hmm. I was not at all surprised at the success of "Stuff White People Like". I immediately sensed the nerve that it hit, and I knew many people were going to dislike it. Further more, I knew people were going to be "puzzled" as to why it attained so much success. Somehow, I sensed how this was all tied together. Admittedly, the 300k + for the book deal felt excessive. So maybe I'm not that calibrated. All the same.
Great passage:
Quote:
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This is one of many subtle calibration refinements I learned from years of blogging. I discovered that prefacing every opinion with phrases like “I think…” or “I feel…” or “In my opinion…” leads to the creation of wimpy content. So this was actually a personal defect I learned to correct, and I intentionally make strong statements. My readers aren’t stupid. They know that since this is my website, such statements represent my thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. When I offer up my thoughts directly, as opposed to watering them down with qualifiers, people are challenged to agree or disagree with me. This helps people question their beliefs, strengthening some while weakening others. This is what I like to see.
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I relate to this because very recently on the forums another poster chastised me for "not seeing other people's truths as valid as my own". I immediately had to point out that this was simply not the case and it must be my abrasive language that the poster was referring too. I seem to have little trouble attracting "controversy", albeit it's normally just one poster at a time (who knows what others are thinking if they don't respond). I will often post something (here and on other boards) that I know is going to be unpopular. I don't do it to be antagonistic. I actually feel very nervous after posting, and get more nervous as I check back. So nervous that I will put it off! Of course once I do check it's never as bad as I thought it would be, and I'm often pleasantly surprised when I get a reasoned response. But there are many people who just aren't ready for your ideas and you just end up intellectually antagonizing. Sometimes this leads to an energy draining "debate" that nobody can win, but at least that gives you a chance to solidify one's argument.
Anyway, I would think this meant there was a problem with myself. That I was deliberately antagonizing people, and it signified something deeper within myself. Something about feeling disconnected from the greater world. Perhaps there might be something to this, but after reading this entry by Steve, I'm now thinking I need to embrace this feeling of always being "against the grain". Especially if it seems I will keep flowing this direction. Perhaps it means I'm more calibrated towards successful blogging than I thought!
Now the real challenge... to figure a topic that lends itself to timeless content, which resonates with me deeply...