After reading quite a few of their articles, I recently decided to actually comment at Lifehacker, only to find that they had to deem my first (few?) comments worthy in order for me to continue…Not just “you’re not a trolling moron” worthy, but “we feel that you’re contributing positively and creatively to our site” worthy. So I’m back to just reading their feed now :)

Thank you very much for the kind words. :-)

I would highly encourage you to start a blog if you love writing. I find it is a great creative outlet. And yes, as you see I am all over the map on my blog. One day it might be food, another it might be politics.

My advice however would be to make sure that you aren’t writing about yourself, but rather writing about topics that interest you.

So for example, if you look at what I wrote about my trip to Denver, you see that there really isn’t much about me but instead it’s all about the places I visited and things I did. This helps other people to research and learn from what I experienced.

Good luck with it, and a great place to start a blog quickly and easily is Wordpress.com.

Take care,

John

I love to write and “don’t know what to do with it.” ;P I am thinking now of starting a personal blog because you said I don’t have to focus on only ONE topic (as I thought perhaps was mostly desired). Just be me and blog.

(I have a family blog but won’t share it here ;) )

You really are a source of inspiration to me on your blog…so thanks! :)

Kelly

My main hobby site is a travel site about a city in the Philippines, and even when my whole family came down here from Denmark none of them joined the forum and asked questions or even used he site for research. My sister actually joined after they got back to Denmark, but she only posted one post ever hehehe…

I must admit that not all of your articles are interesting to me, but there are definitely enough of them that I am commenting and subscribed to your feed. I appreciate your authority (something I might need to work on sometimes), and how much research and thoroughness you put in your posts.

It was neat to note that a lot of the ways that you find ideas (magazines, just while around) were very similar to how I find ideas of what to write. It’s nice to be a bit affirmed in your methods every now and again!

They are real tips. Everywhere else you see the same old tips being recycled, but what you said there is real, and true.

I don’t know why they don’t actually post comments – and I’ve encouraged them many times to do so – but I guess some people just do not like to post comments on a Web site. :-)

Yes, I’m spending a lot of time on the site, but I enjoy it and hey I’ve got nothing else to do while everyone I know is at work! ;-) Plus I’m making a lot of new friends all over the world!

John

3-6 hours a day (1-2) articles a day is a long time to spend on the site, but this site is very complete and I enjoy the different topics on here, I have now made it part of my morning routine to check what crazy stuff you came up with today :)

So your work is for sure appreciated, at least by the Dane camping out in the sticks in the Philippines :)

Kim:)

One of the best ways I’ve found to improve my writing is to save a draft and then come back to it hours or days later. That way you are reading it fresh and you can look for areas that are a little unclear to improve your wording.

Also keep an eye out for places where you could add a little more information to bring additional value. For example, on the Web sometimes a link can add great value.

John

First, thank you for the kind words.

With regards to your question, it seems to me there are two different “philosophies” :-) that could be employed in relation to the ratio of Quality to Filler content. And by the way, I’m not at all offended by the label. You are absolutely correct in your assessment.

1. It is my preference to give people a little something to read every single day. This reinforces my routine, and I think it makes it fun for my readers. Plus, in the grand scheme of things I’m not deluded enough to think that my Quality content is more valuable than the Filler. After all, this article isn’t going to hit the front page of Digg, but the 10 Worst Drivers post did. Ultimately the “market” will decide what your best content is. I’ve found it impossible to predict.
2. There are those people whose reputations, or egos, demand that only high quality content be published. They would rather post only once a week, but make sure the content is “reference grade”. That is probably appropriate if you are a Professor, or Alan Greenspan or something.

If you were to force me to recommend between one of the two philosophies to be applied as a blanket to everyone, I’d opt for the former for the following reasons:

• A LOT of my readers will never read this article. Believe me, my whole family will skip over this one, as will thousands of other people. After all, it will only appeal to people who run a Blog or are a little curious about my methodology. That is a small portion of my readership.
• The short filler articles have almost universal appeal. Who doesn’t like a video of a dancing dog, or learning about price protection for online purchases? Normal readers might use the information, and other Bloggers might spread the information. Either way, the information is good.
• I think the Filler articles provide more insight to the personality of the Blogger. You can learn a lot about me from the types of things that I post, and I believe this has a humanizing effect with the readers. They see the person behind the words, not just the words.

For me, the filler articles give me something to do every day, while the quality content comes along when I feel inspired. I hope that answered your fundamental question,

John

John

You love of writing and unique style is very clear and obvious from your larger posts.

Not only do you seem to make the time for such helpfull posts and ideas, but you also seem to have the time to respond to many comments. So yes, you family must be very patient ;-)

Not meaning to be overly critical, but I would say some of your posts, while interesting are more “fillers” then the well written articulated articles as this one.

How do you balance your “filler articles” with your “original content” ?(I use quotes because I’m not sure my terminology is correct).

Would your recommend for example, that it is better to write at least 1 article every day, even if it’s not your “best” content, then to say write 1 or 2 really well written articles per week and no other content the rest of the week

Specifically, what I am wondering about is, the folks out there who have 1 or 2 really good ideas, but no one see’s or hears about them because they don’t have the desire, patience or maybe even the ability to write an excellent thought provoking article everyday.

…In case you haven’t figured it out, I love to comment on articles that contain the word “philosophy”