Over the last few months of working at Massively, I have found myself repeatedly telling writers that they needed to focus less on social media and more on content — that they needed blogs, good blogs, blogs with stuff people actually want to read (or at least stuff people want to say they want to read). Maybe even blogs written with a modicum of attention to the rules of English. I told it to guildmates; I said it to my mom. I passed it along to aspiring writers at the ‘zine. “If you want to be a writer, put up or shut up.” A blog proves you can write, showcases your style, and demonstrates your capacity for long-term project management. It keeps you in practice. It’s empowering. And damn it looks good on a resume. I couldn’t have said that 10 years ago, and I still can’t say that about tawdry social media.
Paul and I wanted a place to write things that were too long-winded for Twitter but too — I’ll say it — academic for Facebook; a place where I could leave little games-droppings that seemed out of place on Massively; and a place where he could post about his work and hobbies too. Someplace we could point out to our friends and family, and maybe even to our fans, because nothing alienates followers like finding out what you really think, right?
Everyone has a blog, but not everyone has our blog. We’re here to put up or shut up.