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Before and After Blog Awards Part 2: Pros, Cons

So over a month ago I wrote a post on Blog Awards called Before and After Blog Awards. In this post, I speak on how I felt about them before and after I knew what they were, how they are distributed, and what I think will make them shine just a little bit more. Today, I am doing a follow up post on my thoughts concerning Before and After Blog Awards only this time from the perspective of someone who has received them.

In the first post, I had never before received a blog award so my perspective was based on my understanding of what they were, not so much my experience on what they were which makes a great difference (you can research a topic and discuss it with a group of people, but if you have lived that topic it’s a lot different). So now that I have received a few Blog Award nominations and have therefore become intimately part of the process, here are my thoughts.

The Pros:

Search anywhere in the blogosphere and you will find post after post of people’s thoughts on what they think makes for a successful blog. These posts, always insightful to read, talk about everything from follower count to blog views to dashboards and everything you can think of in order that you may gage (according to your personal ethics) what makes for a successful blog. But there’s no real way (aside from your personal ethics and stuff like that) to determine if you’re really reaching someone except for:

1). Well thought out comments, (I’m talking actual full commentary not short glossed over courtesy’s we all give to strangers we pretend to like),

2). Real time e-mails or blog post shout outs / support directly from followers 3). and Blog Awards

I think Blog Awards are a great way to show appreciation for another blogger as well as inform that blog (s) that you are tuned into their content. When I received my first blog award I was ecstatic! It was the close of 2014 and I was excited to end on such a great note. I didn’t expect to be so happy about it, but I was because I’m just an appreciative kind of person. It feels good to know that someone’s thinking about you. When I received my 2nd Blog Award I noticed my level of excitement was a lot more calmed, but it was still an amazing feeling of appreciation nonetheless. It is for this reason that though given my views about it, I will always accept my nominations; now whether or not I’ll follow the rules…. that’s another story and leads into my After Blog Award Cons:

The Cons:

As I’m sure I mentioned in the first post, I do have some thoughts I feel will increase the genuine appreciation of blog awards. One of which are the rules. So far I’ve been nominated for four total blog awards, however in all cases I noticed I did not exactly follow the rules although I accepted the award. I don’t know if that’s considered cheating or not (I hope not lol) but there were some valid reasons (in my opinion) for skipping out on some of the terms. Ironically, the one problem I have with Blog Awards is the nomination process of other blogs, even though this is the way I’m usually nominated. Perhaps you can consider me a rebel (with a cause) and for the record I really do love giving back, but I think the blog awards with the nomination of a set number of blogs attached to the rules takes away some of the edge. Everyone likes to win and I think that’s great, but in real life everyone does not win. In fact, I think one of the major downfalls to the American Public School System is the re-arranging of the curriculum so that answers are correct as long as they make the children feel better. But I digress…

Awards bring to mind competition with the person who worked the hardest winning the competition. While I’m sure everyone works hard to come up with a list of the blogs they think qualifies for the award, you can never be sure that everyone puts forth the same lengthy thought process necessary to really consider those blogs. For this reason the requirement to nominate a set number of blogs is always kind of tedious for me and downgrades the experience a bit. I love giving back, but I always want to make sure the blogs I nominate are truly deserving and are not just byproducts of a chain reaction:

“Congratulations! You’re So Special!”
“Thank You!”
“Now nominate someone just as special as you!”
“Oh, ok.”

Lol…I know it sounds like I’m hating but I really do love blog awards as my excitement shows when I receive them. Nomination Blog Award rules has gotten me Blog Award nominations but this can be somewhat tricky for three reasons:

a). To nominate a large number of blogs is to be in tune with those blogs enough to know that they qualify for those awards

b). Bloggers follow a variety of blogs themselves, some less than others.

c). Blog Nominations < Nomination being the key word

Let’s start by elaborating on point a). since I think it’s the most important:

