Elaine Smith Writes

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Why should you care?

The WIFM

Yesterday, I talked about why I am here.  It wasn’t quite the existential question it looks like today.  It was a little more specific than that.  The question really was “why am I blogging?”

Today, the question is “Why should you care?”  Why should what I think matter?  What’s the WIFM—“What’s In It For Me?” for you.

An excellent question.

First tip of the blog–always ask that question.  I’m not an advocate of unrelenting selfishness, but life is short.  There better be something for you in anything on which you choose to spend your precious time.  But—second tip of the blog—don’t  stop doing something or fail to start just because the answer is not immediately apparent.  Sometimes, you have to be right in amongst the trees and climbing up them before you can see the forest.

In this case. . .maybe the WIFM is  just another way to procrastinate.  Maybe some fleeting amusement.  Maybe some useful information.

Maybe not.

Like most people, the Exact Center of the Universe is wherever you happen to be, not necessarily where I am.  So my thoughts aren’t gonna be useful just because they’re my thoughts.

On the other hand, I’ve been through some stuff and learned some things that I might be able to share with you here.   Maybe that’s what’s in it for you.

Or maybe it’s what’s under the hats.  (Tune in tomorrow.)


Why Am I Here?

OMG, another blog! 

Just how many blogs do you figure there are, anyway?

As of December 2011, according to this site, it looks like there are over 2 billion people using the internet.  900 million of them are on Facebook (FB stats here)– which you could think of as kind of a mini-blog, I guess.

(I tried to figure out what percentage that was out of the 2 billion—being somewhat easily distracted by statistics–but the calculator on my Blackberry won’t let me enter 2 billion – and please don’t tell me I can use Excel or figure out what percentage 900 is of 2000.  That’s like higher math, and I’m not in the mood just now.*  This is supposed to be about words, not numbers.)

Anyway, 2 billion on the internet, and, apparently, about a billion of us have a blog.

That’s 50%.  (Even I can do that kind of math.)

And it’s now a billion and one, folks!  Here I am!

Eeek.

(That is a sound I make frequently.  One of my friends has taken to calling me Eeek-laine.)

Embarking on the new adventure of blogging.

So why am I here?  Couple of reasons, I think.—maybe more than a couple.

  1. Try something new
  2. Break through a long-standing case of Writer’s Block
  3. Force myself to improve my writing by practicing in public like Seth Godin suggests
  4. Sound off—who can resist a bully pulpit?
  5. Start a conversation—because I guess it would be only fair to listen to what you have to say, too.  (You can post comments, you know.)
  6. Give the exhibitionist in me a little bit of equal time with the inhibitionist (is that even a word?).
  7. Share some information, some thoughts, some tips, some struggles—because there’s a good chance that some of you are having the same struggles
  8. Put my website on somebody’s radar screen–since I seriously don’t want to be Emily Dickinson and die with a drawer full of unpublished/unread writing.  (Although I played Emily Dickinson once – and that’s a subject for another post.  One of the things I’ve learned in my research about blogging is it helps to have a lot of things to talk about and to spread them out.  So we’ll get to that later.)

The answer is any and all of the above—and probably some other reasons that aren’t clear yet.

Why should you care?

Let’s save that for tomorrow, shall we?

* Oh, by the way.  That calculation?  900 million/2 billion.  It’s 45%.

‘Show me this world. Open me. Change me.’

“There are those rare people who can look at the world and see things the rest of us don’t see until they show us. These are the writers. There are the special few who can take that vision and turn it back into a world. These are the directors, the designers. There are fearless beings who can live in that world and show us who we are. These are our actors. There are dedicated people who know why that world matters so very much. Crew, theater staff, producers, investors, managers, marketers. And then there are the people who step forward and say ‘Show me this world. Open me. Change me.’ These are our audiences. And when all of these people come together and say ‘Yes’, there is theater.”

–Jordan Roth in his acceptance speech for Clybourne Park winning Best Play at the Tony Awards in 2012.

