mocktoblog

So I guess "creating content" is my new personal buzzword.

Stuff like this and this are all kinds of inspirational for me.

I’ve got a blog. You know how big a deal that is? Fifteen years ago, what could you do if you wanted to expose the entire world to something you made, or found interesting or cool or whatever? Stand on a sidewalk, hand out pictures of cats to passerby. “LOOK AT THIS CAT, HERE IS SOMETHING FUNNY I IMAGINE IT COULD SAY.” Take out a boombox. “LISTEN TO THIS SONG, THIS IS MY FAVORITE SONG AND HERE IS WHY.” If you did that, you’d probably reach about the same number of people that I do. But you know what the difference between you and me would be? I would wake up in the morning and not feel a deep-seated feeling of regret, like I have been living my life wrong on a fundamental level. Most mornings.

I’ve got a blog! And what am I doing with it? My last post was a week ago, and what was it? An mp3, along with two lines of description. That isn’t what I want to be posting.

Mr. Mann’s piece is interesting because it talks about 1) creating blog content and 2) how Tumblr is rad for those who don’t want a “real blog,” but want to share “lovely bits”. He doesn’t mention the disconnect between them. I’m not saying that the two contradict each other, but it’s definitely Danger Zone. There’s a thin line between creation and perpetuation, and the rebloggable structure of Tumblr often encourages the latter— posting an image or a link or a list already making the internet rounds without adding anything of your own.

I don’t want to perpetuate content. I want to create content. It’s easier said than done, but my god! I’ve got a blog! I’ve got this insane forum that did not exist when I was born. I am fifteen years old! This blows my mind!  Let’s go! Create some content! YEAH!

How the hell do I create content. What does that mean, even.

Well, when I think about my life, and what I am doing in it, three things come to mind:

1. Comics.
2. Improv.
3. School.

Of these things, only the first is creating content. I’m drawing comics, for better or for worse, and putting them out there, with the hope that the Perpetuating Content people will do just that and make me Internet Famous. Improv isn’t really creating content, in my mind, because of how ephemeral and exclusive it is (I guess you could make a case for it, though. Content = characters, scenes, environments). But you can apply the principles Marco and Merlin talk about to improv (Give your scenes value. Don’t waste the audience’s time. They came to see you, make it worth it). School is…school.

And when I think about what I want to be doing, three things come to mind:

1. Excellent comics.
2. Excellent improv.
3. Writing a blog.

I’m serious about that last one. It seems totally mundane, but the concept of blogging— real blogging, CREATING CONTENT— excites me in ways I’m not entirely alright with. Write what you know, right? A blog about stumbling through high school and gradually getting better at comics and improving at improv is a blog I would read, so why isn’t it one I write?

TL;DR I like doing and making things; I want to continue doing and making things and maybe write about it along the way.