Sunday, January 20, 2008

Needing Some Advice

My wife of 34 years thanked me the other evening for talking with her after I got home from work and not immediately getting online to start blogging.

Hi, my name's Mike. I'm apparently a blogoholic.

I'm thinking about what to do about this and I need some advice from you. I do enjoy blogging and have greatly valued the response and the friendships that have come my way from doing this blog. But I've walked away from one blog (arts, politics, BS) that most of you never knew about so I know how to do that, too. I need to readjust my scheduling, clearly, but I'm thinking about moving away from this altogether. I would appreciate some feedback from you regular reader types to help decide whether that would a good idea.

I don't have illusions about the value of what we do here. Nothing significant in the corrections sentencing discussions has changed in the going on two years this blog has been up so we can't claim to have changed the debate as we planned when Kim Hunt and I started this up. We certainly haven't generated the wide-ranging, "open source" conversations that we envisioned. There are other blogs that do what this one does, maybe more specialized or regionalized, but covering most of what we do here. And (here comes some ego-busting) blogs that haven't been around as long have lately been justifiably and deservedly been announcing total hit rates that have already caught or surpassed ours. We get probably 3-4 times as many people as we did when we started (more on Paris Hilton days!!) and more than any NASC conference I've ever been to (although the San Fran one this coming August will probably make a lie of that, too). But we aren't reaching so many people that I can use that to explain why my wife thinks it's a good day when I'll talk to her before blogging that evening.

As you probably can tell, blogging takes time, especially when you have a day job that doesn't permit it. It's usually 2-3 hours each night for me to write up and then transfer to post the posts I do, just like a part-time job. I'd gladly do it for money, but those positions apparently don't get advertised in my local paper and the deep pockets and schools are into yet one more report and study after another. I still think the resources we provide would be useful to me if I were starting in the field, but I don't know for sure that the daily posts tell anyone anything they don't already pick up from others. I mean, between Berman, Clifton, Grits, NIC's Corrections Community, and Corey Rayburn Yung, I figure I could keep up with everything in the field I need to know. If that's true for you, too, then, really, why should I keep doing this when there's a lovely woman who'd like to talk to me (something that doesn't happen much anymore as my hair gets thinner and . . . blonder)?

I hope this isn't too personal and certainly don't mean it to be maudlin. I can rearrange other things (such as my famous tin whistling) to rebudget my time if this is worth doing. I'm not asking for ego-stroking, I promise. I've received enough for this blog from my devoted readers (both of you) and presume that I would continue to do so. I seriously need to know whether this is the best use of my time, that you get enough out of what we do here to be disappointed in me or lose something that you use if we drop this. So, if you have time, please let me know if you've found something valuable in the last few visits that you haven't read or thought about other places. Those of you I talk to or who send me things regularly, consider yourself exempt. It's the folks I don't hear from whose input I'm seeking. If all I'm doing is echoing what others do or offering something helpful at most only once every couple of months or so, then I'll keep whistling or doing other writing or maybe take up origami.

When I'm done dancing with my wife.

6 comments:

Gritsforbreakfast said...

Maybe what you need to do is not look at the blog as a place to point to interesting stuff but to propagate and research your own ideas and interests, in fewer, perhaps less reactive posts.

The posts I find most useful are the ones like on Technocorrections or brain science where you have a quirky, individualistic interest that causes you to examine the topic in more detail (and with more knowledge and background) than the rest of us. Some of the linkfests are less useful to me, for the reasons you mentioned.

On Grits (though I break the rule all the time), I try not to post unless I have information or perspective that "adds value" (the phrase I use in my head) to the MSM or blog coverage.

I find CS useful, but I think becoming more selective about posting wouldn't harm your readership and might improve it.

Now, as for the blog scheduling, I can tell you early in my blogging career I ran into that, too. Kathy once called herself a "blog widow." Now I wake up early in the morning (often 5:15-5:30) and get in a couple of hours writing before Kathy ever wakes up. Our evenings I'm able to reserve for us, as a result. Saturday and Sunday mornings are also times when I get a lot done, and sometimes I'll begin drafts on weekends that I'll roll out during the week as I finish them.

Finally, if you decide to blog less, comment more elsewhere. Knowledgable comments and reactions are nearly as helpful to building the blogosphere in a given field as a good blog.

