Who are you, Audience?

Apparently at the end of the year it's possible to get your blog published as a book just for you to keep a physical record of your writings, kind of like a scrapbook, with all the pictures and stuff. It got me thinking, if I were to do that at the end of 2010, what kinds of things should I write that are worth putting into print? The important parts of life, like relationships, jobs, etc, are really what matter, but aren't something I'm about to go ranting off about on my blog for other people to read. I'm pretty open with my feelings but I'm not going to write a book about the heartbreak and pain from the last guy who dumped me, or why I hate my job and want to quit. Hypothetically. Some things are just better left unsaid, especially since any stranger can Stumble Upon my blog. Thus, I'm stuck wondering if I should deliberately TRY to make this mainly a collection of memories, with said publishing ending in mind, or post whatever I feel like and see what happens?

The other dilemma here I'm facing after experimenting for a few weeks is who I'm writing to, or for. I knew this was going to be something to think about, which is why I held off on starting this blog for a while. One of the first tasks a writer does is establish the audience for their piece. Who are you writing to? What kind of tone do you wish to convey to these people? I still haven't come to a conclusion about who my audience is and if I want to provide material that other people, friends, strangers, can find useful, or if I just want to talk about my feeeelings and what I'm doing with my days. For now I'm just happy to be writing at all, and I guess I'll just keeping playing with it and see how I feel.


I do have something that I wanted to share, though, from a recently acquired "Daily Book of Positive Quotations." I am always looking for meaningful and inspirational quotes, so I thought I'd just flip through it, but when I went to today's date, I really liked the one I found. The quote was this:

"Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change." - Jesse Jackson

Now, if you're reading, go ahead and take some time to contemplate that.






Done? OK, good. I used to be one who complained a lot, but reflecting back on the last few years of my life, I think I've gotten a lot better. However, there are definitely areas of my life that I brood over when I should be taking action to fix instead, i.e. grades. Yes, some classes are legitimately hard, but some classes also just require more effort, and I realize I can't speak until I've given 100%. This quote applies to me and others out there, telling us we should just learn to suck it up and stop complaining, because we're better than that and the best method of getting the change we want is by working for it ourselves. Next time I feel like crying when something gets hard, I'll think of this quote and hopefully change my mindset.