In the last post, I suggested that I would be updating this blog fairly regularly.
Evidently, I lied.
I'm not known for being a liar. I've fibbed from time-to-time, mostly in order to get out of going something I really don't want to. The problem is that I'm a terrible actor - really, really bad - and you need a bit of the thespian to pull off a good lie. I don't have that.
Of course, I could be yanking your chain and talking bollocks. Wouldn't be the first time.
The point is, I haven't updated this blog. But I will, and soon.
That's not to say I haven't been writing. I have, in fact; fairly prolifically if you don't count the stuff I'm not paid for. Even if you do count personal wordage, I'm still not doing too badly.
Case in point:
Content Formula newsletter
The guy in the really cool hat? That would be me.
Inevitably, one of my friends accused me of David Brent-ing when I wrote the main article. I sent him an email back which - I think - said something along the lines of "Bollocks to you". This response, I feel, doesn't defend me well enough.
That article was written in that style for a good reason: someone paid me to do it. Now, you can get all uppity about the nature of money and selling out as a writer, and in some cases I might even agree with you. Fact is, I write for a living, and it's not a bad living as they go. It's better than reading newspapers on a Saturday night or making plastic boxes or picking up litter in High Wycombe or any of the other jobs I've had. So when someone tells me to write an article for a certain audience, I kinda have to.
I work for a company that builds intranet and internet sites. They wanted me to talk about intranets. The subject is - for me - interesting enough (certainly more interesting than some of the other articles I write on a weekly basis), but it's drier than a nun in the Gobi. You have to dress it up a bit to make it readable.
Not only that, but I work for a company that builds intranet and internet sites. This article was meant to reflect the style of that company, not necessarily my own. Like it or not, I'm currently a cog in someone else's machine.
Hence the pot plants. Yeah, I'm selling out, but I still get to put the word 'writer' on my CV. Which in three months or six months or a year or whatever might come in pretty handy.
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2 comments:
As corporate wank goes I really liked it dude. You're not selling out if you need to feed yourself & you're conscious it's just a means to an end. Oh and fuck them all - I quite liked the pot plant analogy :)
Why thank you!
Only one person has accused me of Brenting (surely this is now a verb?) - as a rule, everyone else seems pretty positive on the article. Although one other friend suggested that the best part about it was my hat...
Heh. It is a fabulous hat.
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