I'd write more about myself, but I'm really not that interested in the subject. I'm worried that will show up in my writing and bore my readers. So, rather than take that risk, I'll stick to a wider range of subjects to deliberately exclude talking about me. What will those subjects be? That is still to be determined. But, by avoiding talking about myself, I think I'll be able to keep things interesting and keep the audience engaged.

That's rule one. Until I become an interesting subject, there's no use writing about me. Maybe in the course of writing about other subjects I'll emerge as a subject of my own. However, I'm not counting on it and neither should you.

Something else I've been trying to accomplish is to develop a list of rules for this blog. These are something that I'll want my readers (or at least my wife for now) to hold me to. Breaking rules is all well and good, but unless I have have boundaries, I can't push them, and unless I have rules, well, I just won't get anything done. So here it goes an attempt at some rules (read 'guidelines') for me to follow (read 'fail at').

The first one has already been covered: don't bore the readers by talking about a boring person. So don't try to be clever and point out that the rules are numbered incorrectly. The rest follows...



Blog Rules:

2. Post my big article every week before midnight on Sunday.
Having a schedule is important to me. If this blog has any readers, I fully expect them to post mean comments calling me a lazy, good for nothing bum if the post comes out on Monday morning. With difficulty,

3. The big weekly article will be over 1,000 words.
This isn't to show off how many words I can write, or to write for it's own sake. But if a picture is worth a thousand, then a completed post should be as well. This will also keep me from cheating, and cutting corners by publishing an 12:55 p.m. post about what I had for lunch. Unless, that is, the composition of my sandwich revealed to me some deeper revelation into the nature of God and the meaning of the universe. I don't think I'm shooting too high with going for a particular number. I just want to make sure that each time I put my mind to an idea that I will cover it adequately. There are many subjects that can be covered in far fewer words, but many more where 1,000 words will not even scratch the surface.

4. Each article will have a clearly defined and focused topic.
1,000 words is easy if they're not all about the same subject. This will continue to be one of the most challenging aspects of this work. Keeping my mind on one topic for any period of time is nearly impossible.

5. Don't be boring.
What does it take to be a witty writer? Wit, I suppose, for starters. But behind the pen or keyboard I can fake it. I may take three days to perfect a line, but when you, dear reader, pass your eyes across the page it will appear that I am quick and clever...Or you'll see me trying to hard to be liked and accepted by the Internet.

There so many flashes of information and inputs from every corner of the web that it can be intimidating to try to join in the conversation. I worry at times that I'll just be adding to the noise rather than contributing anything new.

That's where you come in. From time to time I do struggle to come up with interesting topics to write about, so any feedback and suggestions will be welcome and well received. And also, if I write about thing of which you have no interest, let me know.

This blog is not for everyone. Really, everyone does not exist. There is no subject suited to the whole population of the world. I would much rather have the right people reading, than have the whole world tuning in each week.

Who is the right audience? People who can read English, for starters. It not that I have anything against other languages. I'm just not confident that Google Translate can pick up on my cultural nuances and make a clean switch between English and Belarusian. Still, that's far to broad.

But rather than try to tell you if you should be reading this or not, I'll leave it up to you. All I can ask is that you give it a chance. Maybe read a few posts and see if it's right. If not, my feelings won't be hurt. It's a big Internet and I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.

Right now my wife is my only reader, so far. I haven't even told my mom about it yet. It's difficult enough to explain the technology and the medium, much less to let her know why I'd want to spend my time on it. I can't say either why, exactly, I find this to be something worth spending my leisure hours with.

It's probably not worth it--unless I can convince other bloggers that I can teach them how to make money on their blogs, and pay me for my secrets. I'm thoroughly convinced that that is the best way to make money as a blogger. The demand is certainly there.

Oops. It looks like more of this has been about me than I intended. In spite of my promises at the beginning of this post to not talk too much about myself, looking back over what I've written, I see I've still revealed some things. I guess that means I'll have to make up one more rule. I do promise to try to be myself because, like Oscar Wilde observed, I'll have to be myself because no one else is available.

Well, it looks like I'm getting to that 1,000 word minimum. Better to cut things off now than let things get out of control. There's no use rambling. At least not if I want you to read again.