Hi Tim,
You wrote:
I have subscribed to your blog.
Presumably it's been added to Bookmarks (in Firefox) or favorites in I.E.
I am toying around with starting one myself. I am worried about the time committment and the quality of my own writing. Do you have any advice for me?
- Yes, there is a time commitment if you are concerned about the quality of your writing. Developing a style, or voice, does take time when blogging, mainly because it is important to think of your reader(s). If you have something to say (and I know you do), then go for it. If you are writing a personal diary, then don't publish a blog.
- Work out how you want to be read; given that Indonesia's ISPs are so erratic and the cost of staying online, assuming you can, is exorbitant, then pre-planning is essential.
- Check your writing both before and after posting it online. Don?t be scared to edit. Check your spelling - committment !? Incidentally, use WordPad; don't Cut or Copy and Paste from Microsoft Word - its HTML code and other hidden stuff seems to cause all sorts of problems when posting in Blogger, which, for an ignoramus like me, is relatively easy to use. And free.
- Keep a copy of each posting, dated, on file in a folder somewhere offline.
I have some comments on your blog.
Go ahead. I can take it.
I would use smaller font. I think it would be easier to read and wouldn't take up so much space.
You know I'm blind as a whatever, minus 12 with astigmatism. Actually, the font size is set as 'Normal' in my Blogger editing console. Just change the settings in View in your browser.
Your prose is sometimes difficult to read. It's your style so you can't do much about it I suppose but watch out with longer sentences.
I don't think my readers are tabloid-orientated and you know I'm fascinated with the power and pleasure of language. If there is the occasional need to use a dictionary to interpret my musings, then, hopefully, there is an educational function to my blog. I'm not trying to preach. Rather, I feel that an expat's perspective has some value in this benighted country you and I love.
Don't change your name. It's a good one already. The others that you listed are all obscure - they don't mean anything to the average reader - Jakartass says something.
Actually, I never intended to. Those names didn't mean anything to me either until I looked them up in the page I linked to. Why not choose one of them as the name for your own blog? Let me know when it's up and running and I'll give you a link immediately. There are far too few of us here in Indonesia.
And thanks for saying that "Jakartass says something". I do like appreciative readers.
Jakartass
PS. The following blogs all say something about the effects of the tsunami locally.
Agam's Gecko
Comments on the news
Alia's Realm
Poems
Jeff Ooi
Malaysian blog
Brit in Malaysia
Wider perspective
Simon's World
Lots of Asian links
And, of course,
Solid information about the what, where and how of relief work in Aceh
