Yep, twenty years. And when I did that first post, I had no idea I'd be doing it twenty days later, let alone twenty years.
Yes, I still enjoy it. It's nice to be able to write something every day that doesn't have to pass muster with some editor or producer to fill some publishing or production need. I can just write whatever's on my mind at the moment. That's assuming anything is, which obviously is not always the case. Still, it adheres to the old saying that I just made up: If you write for money, it's important to sometimes write something that's not for money. Intentionally.
I like being in touch with 99% of those I hear from and the 1% can be easily ignored. And I like writing mostly for myself in such an unencumbered manner. I'm glad some of you seem to like reading what I write mostly for myself.
Earlier this year, I did some webcasting, mainly because it's fun to play with a new toy. I started it because of The Pandemic and I ended it because of The Election and for a few more reasons I'll discuss here one of these days. I may or may not start it up again but for now, the videos I did make are available over in this section.
In there, there's one where I interviewed my best buddy Sergio Aragonés and one where Sergio interviewed me. After the latter, a few other friends suggested they'd like to quiz me from their different POVs about different aspects of my silly existence and I said yes. When I was trying to figure out what to do on this blog the day it turned twenty, Shelly Goldstein said, "Why don't we do that thing where I interview you?" and I said yes. I say yes a lot. And then I remembered I promised Scott Shaw! that he could do that thing where he interviewed me first so we did that, too.
So posted here and nowhere else, we have two interviews — Scott interrogating me and then Shelly interrogating me, each for a little under 90 minutes. These were recorded last Tuesday and I don't expect anyone to watch all of both of them and certainly not on the same day. But they'll be posted for a while so watch them when you have absolutely nothing better to do. Or don't watch them. I won't be offended.
The one with Scott focuses more on cartoon and comics. The one with Shelly is more about TV and comedy writing in general…but there's a lot of overlap. You may notice a few sloppy edits in the Shelly one because it ran long and I chopped it down by excising about twelve minutes that I thought were more expendable than everything else or because I caught myself saying things I'd said earlier to Scott.
I guess I should write something about writing a blog for twenty years. As you might expect, it's a bothersome chore once in a while…a lot like having a pet. I like feeding cats but I don't always like having to feed the cat now. You kind of have to approach a blog with that attitude of "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to really do it."
Over the two decades, I've had a lot of friends decide they were going to try it and they'd put up one or two posts, then write me and ask me to post the link and to direct some of my readers their way. I usually write them back and say something like, "Let me know when you have twenty posts up and I will" and thereafter, I never hear from 90% of them about that. Some things in this world are just fun for two weeks or until they become an obligation.
A few other tips that I know but haven't always followed myself…
- Understand that there are parts of your life that no one could possibly care about. And yes, I know I've often violated that rule.
- There should be a reason why you post anything autobiographical. "Because I think someone will laugh at it" or "Because I think someone will learn something from it" are perfectly good reasons. Just because it happened to you is not.
- Before you finalize a post, give it an extra read, asking yourself the question, "How will someone misinterpret this?" This is especially important if you're trying to be funny. It's possible to write something like "I think Donald Trump has been a terrible president" and to then receive an e-mail saying, "I know you were being sarcastic but I think he really has been a terrible president."
- You're not CNN or MSNBC or Fox News. Your readers are not coming to your blog to get the latest news that gets covered on outlets like those. They might be coming to you for your insights or comments on those stories. They might also be coming for the kind of news that doesn't get covered there. I named this blog what I named it because I figured I'd be posting a lot of the kind of stuff, like obits or developments from the worlds of comics and animation that would never make the New York Times. Since I started in 2000, mainstream news has become more likely to cover, say, the passing of a guy who drew The Hulk or Aquaman or worked on Sleeping Beauty or other bulletins from those worlds. But I figure I have something to say about such matters that won't be in the Times.
- Last two points: Don't let your blog become a place that plugs a lot of things, including your own. I post sparingly about what I have out that you can purchase because I think such selling is unbecoming when done to excess.
- And you can get easily inundated, as I have been at times, by folks you know well, folks you know a little and a fair amount of total strangers asking you to post a press release and photos and artwork and Your Highest Recommendation of their latest project. Often, they'll address you like they think that's how it works: They submit it and you're required to post it…and promptly.
Thank you for however long you've been reading this blog even if this is your first (and perhaps last) time. I could, I suppose, write this kind of stuff just for myself and that would be that. It would certainly pay better. But it's more fun to do when there's an audience out there.
So I'll close with a reminder that tips are gratefully accepted at this link and that I also make a smidgen of loot (without it costing you anything) when you buy at Amazon via this link. Following this post, you should see Scott Shaw! interviewing me, followed by Shelly Goldstein interviewing me. And later today or maybe tomorrow, I'll be posting the Mel Tormé story that is easily the most widely-read thing I've ever written.
And in case you're interested, this is Post #28,600 on this blog.