There’s a poll I made and you can reach it by clicking here.
It’s been there since the 2nd of January and, just like I wish more folks would comment on individual posts, I wish more folks would take the poll. It can be of great aid in deciding what our readership wants to see here. Multiple answers are accepted :-)
The results, so far, are:
Writing=41.2% ~ Reading and Publishing both=23.5% ~ Other=11.8%
There’s a little link at the bottom of the form to view the results…
Thing is, there have only been 17 votes so far. If I go with the leading result for Writing, at this point in time, I would be ignoring that there’s a sizable count for Other…
The average number of viewers of this blog is somewhere around 45/day.
Wonder what all those other people think? Did they stay around long enough to notice the link to the poll?
I could reason that the people who have voted so far are the ones who are reading the blog and take my cue from them on how to apportion the themes of my posts.
Still, with about four years experience in blogging, I know that there are always more people reading a blog than indicated by actions taken on the blog (polls or comments or links clicked). Of course, there are also always more visitors to a blog than there are people who read it.
This blog is personal to the extent that it fulfills my daily need to write. I fulfill my daily need to read by following the sites in our Blogroll. And, I’ll be fulfilling my need to publish, again, by releasing my book in May…
This blog is social to the extent that I endeavor to create posts of value and interest to my readers…
Did you take the poll yet?
Do you feel a need to tell me more about what you’d like to see here than a poll can capture?
Are you the kind of person who is shy about leaving comments?
Is anyone still reading this post?? :-)
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Notes from An Alien 
I think I took the poll already. I read quite a few posts, here and at other blogs. There are times I don’t comment just because I can’t think of anything to say.
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I’m sitting here wondering whether I should worry that some of my posts are so insular they preclude comments or so uninteresting they shun comments…
The third alternative, that you sometimes can’t think of what to say, seems impossible :-)
Then, I realize your comment could have been about all the blogs you read and I’m being way to self-centered… Whoot :-)
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Oh no, my comment wasn’t directed to your blog in particular. What I meant was my own mind can’t form a worthwhile comment in spite of the high quality of the post.
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Whew!! :-)
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I clicked everything. I want it all: reading, writing, and publishing. I wouldn’t throw rocks if you went off subject occasionally, either. You can even philosophized and pull my leg now and then.
What I think I like most about your posts is the scope of each one. At first, they seem to ramble and I ask, ‘where are we going with this?’ Then it becomes clear to me that there are multiple points, and I do have to stop and think before I answer. Also you have a unique way of saying, ‘This is what I think. What do you think?’
Plus, you are neither pedantic, telling me do this, don’t do that, nor or you too elementary, which would, of course, be dull.
I would especially like to read some of your shorts or excerpts from your book—as an appetizer, so to speak.
And I’m also impressed with your Blog Roll—interesting people—that I’m trying to go through slowly. I have comment on some of these links, but I’ve only had a few respond to me. Oh, well. On the plus side, I’m going to increase my blog roll, too
Sorry, didn’t mean to take over. I talk too much. Actually, in person I don’t talk a lot, but I can write your ear off.
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You’re always welcome to write my ear off, C. M. :-)
Thank you for all that encouraging stuff about my efforts on the blog–makes it all worthwhile…
As far as excerpts from the book, I’m already offering the whole book to folks but perhaps I could put some excerpts in some posts and get your feedback, eh??
I like my Blogroll!! So many different and interesting people :-)
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Do I detect some insecurity? I wonder if blogging breeds it. Most of my posts get no comments. Some get just one or two. Of course, I don’t have your readership yet, and I’m trying not to let myself feel insecure about that. What does help boost my self-confidence is when somebody is suddenly reading my older posts and commenting. It lets me know that I’m not just leaving a long trail of trash behind me.
Anyway… I took the poll and picked all three choices. I tried to think of something for “other,” but nothing came to mind except book reviews, which are still about reading, and most of which I’m not interested in. How about a series of posts about genres? I think that could be very interesting, but I’m too lazy to pursue it myself.
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Oh, my, yes, Catana, folks finding the older posts and commenting–they actually crawl around and look over the territory :-)
Insecure?? All my life…
Genres!! It’s on my list of potential posts.
Thanks!!
