Generalist or Specialist?

Writing a blog is a conundrum, what does one actually write about?

The are millions out there in the bloggy universe, the subjects covered and the range would fill an A to Z many times over.

The blogging gurus will tell you that to
"maximise your visitor numbers",
"increase you page view stats",
or for those who require a financial incentive
"increase your revenue",

then the thing to do is to write about something you know, your area of expertise, passion or obsession even!

So what does that mean for me?

I could write about how I earn my daily bread - a daily reportage on the life of a Professional Officer. Mmm, that sounds too much like a murky blurring of my work life balance. If I do that during the day I get paid for that, (that's blog guru point 3 covered the, well sort of). 

What else then on the specialist blog route? 
What to write about every day?

I could take pictures and write about the dogs, but there are only so many pictures of dogs that one can take, or indeed words to write. Here is one of the dogs in the woods, this is them at the beach, eating their dinner, this is them singing songs vocal chords oiled by a bottle of their favourite malt. No sorry, I fear that after a few years it would be dressing the dogs up depending on the holiday or season. A couple of canine Mannekin Pis perhaps? Without the latter of course, unless I was desperate for copy. 

OK so not a dog blog then.

I could write about my personal health journey, works for some and as I've just acquired a diagnosis as someone with Coeliac disease I could write about that and the endless journey to scour the labels working out what is gluten free and the impact this has on me and mine. It's a no to that as well, I think. Many with far more serious medical conditions have used their blog as an expression of their health battle and I would feel that I was only belittling their struggles. 

A blog about chickens see above, but "Chicks in Knits" documenting the newest photographic evidence of our chickens (Tea, Coffee, Milky & Beaker) modelling donated knitwear of "chicken jackets" made by their adoring fans, may have legs? 

An exercise and well being blog? Entitled "One Careful Owner" where I document the exercise journey that a body with one careful owner, creaky suspension, with upholstery creased and a bit lumpy and bald tyres (or is that head?) What I do, how I did it, how I felt. Sharing medals, T-shirts, clothes, equipment and the medical procedures required to keep it all functional. Sounds joyous, a baring of my soul. Or should that be sole as the post describes my experience of free running sans New Balance shoes?

Movies? This one was good, the acting was more wooden that Pinocchio, the script was written by the same team who produced "Janet & John" the early school reader, that would be great if it was a five minute short but this was a 3 hour sci fi romantic feature. Or it was good and I liked it. People do that better (or is that worse than me) and I do feel criticism is something that people do because they can't, if you see what I mean.

Those who do, do and
 those who can't ........

Same goes for books, plays or other cultural exhibitions, that makes me sound like I'm a culture vulture instead of a mildy peckish sparrow. So a no, to that sector of specialist blogging.

Travel planes, trains and automobiles, hotels and strange countries or places visited, mmmm I may come back to that one. No, considered this in that nano second and the reality of money being required for the raw material for that travelling blog and the idea just evaporated - Poof!

What other answers come out the computer when you put in

 subject + blog + potential audience 
= 
specialist blog?

My new Brompton bicycle and the adventures that I could have on my folding bicycle, my use of a Filofax. Both of these subjects have a voracious reader base looking for the next piece of information, secret or story about their obsession,         (did I say that in my head or did I write it out loud? Oops! ).

Perhaps not for now as the Brompton is still being tentatively used and we're more at the planning stage than the doing stage. This is the price one pays for living in a rural, hilly community that is pretty dark and dangerous in the winter. Wait till the clocks change perhaps? This blog does the Brompton thing so well and a tough one to match.

Filofaxes, well I would just get confused with all the different permutations of what pages to use, what order to put them in, what colours and what tabs, pencils, pens, crayons and stickers. My mind would implode as my organiser would become very quickly disorganised. How does this one do it? There are so many rings within the binder and to me there is only one binder to rule  (or is that organise) them all and I have it, it's a brown A5 Zipped Holborn with  a mini brown Finsbury in case you're interested.

So that's the specialist line almost at an end, I could blog on these for about a week, a month perhaps tops and then the imaginative juices would run as dry as the most tooth sucking vermouth. 

Blogging helps my mental balance, giving the blog part of my brain a kick whenever I get around to writing something, perhaps the pressure of a regular specialist blog would not be so much a kick as a trampling by a many booted army of blog monkeys.

So I seem to have made my own argument and I am sticking with a generalist, eclectic blog approach. I am a blogging box of chocolates, a variety pack of biscuits, the Kellogg's multi pack of small cereal packets. A different taste every day. 

Maybe I could make each day of the week a different subject

Monday - "My Potty Pans", my cooking day.

Tuesday - "Choo-Choose", train spotting day.

Wednesday - "Lick My Back" stamp collecting blogging day, that would perhaps acquire many strange visitors.

Thursday - " Roller or Brush" the many shades of Dulux paints day.

Friday - "Cork or screw top", my wine tasting adventures.

Saturday - "Football, it's the only game!", the day I share my love for the people's game.

Sunday - "More Soul than Motown" my day for sharing my spiritual side.

Actually only one of those will ever, ever, ever, ever see the light of day!

Which one do you think?

 As it says in the tag line of this blog, I hope those who accidentally or deliberately stumble on these "Fegrig" pages will take the time to read,

 " Slow Down, Relax and (hopefully) Enjoy"

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