Nicola Vincent-Abnett

Nicola Vincent-Abnett
"Savant" for Solaris, Wild's End, Further Associates of Sherlock Holms, more Wild's End

Thursday 3 May 2012

With a Little Help from my Friends


It is true, and I can’t believe that I only just realised it, right now, this very moment. I can’t quite believe I’m going to say this, as it comes as a bit of an epiphany, and I’m thinking and typing at about the same speed... simultaneously, you understand.
Wait for it... Here it comes... That’s right, you knew it before I did:
I Am Horrendously Goal Oriented!
You’d think that a person would know something like that about herself, wouldn’t you? Well, I would, until now, that is.
I have written 91 blogs in 91 days, and in nine more days, I will reach my hundredth blog. I’ve been thinking about this for some time. I’ve been thinking about how fast time passes, and how it actually isn’t that difficult to spin out a few hundred words while drinking the first cup of tea of the day, before even attending to my ablutions, putting on my glasses or looking in a mirror. I set out to write a blog every day, and that’s what I’ve done. I do it first thing in the morning so as not to get sidetracked, but... and here’s the thing... It wouldn’t matter when I did it, because, having set the goal, I do what I can to achieve that.
The problem with this slightly obsessive nature is that there is very little wiggle room. I don’t really take holidays, so they’re not much of a problem, but, at the weekends, the husband brings up tea for both of us and a big pile of papers, and we spend a couple of hours together reading, exchanging ideas, catching-up and talking. For the past thirteen weekends, I’ve come to the papers twenty minutes after the husband. He does not complain; bless him.
If this were the only problem resulting from my slightly obsessive nature it would be problem enough, but it isn’t.
I must confess that I check my stats. I check them regularly, and I compare one day’s stats with another’s, one blog’s popularity with another’s. I’m not sure this is healthy. I also begin to set goals, so, I’m now never happy with fewer than X number of hits in a day. As a consequence, I sometimes write extra material, the only purpose of which is to suck in more readers. To be fair, I rather enjoy writing my little jokes and stories, and I like to add value to the blog, but I do sometimes wonder if I’m making a rod for my back.
Then, there are favourites. My favourite blogs are not necessarily those that attract the most readers. It makes me feel sad for them.
So, I’ve admitted it, I am goal oriented, and there’s no way to change that now.
Here’s the thing, though... I thought I’d spread the love.
I am hoping, on the day of my hundredth blog, if not before, to reach a magic number in my stats box, and I can’t do it without you. 
So, go find your favourite of my blogs and send a link to a friend. It’s karma points in the bank for you, and it’s a visitor counter ticking over for me. That’s got to be a win-win situation... Right? 
And, if that’s not win enough for you, recommend a blog to me, and I will visit it, and comment, and add to its visitor count. Deal? Deal!

6 comments:

  1. I like all of your blog posts!
    Kaaron

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See how generous you are?

      Everyone else should go read Kaaron's blog here: http://kaaronwarren.wordpress.com/ The Sparks interviews are inspiring, too, and her fiction is among my favourites.

      N

      Delete
  2. By all means feel free to read my blog – either on WordPress or The Red Room :–)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Katherine,

      Done and done.

      N

      Delete
    2. Just listened to your little bird thingy on the Red Room page. Corvidae are very special, aren't they? I always associate them with magic.

      N

      Delete
  3. Thank you for that. I always think crows get bad press, whereas they are highly intelligent birds with a strong personality. I love going to feed them bread and monkey nuts, by the river.

    ReplyDelete