It is common knowledge in the blog world that with so many different blogs (and not to mention the lives we live outside of technology) it is possible to miss out on a lot of material even from blogs you enjoy. While someone may just follow your blog, it is possible that they will not get to read your every published post, or that they even want to. However, by requiring a number of blog nominations from recipients, it forces bloggers to dig around the blogosphere for blogs that in their opinion make the grade, this is great. As I stated, I’m all for giving back. The problem with this technique though is that the blogger may not necessarily nominate bloggers whose blogs meet the qualifications to be associated with that award. Sure, I may have a friend whose blog I really like, but if my nomination requires me to nominate 20 people for the “Keeping it Real–No Chaser” Blog Award and my friend’s blog is about Cats, technically I’m not supposed to nominate that blog if this cat blog does not keep it real. Technically I’m supposed to only list blogs I think are worthy of the award under that specific title. However, I just may throw this Cat woman in the pot of nominations because she’s such a good friend and I got one more nomination slot to fill. Naiveté does not want me to believe it, but common sense says that all Bloggers are not nominating people whose blogs fit the award; bloggers are nominating their friends and friends of their friends.

This is cool beans, but I think it will be a showcase of a much greater level of professionalism if we increased the competition by making sure our nominees actually deserve this particular award. Perhaps a process of elimination culminating in a final win to which that blogger posts something about themselves without the requirement to nominate others. I’m not saying its bad to nominate others, I’m saying this is how awards are given in the world. I recognize your writing with the presentation of an award. If someone else deserves the same award, they are given this by the overseeing officials not the award recipient. It is possible that the first 5-7 people nominated under a 15-20 nominee requirement truly deserves it, but what happens when you get down to the 17th person? Or the 20th and you’re all out of blogs that fit that criteria? At this point some of us are scratching the surface of people we follow for someone to fit these shoes. This can result in a disingenuous nomination. Did I get nominated because you really enjoy my blog? Or because you tune into a majority (don’t expect it to be all) of my material and found it enlightening? OR was I just a final attempt to fulfill a blog award quota?

I think Blog Awards are great and I am by no means saying my nominations were the result of this example, but I think taking certain changes into consideration will make them much more desirable and the recipient much more accepting. I know I know, “Where’s your Blog Award Mrs. Bright Ideas?” I’m actually working on that….on a slightly different level though.

Moving on….b):

It’s impossible for someone with only a handful of followers to seek the nomination of the same amount of bloggers or close to it honestly (meaning these people honestly fit this criteria, not just your favorites list). As stated this can result in a disingenuous nomination by someone who does not necessarily hate your blog, but who knows little to nothing about you but feels the need to jot down your name to fulfill the nomination. Have I done this? Of course not, this is why I break blog award rules because I’m not just going to write down anything, I’m going to make sure my nominees actually deserve the award.

Moving on…

c). And let’s not forget the most obvious typo of all: Nomination.

Maybe I’m just a little slow here, but Nominations are part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. These are Blog Nominations, but how does anyone win? Doesn’t it make sense to have blogs to nominate 15-20 of their favorite blogs under a specific category for the culminating of a final win? I do understand this happens in some part of the world, but as it relates to the steady chain of blog nomination awards here my question is this: I received the nomination along with a lot of other people, “Yay us!” Now, what must I do to be declared winner? 🙂

In closing I now know how it feels to receive a Blog Award, it is a great feeling. Even while knowing what they are and how they are circulated it’s still a reminder that someone in some quite part of the world is listening and that’s inspiration enough for anyone to keep writing. However, this very same system has the potential to be degraded if someone was to find out they weren’t nominated for an award because someone cared, but they were nominated only because the blog rules required it.For this reason I think it’s a good idea to tweak the rules a bit to make Blog Awards more exciting and it’s recipients more willing to accept them (as a lot of people have decided not to take part in the process). Until then, I encourage all Blog Award Nominees to nominate Blogs you honestly feel are deserving of that Award, not just those who are your friends.

Today’s Rap Music

Today’s rap music (actually today’s music in general) is nothing short of sad. You used to rewind the lyrics of Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest etc., because you actually learned something. But now you have to rewind lyrics to convince yourself you really did hear what you wish you didn’t. Take Iggy Azalea for example, who ain’t seen one inch of anybody’s hood. She does not talk like that in real life people, is obviously racists and a mockery toward black people, but yall are all over her. Are we so blind?

