment, I visited their blogs. I felt as though the world opened up to me then. Some were funny, many thoughtful, others even incendiary, at times expressing opinions I vehemently disagreed with. It mattered little. I was hooked. Each one, though I may have disagreed, wrote with intelligence, eloquence, and passion. They wrote about what they cared about most, and wrote so well, I felt as though they opened up their brain for me to sift through. I soon noticed the links at the left of each person’s blog, so I clicked on those to see why this person liked that person’s blog and so on. For hours and days I read so many blogs I couldn’t tell you where I started or how I arrived from one to the next.

With the ones that sparked my own passions, I left comments. I soon discovered those people came to my blog, even if they hadn’t (that I knew of ) visited my blog before. After a while, I felt a part of this place called Blogville, and many of these citizens I now call Friend.

Any community you become a part of, whether on the internet, in your neighborhood, city, or state, the decision rests with you what you get out of it. If you sit silent on the fringes, no one will find you. Jump in the middle of the fray, and people have to pay attention. Blogville is no different. Part of the reason certain bloggers have shot up to the most-viewed is because they also read the most. Pay attention and you’ll find they also comment in more blogs than the rest of us.

So you find this newsletter lacking? Fine. Do something about it. Approach the owner of the newsletter and say, “Hey! I have something to say. I want to contribute.” I can’t imagine you being turned down.

A little more about me and why I write. I read a lot, mostly Christian and Science Fiction. However, I consider both lacking in certain areas. Christian Science Fiction is nearly nonexistent, and in much of the current secular Science Fiction, few of them have a higher power involved unless it’s some ethereal “force” or “universe.” For months I wished someone would write a book with all the things I wanted to read about.

Then it occurred to me. Why don’t I write the book I’ve always wanted to read?

The same goes for everything you read. If you don’t like what’s available, then you write it to fill that void.

There’s room for not only more contributions to this newsletter, but you can always start your own. After all, if thousands of newspapers, magazines, and newsletters can find their own market audience, so, too, can you.

For something else to think about along the same lines, I found this in the January 2007 issue of The Writer page 9:

“Contrary to general belief, there are no writers starving in garrets today because their material is too good for general consumption. These small fictions are set up by the unsuccessful to save their own pride; and because we are a kindly and even a pitiful people, we have allowed them to stand. Actually, so vast is the appetite today for the printed word, so wide its intellectual range, that there is no reason why any good writing product, intelligently produced and skillfully marketed, should fail to find readers.” ~ Mary Roberts, The Writer, January 1937

In short, quit whining and get to work making Blogville the place you want to be in, and the News the newsletter you always wanted to read. No one is stopping you. In fact, I bet you’ll be praised for your efforts.