tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post5118720273580237950..comments2023-07-15T04:20:16.543-05:00Comments on Almost Diamonds: Writers Don't Spring from Zeus's Forehead EitherStephanie Zvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-83873075956254661252011-01-28T18:33:24.602-06:002011-01-28T18:33:24.602-06:00John, I don't doubt that, but given a choice o...John, I don't doubt that, but given a choice of which of the misunderstandings to respond to....<br /><br />Rebecca, what DM and D. C. said. A new blog is a new blog. A mature blog is still not a perfect blog. Write. Get feedback. Get better. Take chances and test yourself when you feel strong. Promote before you really think your writing is quite ready but when you think the subject needs it. It's easier to promote a topic you care about than it is to promote yourself.<br /><br />Mostly, write.Stephanie Zvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-7600351459859685432011-01-27T21:06:24.510-06:002011-01-27T21:06:24.510-06:00Based on a lot of what John Pavlus has written, my...Based on a lot of what John Pavlus has written, my sense is that he wouldn't disagree with any of your arguments above, or even with almost all of what you wrote yesterday. Rather, I think that one quoted sentence jumped out at him and he took great exception to it; if that means he was reading it out of context, so be it.<br /><br />The point he was trying to make—and I think it's a valid one—is just that there's no reason to prefer Ed Yong's career success to Rebecca Skloot's. The science blogging community is a wonderful, stimulating, nurturing place where we all learn a lot, but popularity, respect and acclaim in the blogosphere don't correlate to monetary success (obviously). Surveys show that only a fairly small part of the public engages with blogs at all, let alone science blogs. Pavlus writes often about the need for freelancers to have a clear sense of what their real jobs are, and I think he was reacting to what he (mis)perceived as a recommendation that aspiring science writers aspire to be big fish in the small pond of science blogging rather than big fish in the lake of science writing.<br /><br />Were you suggesting that? Of course not. But out of such passions and misreadings are misunderstandings born.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03747772066625692489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-90988421242924238872011-01-27T18:32:06.964-06:002011-01-27T18:32:06.964-06:00How much skill and clout do you need to already po...<i>How much skill and clout do you need to already posses begin a serious blog?</i><br /><br />Temptation aside, what DM wrote.<br /><br />If you've got something to write, blog it. One of our favorites is Anna White's woodworking blog. Pretty much nobody ever heard of her before she started <a href="http://ana-white.com/" rel="nofollow">Knock Off Wood</a>.<br />Or how about Tracy Coenen and <a href="http://www.pinktruth.com" rel="nofollow">Pink Truth</a> or Pamela Jones when she started <a href="http://www.groklaw.net" rel="nofollow">GrokLaw</a>?<br /><br />Three women who came out of figurative nowhere with something to say. Three totally different topics, handled differently (Anna from sharing joy in working with wood, Tracy [1] and PJ [2] with some righteous anger) -- all three have established themselves as "go to" resources in their topics [3].<br /><br />So don't wait for engraved invitation.<br /><br />[1] A forensic fraud investigator<br />[2] A paralegal<br />[3] <i>GrokLaw</i> has been cited favorably by the courts for its in-depth and accurate coverage of the cases before them.D. C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06515125525097163604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-62600159399863232602011-01-27T17:51:05.383-06:002011-01-27T17:51:05.383-06:00DM, please. I hope you realize how cruel it is to...DM, please. I hope you realize how cruel it is to leave straight lines like that lying around.D. C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06515125525097163604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-69309624711057902492011-01-27T15:34:55.323-06:002011-01-27T15:34:55.323-06:00How much skill and clout do you need to already po...<em>How much skill and clout do you need to already posses begin a serious blog? </em><br /><br />"need"? none.DrugMonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-30662028946697433232011-01-27T14:57:03.657-06:002011-01-27T14:57:03.657-06:00I think he wasn't paying attention to what you...I think he wasn't paying attention to what you wrote because he does an awfully bad job of agreeing with you, in a round about kind of way.Greg Ladenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857616630819182647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-73115602191662441662011-01-27T13:58:24.679-06:002011-01-27T13:58:24.679-06:00I was thinking of starting a blog, and the purpose...I was thinking of starting a blog, and the purpose of polishing my prose high on the list of motivating factors. I worry that as a master's student I do not have the credibility to carry an academic blog, and I worry that my early writing being internet accessible will eventually work against me later in my career. <br /><br />It is somewhat embarrassing to admit, but I feel like I should have someone's approval to be blogging as a scholar (as opposed to a cook or a consumer) or have reached some obvious milestone like a PhD or winning a literary award--as if my thoughts would not carry enough weight without some sort of official sanction.<br /><br />I feel this concern is connected to gender. In my experience men accept they are competent in a skill, while women that have that same skill level still feel unsteady. <br />How much skill and clout do you need to already posses begin a serious blog?Rebeccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12896035196461484737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-75794779834600338002011-01-27T12:14:02.713-06:002011-01-27T12:14:02.713-06:00Clearly, your curmudgeon believes you want recogni...Clearly, your curmudgeon believes you want recognition so that people will hail you in the street and ask for your autograph... As opposed to a comfortable position in a vibrant intellectual community where you can exchange ideas and grow as a writer. <br /><br />Ultimately, it is gradually dawning on me that <i>for my career goals</i>, what I need to do is find (or foster) such a community of scientists. I may have to put Bora under my microscope- it seems to me that community-building (that he excels at) is the one skill that best facilitates optimal (enjoyable and efficient) acquisition of other skills.<br /><br />Which is why it's pernicious that people don't realize when they are building community- and who they are leaving out.Beccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356974556397009124noreply@blogger.com