I remember being about eleven years old and joking with my cousins. One of the silliest said they can make a song of anything, that they could make a song about water. And as they hummed their made-up lyrics we laughed about it, our innocence sparing no expense on the buffoonery of our cousin’s song. But today it is no longer funny. It is no longer funny because our joke has made manifest itself in the ears of our children. Our jokes have exalted itself over the years and have actually made it inside the rooms of record companies where young men and women do away with logic because it does not pay the bills; where they do away with the positive influence of having achieved something of value, of substance. A place where the Lil Wayne’s do not talk about their college degrees and the Rick Ross’s do not boast of their life as Criminal Justice officers because this does not pay in money and in power like half dressed women and drugs and diamonds bigger than your head. So, somewhere between Young Thug, K Camp and World Star Hip Hop our children are left with garbage. A hodgepodge of people who never grew up in the hood but the hood is all they rap about. But someone’s son is struggling to eat because his mother is addicted to the same crack he pledges to distribute as soon as his voice is deep enough. Can you blame him? After all, it’s fast, it’s easy, and it is all his role model talks about. A woman’s son, who probably seen more drugs and guns in his six years of life than any of his favorite 106 N Park Rap stars.But this is the music he listens to.

I just hope poetry don’t get this bad, where yall start trading your virginity for a tight lyric and hot beat. Metaphors and similes come a dime a dozen so don’t get caught up in what just sounds good. But make sure you are actually talking about something that makes sense. That you’re giving life to life so that you are truly a deliverer, and not just a tool.

Writing: The Flow

I’ve been promising myself that I will get back to Billie Blanks for months now. I cheated on him once. Her name was Jillian Michaels and let’s just say those six weeks together was something else, but eventually I stopped seeing her too. I realized I enjoyed Tabo a lot better and vowed I would get back into it. The problem is I’ve been out of commission so long it’s hard to get back into it. I hate the nauseating feeling I get those first couple of days back, the worst. So I pretty much blame that and prolong another day. But what does this have to do with writing?

I love routine. Not so much for the routine itself, but for the organization it brings to my day. While I don’t perform the exact same tasks each day, I love knowing where things go and how they should be done; following an exact path. There is a problem however with routines and schedules and such: breaking them. Writing takes so much concentration and focus that I notice that the more I break into the routine of writing each day it slows me way down. It’s like trying to start exercising again. Once you’re exercising on a daily basis and are in a position to keep doing it, it’s really not so bad. It may take time to start, but once you start and are used to getting up every morning and hitting the pavement or hitting the gym your good. When your momentum is up, you’re up. But when you slow down and especially when you stop, it takes twice the energy to get back up again and continue the flow. I find the same is true for writing.

I would tell you not to miss a writing day, but I don’t really believe that. Instead I want to tell you to balance your writing life. While writing every single day keeps you in the habit, you can also get distracted inside your own head. You’ve been in the groove so long you haven’t the time to come up for air and see what the rest of the world looks like. As such you miss opportunities to write, influences that could have provoked a great story. Your writing sure, but you’re also too into yourself. You have not given your mind time to rejuvenate for a chance to birth fresh ideas. It’s like editing your own work, at some point you have to give your eyes rest or you won’t catch the constant flow of mistakes so easily recognized by everyone else. Instead, write as often as possible, but take a day or two and don’t write at all. In fact, try not to even think about writing on these days. I know I know I’m talking crazy now. I know that some people (like me) have very sensitive minds, that is, whether it’s writing or exercising its best not to stop at all. Any break can make the next move a great struggle. But, when you have the time to think about something outside the craft not only will it give boost to the creative mind, it also gives life to the work flow.

This is not about slowing all the way down and please don’t stop! Do that and your pen’s going to weigh a lot more than it actually does, trust me on this. But this is about balancing your time. Now that you have set time aside to write, give it the nurturing it needs by creating a balance. Write often, but stop every now and then to focus on something else without getting comfortable in your laziness. You really only need a day or two away from your writing to nurture the groove and get back to the work flow.

