Who's Your Audience?

Once during a teacher/principal conference, my principal took a sip of his coffee and plopped his mug down in front of me. It said, "I'm Smarter Than You." And it was true. He was wicked smaht. We chatted for a bit and he had mentioned that he was writing a book (he really wasn't that bragadocious, I'm summarizing here), and I stupidly blurted out, "Uh, well, actually I'M writing a book too right now." I then explained how it was about a collection of quilts that my mom and I had made and there were pictures and maybe some directions. His only question? "Who's the audience?"

That's when it hit me. The audience was only me. Basically I was writing a scrapbook, not a story to be made into a book. Oh. Umm. There's a difference?

So now there's a blog world out there. And I'm a member. But who's my audience? Hard to say. I started out with a nod to the crafty world by posting photos of finished crafts or contests I've entered. I even got a shout out from a super big sewing blog who liked a tutorial I made. That was a bit of fun. And then...I took a break from crafting and figured I had nothing to blog about because people who came to read my blog would be people who enjoyed crafting. What would they think when I started writing about my ideas for middle grade books for boys? I think they'd think about not coming back.

Well, you'll notice on my profile that I say I do a lot of things. I mother. I wife. I cook. I clean. I write, blah blah blah. Really, it just looks like a lot. There are many days when I just sit around ignoring my motherly duties while I read Nathan Bransford's blog! But it's hitting me...I'm all over the place. So who's MY audience? I guess I'm hoping it's someone who dabbles in many things as well. Someone who has a crafty side, an introspective side, a non-house cleaning side, a side that loves Project Runway...you get the picture. I'm hoping that if you stumble upon this blog to read a post that follows some sort of theme, you'll understand if it takes me awhile to get back to that particular theme. My mind is not focused enough.

Perhaps that means I'm really only writing for myself again. I guess my audience is me. If your mind is also all over the place, please sign up to follow me. Then you can be part of my audience as well.

What Kind of Blog Commenter are YOU?

One of my absolute favorite daily blogs to follow is by a literary agent named Nathan Bransford. I had no clue who the guy was when I stumbled upon his blog, but it didn't take long to figure out that I couldn't get enough of it. He writes it to supply information to writers about how to query agents, submit manuscripts, and other writerly stuff. He has tons of good info. Go. And don't forget to read the archives! The best part, he's also a great writer, so it's all enjoyable.

ANYHOW...he had a contest on his blog to become a "guest blogger." Follow? He's going on vacation next week and he is letting regular folk fill in his daily blog while he's gone. I sat down and cranked out an entry about a writer's audience, and was not impressed with myself, so I didn't enter it. But later that night, I tried again and came up with this. Not great, but hey, I got something in. Here's my (non winning) entry:

"What Kind of Blog Commenter are You?"

So you're addicted to your Google reader and you're following a good dozen KEY blogs each day. AND you're leaving comments. What kind of commenter are you?

SUPPORTIVE: you generally leave happy, quick comments which say something like, "What a neat idea!" or "Way to go! I totally agree!" You actually mean these things and look for nothing in return.

INTERACTOR/REPEAT OFFENDER: You like to use the comment section to interact with other commenters. "Kathy, you can find that book you mentioned at ..." You are often known to check the comment boards more often than the actual blog itself. You leave multiple comments per blog entry. You sometimes get on other commenters' nerves by showing up too much, but you are fairly certain your comments are needed here, even if they're off topic.

SNARKY: AKA Snarkapotomus. You like to read comments and then let everyone know that you are laughing at the dumb ones, by leaving a snarky response: "Um, since you obviously can't spell, I'll assume you're under 10 and I'll keep this comment rated G." Also, you like to include slightly naughty words to let others know that you are definitely NOT the perky supportive commenter. Words like, "Biatch!" "SNORT!" and "Fo Shiz" are heavily used by you. You don't really even believe your comments, you just want to rattle the boards a bit.

CLUELESS: You are the one who quickly glances over each post without really reading deeply. Your comments often ask for clarity about an issue that is already in print. Other commenters correct you. Supportive ones redirect you gently. Snarkapotomus puts you in your place.

SUCK UP: You think that by leaving uber supportive comments, that the blogger might actually offer some sort of service to you. You write things like, "This is the greatest blog contest ever! Only a super human agent would offer this." And then you actually check your email waiting for a personal response from the blogger, asking you to be their best friend or sign a contract or win the giveaway, etc.

ANONYMOUS: You are afraid that others will find out where you live if you leave a disagreeable comment, so you opt to leave your name out of it. OR...you have a blog which is for one facet of your life, but you read guilty pleasure blogs and you don't want people to know how you spend your time that should be used for your crappy data entry job. Something like that.

MULTI USER: You've got all sorts of linkless names that you use. If you like your comment, you use the happy name. If you think your comment might be controversial, you opt for less cute and happy names like "Muriel" or "Frederick," hoping that nobody else will have that name and be wrongfully hated by other commenters.

THINKER: You read the blog entry seriously and come back to it several times before you leave a deep, reflective comment. You include links for further research or comparable blogs for more insight.

*COMIC RELIEF (not included in original entry, but two minutes later I thought of it): You try to make a joke or a play on words from the blog entry whenever you can. Comments usually end in exclamation points or with a happy face. Deep down you're trying to let the blogger know that you two would be compatible as friends if the blogger ever sought you out for a coffee date.

I suppose these are all acceptable in the world of blogging. Personally, I like to be a combo of supportive, thinker, and snark. I DO think I add to the blog with my comments at times. If anything, I want to let the blogger know that I like their blog enough to comment and that I hope they write something again soon.

What kind of blog commenter are you? What am I missing? Please leave me a comment!