In keeping with the title, I’ll try to make this brief.
Over the last while, I’ve been trying to figure out how to improve this blog, both in terms of having the time to contribute to it more and drawing in more readers, which is to say any at all really. I read back over a bunch of my past entries and discovered that they share a personal trait of mine that I’ve had since childhood and only recently started to manage in real life: I talk too damn much. My posts are less frequent than I’d like because it takes me sometimes hours to write the massive text walls that many of them were and I can’t start a post and not finish it in one sitting. I appreciate people with a fine attention to detail, but there is also something to be said for making the same point in fewer words and I’ve decided I need to force myself to learn that. I originally chose the name Geek Bravado because I like and respect people who state their informed opinions bluntly and unapologetically and that was my goal as well. However, one of my other failings is a perpetual fear of offending or even slightly upsetting anyone. While my posts were based in strong opinion, they were often written with softer language that made the point but with only rounded corners. I also wrote in a way that assumed anyone who read this blog didn’t know about or understand the background or ideas behind my commentary and needed it explained. I’ve realised that’s silly. If you’re coming to a site called Geek Bravado, then you’re either going to know what I’m talking about or are smart enough to know how to find out in short order.
It’s time for some changes.
I can’t guarantee that all my posts will be short (in fact one I’m brewing for the future kind of can’t be, though I have a plan) but I’m now going to strive to post more often and make my points faster. No lengthy backstories, no more 5 sentences to make a 1 sentence point. This way, people won’t be scared off or bored and it also gives me the freedom to write posts on my lunch hour or while waiting for dinner to cook instead of at the end of a long day. Also, when I feel very strongly about something, I’m going to start using language that is applicable to the tone of my true thoughts. That doesn’t mean that Geek Bravado is suddenly going to become not safe for work. The occasional bad word may slip in if I feel it conveys my emotions well but my real goal with this is to show how I truly feel, rather than to just state it softly and hope people understand my passion for a subject.
I’m making these changes both in the interests of trying to grow my readership but also as a personal challenge in my own journey of self-improvement. Though these sound like simple goals, they will be tougher than you might think with my personality type being what it is. I’m excited though and in the end, I think the quality of my writing is going to be better for it. There will likely also be some appearance changes coming too. Finding a better theme and maybe getting a logo made have been on my to-do list for a while and once I find the time, I hope to make things nicer on the eyes here too.
I’m looking forward to the future here and if you’re reading this, I hope you are too.
Thanks for looking!