Writing Desire

As the hours turn into days and days into weeks and weeks into months and months into years, what keeps a writer writing? This is a question posed by writers, bloggers, poets, victims of writer’s block, etc. It is a question begged to be answered by the blank stare of white paper, literally or digitized into Word Documents and notepads. But the answer is simple: what keeps a writer writing is his desire to write. His need to pluck at random thoughts and stitch them into language. Sometimes it is a line or two, sometimes a whole paragraph, sometimes an entire manuscript, sometimes a poem, anything to keep writing; a transcribed confession of the heart that must be communicated on paper. Anything you want to do can only be done if you want to do it. It is a lesson that applies to positive and negative, good and bad, right and wrong. To right my wrong I have to want to do it. To strengthen my right I have to want to do it. To write I have to want to write.

Writers are often told that doing more of it sharpens the skill, this is true. You’ll become more familiar with your individual writing style and your individual writing voice by doing it more. But the key to getting this far is to actually want to do it. What are you willing to sacrifice to ensure that you keep writing? Perhaps you’d like to set aside 15 minutes a day. This alone can make a big difference in shaping your writing habits and inspiring you to want to write more. Whatever it is, there must be an unquenchable desire to write in order to continue to do so. This desire may be influenced by a lot of things, but nothing should be able to kill that influence itself. It is untainted by the greatness or failures of those before or behind you. They are just grand instruments striking a cord at your beloved longing. Striking against the wanting in your chest and fueling a fire that just makes you want to write even more. The desire to write, it is the undying flame, and the living water. Even if you are your own audience, your ambition to create and invent and revolutionize through words is something you always hold on to.

Self-Publishing: Just Write

I’ve heard enough criticism of Indie Authors and self-published books to last a lifetime and for the most part, I agree with them. I believe a lot of self-published books are low in quality. I think the editing and proofreading of some of these books suck, and I think some of the book cover designs are far from eye-catching. But I also believe we are overlooking one major detail:

Many books that are published by big Publishing Companies have some of these same problems, but no one is going to talk about that because after all, who wants to stand against St. Martin’s Griffin? No one will talk about these poorly written, and sometimes poorly edited books published by some of the most famous Publishing Companies. It is because these books have the reputation of professionalism. They are backed by publishing houses with teams of support systems that Indie Authors simply do not have. Is this an excuse? Of course not. But what I would like to suggest to Indie Authors is this: JUST WRITE.

Produce a professional product and keep producing. Your content may suck at first but you will never please everyone so just write. Write and invest in the professional quality material. Identify the readers who like what you write and engage them. Self-Publishing is a slow game. So don’t go into get rich or die trying. I would even suggest you have another career on the side for bills sake and livelihood because it will be awhile before you start making real money from your book sells. This will not only assist you in life outside of writing, but it will help you to invest in your own writing. You should never solely depend on your writing career financially starting out because everybody knows writers do not make much money. Traditional Publishing or Self-Publishing, we are not ballers so don’t set yourself up for disappointment by raising the stakes too high. Ambition is great, but this is a slow process in which Indie Authors need continual improvement by producing plenty of books.

It is at this point that you will need to identify your writing goals. What is it you want from self-publishing a book? Is it to make the New York Times Bestsellers list? Is it to entertain your circle of friends only? Why are you self-publishing a book? This is a question only you can answer and depend on what that answer is you will have to take it from there. Your motivation, however, will have to be deeper than making money. I’m not talking about finding god and all that extra stuff. This ain’t church. I’m talking about your personal inspiration because whatever that inspiration is it will have to be the driving force behind your will to keep going. There will be frustration after frustration in an industry to which, despite failure, you must continue to produce. It’s exciting initially because you’ve published a book, which is a huge accomplishment, Yay!! Go You! But what now?

You set it up in your mind that the money will start pouring in and it doesn’t happen. That’s because it doesn’t work like that. Not even for writers who traditionally publish. As I’ve stated, a lot of Self-Published books suck for various reasons but don’t let the industry fool you:

Traditionally published books do too.

You think these books are automatic bestsellers? You think they’re striking gold? Nope. That’s the illusion but I’m here to tell you: writers don’t make money. At least not at first. Not Self-Published writers or Traditionally Published writers and you can take that to the bank and cash it.

