If you read that title you’ve probably thought “here we go again, Srini has lost his damn mind.” Actually the idea for this post was inspired by a post that Lisis Blackston wrote called Self Worth vs. Networth. When I read the content, the message really resonated with me. Many of us, in an effort to build traffic, in an effort to build readership, and ultimately make money as a blogger tailor our writing accordingly.
This essentially neglects the importance of authenticity. When you write for a search engine or for any of the above mentioned reasons then you are not going to produce truly inspired or high quality content. I’ve found that some of the pieces that I write that generate the most buzz are the ones that I think really are not that great because they don’t fit the criteria of a typical post. But for some reason people seem to find them interesting.
A while back I attempted to write a blog post called unleash yourself when you write. Well, I decided to combine the content of that post into this one and share some of my really insane unfiltered thoughts. Needless to say after you read this you’ll probably think I’m full of some very empowering delusions. As I’ve read many of the articles that Penelope Trunk has written this week, I’ve realized that what sets her apart from alot of people is that she is so unleashed, unfiltered and raw in everything she writes. She will tell you things that most people wouldn’t dare write on their blogs for fear of violating the “Too much information rule.”I don’t ever fear pushing publish because I figure, the worst that will happen is a potential employer will read it and decide not to hire me. In my opinion that person is doing both me and his or her company a favor. I don’t want to be working somewhere that holds me back. Some of my most random thoughts I want to share with you in the spirit of writing unleashed:
After catching my first wave@Cardiff in San Diego:
“Damn, this is like hooking up with a really ugly girl and finding out what it’s like to be with a hot one.” The waves at Santa Monica where I surf are not nearly as good and the rides are not nearly as long (no pun intended)
The date on which a girl asked about my stripper pole:
Girl: Is that a stripper pole?
Srini: Yes, I got it on ebay.
Girl: What is it for?
Srini: What do you think it’s for, for girls to dance on?
Girl: I thought you were a nice studious guy?
Srini: I didn’t’ mean to give you the wrong impression
To my friend John when asked about my newly acquired belief that is self serving:
Srini: “I decided the other day that any woman who’s not attracted to me probably escaped from a mental institution?”
Jon: What?
Srini: It’s actually a really healthy delusion. That way I always feel good, and she’s just some crazy bi#$* who’s out of her mind, so I have nothing to feel bad about. See this self improvement shit is awesome.
So, what the hell is the point to all my little snippets here? You should try to steal Kelly Diels writing style. Actually that would be impossible. She’s got me trumped on that one.
Actually, just unleash yourself on the blogosphere. Welcome to my authentic assault on you guys.
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Lol. Umm a stripper pole? Looks who’s the freak now. I don’t mean that in a bad way, so please don’t assume I’m crazy. But I’m a fan of delusional self-esteem tactics.
@Jenny: I know you don’t mean that in a bad way
. Yea I’m crazy enough to buy something like that for my bedroom.
On my former website I used to write for the search Engines and count keywords in every article. I also did keyword research to see what keywords were seldom used in sites but were often searched. This DID help my traffic but sucked the life out of my writing. Now that I don’t care about SEO and just write whatever I feel like writing I certainly have much less traffic but I do have a lot more fun.
Here’s to being more authentic and interesting! It might not help at the search engines now, but I’ll bet mother Google is figuring out a way.
@Kenji: I am actually thrilled to hear that you are not writing for search engines. I actually don’t write at all for SEO purposes other than maybe back linking things. I don’t do keyword research or any of that crap. If I have an idea for a post, I just write it.
I love it, Srini! There’s nothing I enjoy more than reading fully unleashed, totally authentic writing. One of the downsides of the problogging guru trend, is that we’ve ended up with a zillion blogs that write almost identical content! Yuck!
Now, whenever someone actually gets REAL, it is such a refreshing and powerful experience. Your stripper pole just earned you a ton of brownie points in my book!
@Lisis: I know what you mean. After a while sometimes I feel like I’m reading the same thing over and over again. I think that as I have grown as a blogger I’ve been focused more on finding my voice and letting it out than on getting to the A-list. Regarding the stripper pole, I’m going to have to get a new one on ebay when I get a job and a new apartment.
One of your better articles.
I’m going that route myself… a little slower perhaps.
I’ll tell this, though, from what I learned from dating a lot. Put yourself out there exactly how you are and tell ‘em exactly what you want. Chicks are relieved when they know you’re coming straight from the heart… even if your heart is… ok never mind that but you get what I mean.
@Dave: As far as dating goes, I totally agree. Most guys will lie just to please the girl and then find themselves in a situation they don’t want too be in, a situation they could have avoided by just being COMPLETELY HONEST.
@srini – Yep, complete honesty works really well in dating.
Especially when what you want can’t be described exactly as “Being joined at the hip and getting married and having an awesome relationship and having kids and going out to eat and stuff and having romantic walks on the beach.”
Be that man with cojones enough to put it on the table. Works every time. It’s attractive.
Hi Srinivas.
This is true about forgetting much of the rules. It is quite different than standard writing, and writing for sites has to be of a different caliber. Books are much longer than site articles, and so they don’t benefit as much from little features that make articles more memorable, like subheadlines.
Being authentic is the only sustainable way to go, as other ways either are demotivating or quickly figured out by someone as false.
@Armen: I think that the less rules you follow the the more authentic you will become as a writer. The people who write for search engines and hope to build a cult following will have a hard time doing so. A personality and cult following are the two things that set blogs apart. I like to think of myself first as a writer, and second as a blogger. The difference might seem minimal to some.