Dear Internet, I failed you

After making this promise to pen 20 regular, 15-minute screeds, I went out with a whimper. One of the most incomprehensible, pointless things I’ve ever written. But I feel awful about it. I made a promise to the Internet, and I broke it. I feel I owe someone (myself?) at least a little bit of exegesis.

I was operating under a few crucial misunderstandings of what this platform is for and perhaps about writing in general. So perhaps I’ll try and list them here.

1. The Internet is not about writing for yourself. It’s a place of communication, and egotistical self-analysis doesn’t fly if it doesn’t come from a place of telling people something that’s maybe true about themselves. One might accomplish that accidentally in the course of talking about oneself, but if giving somebody a piece of potentially helpful or interesting or important information is NOT your goal in writing, than get off the Internet. Rhapsodizing, self-psychoanalyzing, whining… these are what journals are for.
2. Most of the time, the best writing to read and (for me) to write is ABOUT something. That doesn’t always have to mean it’s about something hard and concrete in the world that you’ve gone and interviewed people about — like it so often means for me. But just putting words together is a pointless exercise. I wrote this out of guilt, for example. There’s a compelling reason to tell.
3. Basically, the Web is for communicating ideas with others.

I’ll get back to you when I’m ready to pen my magnum opus, and won’t make any dreamy promises in the meanwhile.