“First of all, let me get one thing straight: ‘Alex’s Madness’ is a COLUMN. NOT. A. BLOG!”
I walked off, tears in my eyes, but not because I was sad; because I was appalled at the amount of times I heard “blog about it” in the past week. What was it with people and their need to constantly interrupt me mid-sentence and say “Hey, Alex, why don’t you blog about it instead?” What the heck? I am a columnist (a person that writes about issues)! Not a blogger (a person that writes about issues that people don’t necessarily care about).
It is true that after my column comes out every Thursday, I tend to post the link on my Twitter and Facebook in order to share it with my friends and followers. However, when people around me start to jokingly suggest new topics for me to write about (i.e. the boy in one of my classes that threw one of his past assignments at me, and then told me to “use them as a reference”), the normally exciting act of writing my column becomes pretty draining.
[vision_pullquote style=”3″ align=””] Clearly, if I write so much, and I find a topic or problem that inspires me, saying “go blog about it” will not convince me to write more. [/vision_pullquote]
As I stated in my last column, art has never been my talent. However, one activity that I consider quite artistic is my ability to take any problem, and express it in writing. Whether that is my weekly column, personal journal, or occasional poems, I write quite a bit. I appreciate it when people around me offer me feedback on one of my pieces, because it is a good feeling to know that there is always room for improvement.
However, walking off with tears in my eyes is not exactly the type of experience I need, let alone the type of feedback I deserve. First off, a lot of time and energy goes into writing one column every single week, especially when other class work overshadows my column. Additionally, I write a column, not a blog, so I always have the urge to correct people when they insult me. Most people take comfort in various activities–painting, shopping, sports, petting kitties, meditating, or what have you. However, the most comfort I receive is from sitting down with my laptop or a notebook, and writing away.
Writing my column weekly grants me a tremendous amount of comfort. Individuals telling me what I should write about next does not. Clearly, if I write so much, and I find a topic or problem that inspires me, saying “go blog about it” will not convince me to write more. So, for now, let me just be a columnist writing a column about a column.