So what do I propose? Do you throw in the towel? Do you do away with that manuscript? Do you stop here? No. You pass go, collect $200 and use it to keep writing. Whether your aspiration is to publish traditionally or Self-Publish, just write. But dedicate yourself to it. Here are a few tips to help get you started:

– Good Editing / Proofreading

– Nice Book Cover Design (FYI: Most major publishing houses buy multiple stock images from places like Getty images and combine them using Photoshop. Wanna know the secret to that nice book cover? I just told you).

– Formatting

– Easy to Follow Structure

– Jaw dropping opening scene

Keep it simple, keep it professional, and keep it coming. Don’t worry too much about the formalities and all that extra stuff these so called professionals keep telling you because your story probably does suck to them, but that don’t mean it’s not a masterpiece to someone else.

Just keep Writing.

Emotional Response

Everyone is made up of emotions. I have them. You have them. We all have them. We are human, and as such we feel. In a sense we are always reacting based on our emotions. Whether we research information or gather enough facts to deem us intelligent, for the most part majority of us will still respond emotionally. If we’re angry we will project an action accordingly. If we are sad our environment will be soaked up with gloom. If we are excited our blog post may just burst forth in a joyous frenzy and perhaps we’ll make a mistake or two. Our excitement may move us too fast or in another direction. Whatever the case may be, chances are your next move will be less based on the facts and more so based on emotion. The problem with this is that reacting emotionally can do away with logic. It takes the simple and makes it far more complicated. It blurs the vision and steers into the direction of flesh and bone and feel and touch rather than common sense. Open doors become blocked by people shouting and pointing fingers. They curse and stomp and accuse and it ignites a fire under you. You curse and stomp and accuse them back, pointing your fingers in their faces because after all, mama ain’t raise no fool, no fear, no punks grew up in her house. Yet all the while the door is open, hanging tirelessly upon its hinges for you to walk through it. Suddenly there is no door, there is no opportunity, just you and emotion yelling and screaming at a mere image of your very self. The next time you feel yourself responding emotionally to a situation stop and count the facts. Try to understand that reason is first invisible until we are ready to accept it for what it is. I guarantee that you will eventually see the door.

Tainted Love

It is the language of all of mankind. I can walk the streets of any Germanic town, and while I am not very familiar with the language, I can still recognize love. If a man was struggling to release himself from a burning car, I and those who see this will not hesitate to assist him. I do not need to know that hilf mir is German for help me to understand that this man needs help. It is his body language and the human side of him that speaks this to me and I am able to understand this language. I can hear the yelp of a puppy and see the movement of his body to understand that he needs help without verbally communicating with this animal. Already we are able to see that Love is an action word.

Its power transcends verbal communication. It can be seen on the street corner, in the corporate office, and in the eyes of a child. Children possess the purity of love. When they hug you there is no knife following it. There is no wicked smile behind their pupils, there is no criss cross of their fingers, and there is no deception in their hearts. I love working with children because every smile is genuine. Every “I Love You” is real. We have all experienced this kind of love at some point in our lives. But then we get older. We become grown-ups and we lose this valued possession. As a result, tainted Love is what we often see in a world as cold as this one.

People throw this word around like it is part of some volleyball game. Whoever can use their members to bounce it in another direction must surely qualify as possessing it. “I Love You” doesn’t have the same ring to it as it used to. We have taken something as pure and as genuine as love and polluted it. It is the stench of a rotting corpse; the bend of a broken bow. I dodge tainted love as if running from a plague because it is not love at all; it is hatred glossed over with the words of flattery. Tainted Love is easy to spot. Whenever it is occupied by over-zealousness it sends up a red flag. I can tell that your actions will not mimic the beauty of your words, which are quite over the top. I can see the stain of insincerity and loathing on your teeth; I can smell the dishonesty seeping from your breath. It is not patient. It is not kind. It is not enduring. It is not real. A corrupt “I Love You” stings the skin and rots the mind. It teaches men how to hate and to disguise that hatred so that it looks like love. The greatest struggle then that mankind have to look forward to in this life, is to learn how to love again.

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