Hope that helps. You definitely don't want to make the missus mad. No blog is worth that!

Pamela Clifton and Christie Donner said...

I think you should do what makes you happy. If dancing with your wife and blogging are both important then perhaps it's just a question of priorities and time limits.

It's okay to change the rules.

I know that as a part of the community (underground subculture) that we are a part of, I know that I count on you for a variety of important topics along with a combination of sound advice and a wicked wit.

Sometimes things don't happen as quickly as I would like them to as far as saving the world and hoping that people can see the value in what we bring to the table.

It took them a long to screw it up, it's going to take awhile to screw it back on right.

Whether this makes any difference or not, I too get up at 5:00 and try to get it all done by 6. The heathen that I'm raising won't stand for too much of this nonsense, nor the three dogs and two cats. I have two jobs and work 60 hours a week between the two of them. Last year in March I was diagnosed with Hep C. I started treatment in July and it has been difficult to be human since and part of the reason I have been able to successfully complete that treatment is because I know that this is the one thing that I need to do everyday.

One thing that has been useful for me as well Michael is adding the ability to have CS delivered by email. It helps people to stay connected in their busy lives. You know that I work for CCJRC, but I am also a fundraiser for the National non-profs (amnesty, sierra club, PETA, blah blah blah)but what I have learned from that is that people are so very used to being handfed info these days and to keep up, sometimes that's the easiest way to do it.

I also agree with Scott on narrowing your focus. You don't have to post 9 items. As one addict to another, keep it simple.

If you choose to dance I wish you all the happiness in the world....but you will be missed.

moi said...

Not much more to add to what has already been said, other than to let you know that I do eagerly read your posts and you point to studies and stories that I usually don't see elsewhere.

kim hunt said...

First, Mike, indeed you will be sorely missed if you wrap things up altogether -- in many ways it seems like your "quirky, individualistic" outlook makes you a perfect fit for the blog universe and a unique voice. It is little wonder to me that you are paying a price for being so prolific.

Second, having said that, I have little room to talk as I have already backed out, w/ far less than 1% of the investment that you have made. Whether you take the advice of some of the others above, and scale back, or suspend it entirely does seem like a very personal decision. I think we would all respect whichever way you go.

Third, to answer one of your other questions, I probably will not find elsewhere much of what you post (w/ some exceptions). Since we think a lot alike on a number of issues and share interests, you are sorta one-stop-shopping for me. But I can handle the little bit of silence if you can.

Best of luck on your decision,
Kim

Eileen Conway said...

Sure there is some overlap in content covered by the various relevant blogs, but Corrections Sentencing invariably delivers the content that most interests me, unlike the other blogs I monitor. Your coverage in fact allows me to not follow some blogs that are more peripheral to me, as I know you will pick up anything from them that I want to know. So I would sorely miss your blog if you decide to suspend it. (Not to mention missing the insightful commentary and wit, as well.) That said, I also remember a post you did citing a need for brevity because you were celebrating a family event, yet you sneaked back and continued to post. So perhaps a bloggers 12 step program is called for. I hope you might find some middle ground where dancing and blogging can coexist. Good luck with your decision.

Unknown said...

You would certainly be missed. I can understand your concerns and sympathize with your plight. From my perspective, I think it might help to try to create some ground rules for yourself. For me, I don't blog on weekends or holidays. I also try (usually fail) not to read blogs during those times. I also try to blog during a limited period of time that is the same time each day. If I don't have time to get to something in a given day, I put off to the next day. Sometimes, I never to get to stories at all, but that is something I accept. All of these rules have hurt my blog at times, but I think it is worth it to keep the blog going.

One other thing to consider is using efficiency tools for blogging. I remember when we were on that panel in OK and I asked Berman about using an RSS reader. I was kind of surprised that he still does his blog reading the old-fashioned way. I use Bloglines and it makes reading blogs take SO much less time. I can also mark posts for later posting (something I have been doing with Corrections Sentencing NCJRS Abstract posts for months now - I'll get to them some day).

Overall, we all know blogging is a serious time commitment. I've found it worth it, but I definitely do my best to not let it cut into my time with my wife. Good luck with your dilemma.