Wednesday, March 14, 2012

my platform

Being that it's an election year, the news is full of political discussion these days. Most of it makes me want to smash things. I intentionally avoid discussing politics and religion on my blog - one, because to be honest I don't like talking about either. Both topics simultaneously bore and anger me. And two, because such conversations are intensely personal and result in controversy - which is another thing I try to avoid on my blog. I don't want to dodge the issues and I do respect differing opinions, however, I believe what I believe and I don't think that my opinions can change anyone else's nor do I expect that others' arguments will change my beliefs.

But all the political talk lately has gotten me thinking...what's my platform?


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The Scintilla Project | Day 1:  Prompt #1. Who are you?

I wrote this post last night. This morning, the writing prompts for The Scintilla Project arrived in my inbox. I read the prompts and didn't feel inspired by either one. My plan for participating in The Scintilla Project was to use the topics that interested me, but not force the ones that don't. But then I realized that this post was the perfect response to Prompt #1: Who are you? Perhaps a list is a non-traditional approach to writing, but I'm non-traditional and since I'm not in school anymore, I'm fine with interpreting the rules so that they work for me.

I'll continue to respond to the Scintilla prompts that inspire me, but will post the topics at the bottom of the post, because I want my writing to stand on its own as opposed to just answering a question. If I had a mission statement for my blog it would be to document my life and my creative process (and the progress of my little shop) - through photography, writing, humorous snippets of my day, crude drawings, stories about my dogs, or just recaps of my weekends. I don't follow blogging trends, answer memes, do link-ups, or post something just because everyone else is doing it. I don't choose topics to increase readership. I write this blog first and foremost for myself. That being said, I really appreciate those of you who stop by to read, comment, and support my blog and my shop. The connections with readers, other bloggers, and customers that I've made through this blog (both online and in real life) are a huge bonus!

A good post is a good post - and if what I write is good regardless of the writing prompt and stands on its own as an interesting blog post, then yes, I'll share it on my blog. If my writing is a forced response to a question, undoubtably the post will be boring - to avoid this, I'll be skipping the prompts that don't inspire my best writing (or photography, or drawing, or however I choose to interpret the prompt!).

9 comments:

Stereo said...

And after reading this, I am very pro YOU. Awesome take on the prompts! Happy Scintilla-ing! ♥

Funnelcloud Rachel said...

Aww, thanks so much, Stereo!

Julie Jordan Scott said...

I giggled to read "anti-Jack Kerouac" thinking he would LOVE this approach to writing... the pro - anti-lists are so quintessentially beat poet-like!

I am grateful to find you via #scintilla and look forward to reading more of YOU! in the days to come!

Kim said...

I love how the timing worked out for this! And yes, re: forced prompts. NO ONE wants to write, or read, something that just doesn't feel right. I'll be glad to see which ones intersect with you. Thank you so much for participating and sharing this one!

Cassie @ Witty Title Here said...

I think I'll be taking the same approach-- no need to force anything. The point is not to hate writing. But I love what you (unintentionally) did here. Great list!

Sarah Rooftops said...

Anti-iceberg lettuce. YES.

Sarah said...

ICEBURG LETTUCE IS THE WORST. AGREED!

Rach, I loved this post. Awesome. Although we don't see eye to eye on the concept of "mornings," this post is all about why we're friends.

When are we going out for lunch again, amiga?

Brandi said...

I hadn't heard about the Scintilla project before, but it's very cool. I'm signing up -- even if I don't write the posts, I'm going to ask myself the questions, because right now I really could use a good reminder of why I'm doing what I'm doing. And I love the massive lists you've created.

Michelle V. said...

I am late reading this, but thought you should know I am probably going to steal your platform idea at some point. For the record, I am anti-summer (heat, bugs, sweat, sun, no thanks), pro horror movies (watch horror movies; keep America strong), and pro thongs (never have to worry about visible panty lines). Also, like another commenter said, pro you. Very neat scintilla post.