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Well, I am certainly still reading; as a matter of fact, in the last two weeks or so, I have been introduced to the blogs of several very fine people and even begun to think about what a gift we have within the Internet that makes the act of writing something within reach and with neo-swift reaction. Only a few short years ago, nothing of this kind existed for the average person; even the Internet itself is not quite out of that “Well, I’ll be damned…” reaction that anyone has to something new in the general experience of living. Blogs and writing in general, are still a kind of wonder to anyone who remembers when there was no such thing. Lately, of course, one cannot forget that with the governments of Tunisia and Egypt, possibly Yemen and Jordan, and others in the cast of the Middle East up in flames, not to mention cyclones in Queensland, Australia, and a monster storm that nearly paralysed thirty states, flooding in the Amazon River area and mudslides in Brazil, perhaps, just perhaps there are generalised distractions for many of us as the world’s foundations seem to be trembling,…slightly….or, at least, wobbling a little….
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“neo-swift reaction” Whew! Folks, ya gotta go visit this man’s blog–he’s a master of the language!!
We are wobbling, yes… There is hope, though…
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What you say is all true.
As for the internet and making connections, it is a bit like walking down a city street. You might smile at 10 people, but only one will smile back, while the rest might as well be moving lampposts. I understand the people on the street; they are afraid of strangers. But people on the Net, who can’t even click the like or dislike button, I don’t get it. The least they could do is let me know if I’m going in the right direction. Who-yeah!
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Yep, walking down the street or zooming down the Information Superhighway…
‘Cept, seems more like 1 out of 100………
We all seem agreed on wanting more feedback.
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I agree that you have a good balance already of publishing and writing. Reading is not as high on my priority list, except where you use it as a how-to example. I’ll take the survey to add my voice to your data. I find your blogs stimulating and thought-provoking. I rarely miss a day since I found your posts. I sometimes feel like my comments are weak, so you certainly don’t have the market on insecurity. I think it’s the common denominator in writing.
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Thank you for those kind words about the blog :-)
I think I can agree that the insecurity is spread somewhat evenly around the writing community…
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cmmarcum, I wouldn’t say the people on the street are afraid. Most are lost in their own thoughts. And when you live in an area where you cross paths with hundreds of people a day, smiling at strangers becomes pretty wearing, even if you’re the friendly type.
Even on the internet, we’re almost overwhelmed and are usually too frazzled even to remember that there is such a thing as a like or dislike button. Also, like and dislike are moderately strong feelings. Much of what we read doesn’t inspire either one. When it comes down to it, you just have to accept the low number of responses and not let it affect your self-image. Unlike real life, when you talk to me here, there’s no requirement for me to respond. Take it as a challenge to get people to respond.
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I’m definitely not shy about posting comments, but as I’m new to your blog I shall take your poll when I’ve got a better grasp of what you’ve, so far, written about here. And I’m a slow reader in that my concentration isn’t very good so I sort of go away and then return and go away again (and return, ad nauseum!), usually via my feed reader or the wordpress subscriptions pane.
Out of the fifty people subscribed to my blog that I know about and possibly more that I don’t know about, only a handful comment, but I am delighted with those who do and – like you (from what I have seen, so far) – I enjoy ‘chatting’ to them (or discussing things when I’ve the wherewithal and the comments seem to merit it).
I’m presuming your blog is fairly new? Only a couple of months old if your archives are anything to go by. So just let me say that it takes time, with a blog, to get readers and for people to feel able to jump in and comment. While I’ve actually been blogging since 2004, it wasn’t on WordPress and my current blog here is 18 months old and it did take a while (and a lot of blog-visiting on my part and commenting in other people’s blogs) to get it going. What I’ve concentrated on doing to help people feel able to comment on my posts is follow through the ‘relationships’ with them, in other words I comment to their posts, they follow me back and comment on mine and so on. Oh and while it might seem a bit contrived I tend to avoid blogs whose authors don’t reply to comments because I know that there isn’t likely to be a connection made with those people.
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This blog started on 1 Jan. 2011. Though, I’ve had about four years experience with blogging.
I’m quite happy with the blog’s growth so far and I do exactly what you said, build relationships with other bloggers. I also publish links to others’ blogs to Facebook and Twitter, republish the posts here on my Book Site and six other sites (through rss feeds)…
Beyond all the relationships and their value to me, I’m ecstatic that I’m writing six days a week on a blog again :-)
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