Exploding heads: Sparking weblogging ideas into a conflagration

My homework was to write. I did my homework at BloodhoundBlog, and I wrote a few posts on Active Rain and I wrote on my home blog. I’ve written more lately than ever I thought possible. Confession: I figured I’d have about one week’s worth of posts in me, then my brain cells would dry up and I’d be done. I did not completely fully truly madly deeply understand that ideas spark ideas. Now I wake up at 5:00 a.m. without the alarm clock, regardless of how much sleep I got that night, with several ideas bouncing around my brain.

I’m also beginning to understand about the care and feeding of a blog. I’m putting thoughts in a notebook I’ve started to schlep around, or I park them in draft mode because either they are not fully incubated, or they are ideas I can quickly whip into shape if I’m short on time. My biggest concern now is that I should probably write a complete post and sit on it for awhile. I’m usually writing first thing in the morning, often in a pre-caffeinated state, and after I post I look back and see the spelling and grammar and other errors of my ways. I need to learn patience.

And here’s something else I have learned: When I post on BloodhoundBlog I’m essentially talking to strangers. When I post on Active Rain I’m talking to colleagues. But when I write at the home blog, I’m home. I’m talking to my family and my friends, and until Greg pointed it out, I didn’t realize that I do in fact visualize them sitting around the kitchen table with me. Kinda cool.

Now the insanely great idea has been revealed. More ideas sparking ideas. (Stand clear — my head is going to explode!) I was thrilled to hear about this. It’s something I was vaguely working towards, but I hadn’t managed to flesh out the details. Taking the blog in that direction makes absolute sense to me. If you are mentally thinking about your personal community when you blog, it only makes sense to actively seek out and include their part of the conversation, because after all, it is a conversation. Plus, while it suits me, yes, it more importantly suits my market. The insanely great idea is perfect and perfectly obvious choice for The Brick Ranch. I’m very anxious to get it started (before my head explodes).

Too late! This just in: I now see that my new homework will have us pulling on our boots, rolling up our sleeves, and slogging it out in the trenches of technology. Lordy, it’s gonna get ugly. Blood, sweat, and tears? You have no idea.