Reality is Harshing on my Quality

Jay Allen, Movable Type Product Manager, left a really touching and amazing comment this morning:

John, I'm only going to speak for myself here, but I already find what you've written both immensely helpful and interesting. I do appreciate the tone you've taken and it's crystal clear to me that the spirit in which you are writing is one of a genuine love for the product and a desire to make it better.

As you mentioned, all too often in blogging frustration clouds the sincere message of supportive desire and ends up sounding more like a scathing rebuke. Being that we *make* blog software, frankly, we're used to it. That is perhaps why it's such a nice and refreshing change when someone makes the effort to give criticism in such a constructive way.

Anyhow, all of that is to say, keep doing what you're doing. It makes a difference.

Wow. I blushed. And then I called all my friends who thought this blog was a crazy idea and read it to them (no, not really. There's just one cynic, and he's subscribed to the feed. Heh.)

Anyway, I'm reposting the comment here for more reason than to bask in the attention twice. It's rapidly coming to my attention that if I want to maintain the quality of posts here, I'm going to have to slow down (just) a bit. I was hoping to maintain the schedule of this blog on a daily basis, but if it comes down to quality vs quantity, I think we're all in favor of quality. 

I have absolutely no intention of disappearing on you. I'll still answer comments and emails daily. I just want to be sure that I'm putting my best work into each of the analysis posts. Every time I sit down to write a post, I think, "oh, that's an easy one because it's so obvious!" And then I realize, well, no, it's not that obvious. If it were obvious, I wouldn't have to write about it. There's background, history, underlying assumptions, etc. that all ought to be covered in addition to why any given idea is a good one. So if I'm to do the best work I can, I really need to be able to put more than part of a day into most of the posts I have scheduled.

I think this will get easier with time, as I build up some of the articles that explain how I think the culture of blogging is changing, and some of the ways that it already has changed. For instance, I have a post partly written which groups features related to tags and categories together. But I'd like to delve into how blogs are organized in general; how the journal structure relates to time; how categories and tags imply a completely different way of structuring a blog and why that's important. It looks like we're in for longer, essay-style posts that come with a bit less frequency. I think it'll be worth the wait.

I'm aware that the tradition in blogging is more one of frequent, short posts. But I'd like this blog to step outside that tradition. I like the way it's been progressing so far on parallel tracks, with the comments adding a great dimension of critique to the longer posts. See? Now I have a whole new idea about structure forming in the back of my brain. Hmmm.

As ever, I'm quite open to what you think… Let me know which format you prefer in the comments.

I'm going to spend part of the weekend writing new analysis pieces and trying to put together some screen shots of the blog store template. I also need to spend some time in the studio filling recent art orders. If I get some solid posts finished before Monday, I'll post them when ready. Otherwise, I'll try to get some back catalog together and schedule posts in advance.

Bueno.

Comments

[Posted: Mar 25, 2006 1:14:53 PM]

John,
What a headrush it must be to see a project like this take off and then realize that people in the right places are listening. And to hear comments like "It makes a difference" just makes the day! Congratulations!

I've been around the Internet since before browsers (using text-based Lynx) and have hosted several forums, mainly just for fun. I first heard the term "blog" seven or eight years ago and promptly dismissed it as a passing fad for young people with nothing else to do. Silly me!

Since then, I've come to understand the appeal of virtual communities and recently took another look at blogging. WOW! I was floored at how blogging has progressed. That's one of the reasons I read your blog daily.

You and your readers along with a few other blogs have given me a jumpstart in understanding not only the mechanics of blogging, but more importantly, the dynamics of the blogging community(s).

That said, I heartily agree with Jay, "keep doing what you're doing"!

~James Milstid

P.S. I'm in the "quality over quantity" camp!

[Posted: Mar 26, 2006 1:01:59 AM]

Thanks James!

Definitely a rush… But when I think of "people in the right places" I'm thinking of as much about all the readers who've made contributions as I am the people at Six Apart. The strength of this dialogue lies in getting the developers and users of TypePad acquainted. It's a two way coversation, so everyone is equally important.