Yes.

All About the Email, Baby!

Today’s post is all about the email.

Because I’ve got some exciting news to announce.

Okay.  Now I don’t want to mislead you.  This is not the announcement. This is about making the announcement.

I want to reach as many people in my circle of friends, colleagues, interested parties, etc. as I can in as efficient a manner as possible.  Makes sense, right?  So, I need to send out an email.  And, because everybody’s always talking about “branding,” I figure it will be best if the email could look a lot like this website.

And that meant learning to use one of those email list management services.  And one thing has led to another, and I’m off to the post office to sign up for a post office box.

Why? you ask.

Well, see, there are these regulations that establish certain standards for bulk email.  This is a good thing, right?  Without it, I’d probably have several thousand emails a day instead of several hundred.  I’m all for it.

Except for that one little part that requires a physical mailing address to be included in the email.

I’m sure that works out perfectly well for a big company, or any organization where the employees leave their homes and go to an office.  But for those of us who are self-employed, it can get a little tricky.

My first email of this type will only be going to people I know, people with whom I have a relationship. But it’s going to include a “Forward to a Friend” link — because, hey, it really is good news, and there might be people who my friends and colleagues think should know about it.  (Note to friends and colleagues:  please, please, please forward the email to anybody you think might be interested!)

Being currently in an optimistic frame of mind — because I do have this good news, and that always makes things look rosier — I’m thinking that, possibly, people whom I have never met might see this email.

Do we really think it is a good idea for untold millions — no exaggeration — if you really think about it, you will realize that no matter how successful this email will be in getting out the news, there will remain millions who have been untold.  Sigh.  But do we think it is a good idea for untold millions to have my home address?  Even if I thought that was a good idea, there’s a good chance my husband would not.

And so. . .a post office box!

Turns out, they are not that expensive, and — at least where I live — they are easily obtained.  (But you’ve got to have more ID than you currently need to vote — and that’s saying something!)

If you’re one of those friends and colleagues of mine, watch your inboxes for the email!  If you’re not, and you’re just dying of curiosity about this exciting news, you can sign up for my email alerts here.

And. . .we’re off!

Welcome to my very first blog post!

It’s a little scary to launch a new endeavor–especially one so fraught with narcissism as blogging.  You know those voices in your head? The ones that like to shout–or, more often, whisper insidiously–Just who do you think you are?

Well, they are working overtime today.

Who do you think you are to start blogging?  To have a website? A bookstore? Who do you think would ever be interested in anything you have to say?  What’s wrong with you?

But I’ve decided to tell the Tyrannosaurus Chatterboxicus to sit down and shut up.

I would like to point out to that garrulous TC that I am interested in what I have to say, and that’s enough. If nothing else, this should get me writing a bit every day. And if other people decide to come along, that will be great.

There may be interesting things here.

I’ll be talking about writing and creativity and what gets in the way. I’ll be talking about theatre and what I’ve learned as an actor, a director, a playwright. I’ll be talking about computers and website design and the bruises I’ll be getting from beating my head against the brick wall of trial-and-error programming.

I’ll be talking about visibility–oh, the shame of poking your head up and saying, “Here I am. Look at me.“–and having to combine all manner of esoteric business-like disciplines (marketing, pr, research, compliance, data design, accounting, etc.) with all manner of other esoteric creative-like disciplines (plot, theme, structure, imagination) into the more or less coherent whole of an Artist Entrepreneur.

Sometimes I’ll be talking about how hard all that is, and sometimes I’ll be pointing out some tricks and tools that have made it easier for me–and might work for you. And sometimes I’ll probably just be talking, and we’ll all wonder what the heck I’m talking about.

I’m learning this blogging software as I go along. Weird things will happen. The TC wants me to wait until I understand it perfectly, but you know and I know that just means it will never get off the ground.

Leap, and the net will appear. — John Burroughs

I’m leaping.

Bookmark this site if you want to see what happens next.


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