Minoosha Reflections and Littlestuff Directions is our title for a number of reasons. Number one: I love and crave the daily opportunity that you have given me to rant, vent, opine and whine (a reflection). Two: As I have explained on these pages, thinking and writing are exploratory exercises for me. I learn and teach, teach and learn. Frankly, some of my greatest insights have come from your thoughtful responses (another reflection). Three: My awkward writing style consumes 3-5 hours per day for this column, and 2-3 hours per day for my broadsides and books. In addition, as many of you know, I do two one-hour shows per week on 1370 WSPD (Tue. and Wed., 6-7pm). These require some show prep and travel time in addition to the actual time in the studio. I’ve had to decline some appearances because of time constraints or conflicts. My little organic Pat-Ch of Paradise requires more effort than I have devoted to it for the past two years (more reflection), so…Four: In order to lift the quality a notch or so, I’m considering limiting Littlestuff-minoosha to 3 columns per week at the current 650-750 words (direction). Five: Doing a daily but shorter column in a serial format wherein one to five consecutive columns would explore the same topic (different direction). Six: A new writing regime that I haven’t yet considered (wildly different direction).
Your input will be greatly appreciated and thoughtfully reviewed. I should note, however, that this process is neither a republic nor a democracy. I am a benevolent dictator. I shall choose. I do want your input, however because I don’t want to write in a vacuum. We are currently distributing the columns through several outlets:
www.projectshiningcity.org column called “Liberty’s Lesson”
Occasionally in www.RTR.org
Plus, we have a rather broad email list that delivers the column every Mon. thru Sat.
There are some other distribution forums that are unknown to us.
One of my gear head/guru friends tried to calculate the Littlestuff readership. He estimated that we had more than 1,622,000 “hits” in 2011 through June 26th. If accurate (I’m a tad skeptical), that would translate into slightly more than 9,000 “hits’ per day. Not too bad, but not exactly an overwhelming tsunami either. There is no way to identify how many “unique’ readers there are for each column….so, bottom line, I have no clue. I am flattered, honored and humbled by the level of activity whatever it might be.
For me, Littlestuff is a labor of love, but I want it to be educational and useful. If my only goal were to simply blow smoke, I would enjoy more fine stogies. This column will continue in some form. Hopefully, it will be useful and enlightening. Also, we do wish to spend more time writing our broadsides and books. So, please provide some feedback…even if you never have done so before. I want to advance the movement for liberty above all else.
As always, for liberty!
Charlie
Today’s column is slightly more than 500 (518) words.
For most writers, a shorter piece every day is MORE work rather than less. I was originally trained as a journalist, and my usual length for an op-ed is 600-700 words. When I have tried to discipline myself to stick to 500 words, I spend as much time -- or more! -- cutting as writing. One option you have is to take your current output and break each one into two parts. That would let you cut your workload while still sending something every day. --John Fockler
ReplyDeleteThanks, John. I agree. Shorter is more difficult. It's always tougher forcing 10 lbs. into a 5 lb. bag!
ReplyDeleteWere always grateful for what you send us, Sounds like a reasonable plan to me!
ReplyDeleteIFFTR!
Jon
FRP