Yesterday The Screen Life turned 1 Week Old!!!* …aaaand I missed it. Yesterday was also the first day I didn’t get a chance to post anything.
My plan for TSL is to, as much as possible, post something once a day. It could be anything: original reviews, essays, or other commentary, or just something amusing I found online. I want to get into a habit of regular posting. If I miss a day here or there, it’s no big deal. But if I start to miss several in a row, it will quickly grow more and more urgent for me to pick up the pace. I’m hoping this method of self-motivation will help TSL from quickly going the way of the Coelacanth.
I’ve seen so many blogs follow the same track: A regular two-posts-per-week schedule gives way to one every two weeks. That becomes once a month, and then every two or three or six months. It gradually slips into hibernation, occasionally hiccuping to brief life once a year or so before going dormant again. Eventually it fades into just another relic in the flotsam of the internet.
I’m certainly not knocking those writers – many of you reading this have likely had similar experiences with your own blogs. In my own experience, among close friends and family, the cause of atrophy is not a lack of dedication. It’s a simple case of “I’ve got more important things to do with my time.” And it’s true: in the grand scheme of careers and families and lives to live, a personal blog has a hard time competing for importance.
But I do have a very broad goal for TSL and its place in my life. I want to use it to practice and improve my speed and skills as a writer. I want to think of myself as a journalist. I want to grow readership outside my extended friends and family. I want to grow a brand. I want to use TSL as a professional calling card. Perhaps even one day I could develop a following large and loyal enough to be able to sell ad space. In the most ideal scenario – and surely the most unrealistic – I will have self-started my very own career as a professional critic and journalist.
I’m probably setting my sights way too high. Perhaps I’m even setting myself up for failure. If I can’t keep up with my one-a-day plan, will I get dejected and give up entirely? Maybe. I have had that tendency in the past. But I’ve been developing the idea of this blog in my head for years. I’ve noted some of the common pitfalls. If I can keep up this pace, if I can take a different track, if it can give me a possible chance of success, I want to give myself that opportunity.
Despite what I said before, several of my friends have had success and longevity in their blogs. I look to them as role models. If that’s you, and you’re reading this, please please please impart all the secrets of success you have learned. The comments section is right down there. Let me pick your brain!
I made 14 posts in the first 7 days. Either way you look, I think that’s a good start.
And there’s more coming! In the next few days you can expect to see posts on lots more more nominations (from BAFTA, Costume Designers Guild, Cinematographers Guild, Art Directors Guild and more), plus a push for my favorite blog reader.
To all of you who have stuck with me for the first week, and the more to come, thank you for reading The Screen Life!!!
-Aaron
*My brother also turned ** years old, yesterday. Happy birthday, Jay Fram!!!
**In the interest of privacy I won’t reveal the exact age. But it’s a nice big round number. Totally the new [**-10].
The Screen Life 