Friday 25 February 2011

Self-indulgence alert

Permit me to get all reflective for a moment or two. Two years ago today, I decided (on a whim) to resurrect my dreams of writing a blog. I'd tried once before - set up a page, gave it a name, introduced myself to the world and then... nothing.

I realised, rather depressingly, that I had nothing to say. That's the biggest problem for many would-be writers; their heads are filled with ambition, but when faced with an empty screen, struggle to find something to say.

Where do you start? What gives you the authority to share your perspective on the world with a wider audience? Who's gonna care?

The first proper post I ever wrote was a movie review of the Friday 13th remake (short version: it was shit), and then I tried my hand at writing about music. But I soon realised that there are far better film and music bloggers out there.

Undaunted, I decided to take a look at the wider world of celebrity and entertainment. Again, there are a million blogs out there covering this stuff, how could I offer something different? I figured that, rather than attempt to compete with the news aggregation sites that linked to hundreds of other news sources, I should try to editorialise the things that didn't really warrant such extensive coverage.

And that's when it clicked into place. For me at least. Every day I try to find a story that piques my interest, research the subject matter, and find a way of looking at it in a different way. Sometimes it's a chance to make a few sarcastic remarks. Other times, I find myself genuinely incensed by something offensive or desperately critical. But above all, I've learned to be bolder when it comes to speaking with my own voice.

Occasionally, my political perspective or personal moral code creeps in. And the toughest thing is learning to disassociate myself from the fact that not everyone will agree with me. As I've grown in confidence, I feel the writing has improved. But people might not agree with that assertion either. Fuck 'em.

I never thought I'd make it two years - I tend to lack tenacity when it comes to committing to a project, like Katie Price and marriage. And yet here I am, 676 posts later. And I have you to thank for it.

If you've ever taken the time to click on a link and visit this page, stopped to read something on here, added a comment or forwarded a link to a friend, I'd like to say "thank you". Given the tiny audience this blog reaches, I'm sure lots of people wonder why I make the effort. But when you give your time over to a writing project, it means the world if even one person bothers to read it.

Of course, I can dream of the day when p0pvulture counts its readers in the tens of thousands, but in the meantime, I'm grateful for everyone who's ever shown a passing interest in the site.

Y'all come back now, y'hear?

1 comment: