Readers

I was reading a blog today (gosh, what a surprise) wherein the writer mentioned having a readership in the single digits. I thought about that for a moment, because that's almost certainly me, too. I know that from time to time I get responses from people I've never heard from before, but if I had to swag it, I'd say I have the pleasure of having about five people who routinely look at this blog, and perhaps three or four who look occasionally. Okay, that's as many as you can have and still call it 'single digits', but even if it were twice as many, it'd still feel that way.

I don't think that's a problem for me, and I hope it's not a problem for this other person. I write what I write as kind of an online diary, one where, every so often, I get feedback. I do appreciate and enjoy that, but it isn't the reason that I write. I do the writing because its a chance to just talk to people, and sometimes its a chance to think things through. I must have a half dozen posts over the last year where I either never published it, or put it out and took it back, because it just didn't work -- it sounded good starting up (hey, I'm going to write something really good here), but by the time I got to the end, it was more of a well, um, y'know sort of piece. It was that awareness that made me realize that I really need to read more 'serious' books (since I read so few, more is 'any number greater than two or three over the course of a year'), and try to understand them. I'm surprised how hard that is for me, but I'm also surprised when every so often the book makes a point that makes sense to me. So when I write, sometimes, its actually informed by something other than my opinion. I don't get the chance to talk to people very much on subjects that are important, so when I can just put something other than just my opinion out there, its a chance for that conversation -- and every so often, it actually happens. I like that.

I admit, I am a little envious of people who have five, ten, fifteen thousand readers, the ones who have comment streams that are routinely fifty or a hundred deep. I wonder sometimes how they do that. But after a while, I figure: hey. They're just more interesting than you are, Bill. NBD. And you know what? I can live with that. I'm not dull, but I'm not a sparkling conversationalist or any of that. I'm just me.

As for readership? I like the quality of the people who do me the honor of showing up, every so often. It's nice.