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March 7th, 2008 | Posted in Creativity 13 Comments »
Lately I’ve come to a conclusion about blog posts. Bloggers write at least two kinds of posts: knowledge posts and creative posts.
Knowledge Posts
Knowledge posts involve documenting what you already know. For example, the last two posts I wrote on my blog — methods for recording presentations and software demos — were knowledge posts. I personally didn’t learn anything writing about them. It was merely an act of documenting a specific knowledge for future remembrance. These kinds of posts bore me. But they are valuable as a way to remember knowledge and share it with others.
Other posts that fit into this category are knowledge-sharing posts. For example, hey, so and so wrote an awesome post on wikis, etc. Or, there’s an upcoming midnight blogger dinner this Thursday, or something. Nothing new, just letting others know something they may have missed. The writing process for knowledge posts lacks the spark of discovery. The posts are a chore to write.
Creative Posts
The second category of blog posts is the creative post. I’m hesitant to use the word “creative” because it has become a euphemism to describe someone who doodles impressively on napkins and flunks out of math. But the root of the word, to create, is critical.
Posts that are creative contribute new, uncharted knowledge into the world. When you create knowledge, you tell others something new. You posit ideas that have never been explored (or at least ideas that aren’t hackneyed). You synthesize, analyze, reflect — always moving toward new conclusions. You hypothesize and experiment. You create something out of nothing.
What I Learned from Columbia
If I learned anything from my creative nonfiction writing program at Columbia, it’s the meaning of the word create. You start with a blank screen, and you create a new idea. It’s the ability to create something worthwhile from nothing that makes someone a creative writer. I also gained the confidence that I could do this, time and time again. Start a day with nothing, end it with a new idea buzzing in your head.
The ability to create something from nothing is different from the ability to document knowledge. Some bloggers are knowledge documenters, and others are knowledge creators.
A lot of people who contemplate starting a blog usually hesitate because they feel they don’t have much to say. If I started a blog, what would I write about? Sometimes their first dozen posts are merely knowledge posts, writing what they know. They don’t use writing as a tool for learning. Somehow the technical writer in them takes over, and they see the blog as a tool for documentation.
Knowledge blogs are somewhat boring, although I guess having a boring blog is better than not having a blog. Creative posts are much harder to write, especially on a daily basis. A creative post may take 3-5 hours of thought and organization, whereas a knowledge post may take just twenty minutes.
Alternating Post Types
Although I’ve been denigrating the knowledge posts, it’s good to alternate your creative posts with knowledge posts. You want to keep your writing rhythm going, and just posting a few paragraphs about something you read, or a technique you used that worked well, etc., is good for your writing rhythm. But don’t let that be the only type of posts on your blog. If so, yawn yawn yawn. The thought is boring me already.
Debunking Opposites
Before people post a million comments telling me how ridiculously polar my thinking is, of course many posts include both knowledge and creative aspects. For example, I was initially only going to write 2 paragraphs documenting this small observation, and now this post has grown into 8 paragraphs. The words that started out documenting knowledge have spawned greater reflection and analysis — essentially knowledge creation.
That’s a good movement, and a natural one, because writing is a tool for learning. The act of writing words inspires reflection, and reflection moves you into creativity. “I never know what I think until I see what I say,” says E.M. Forster. Writing allows you to know what you think, and this new knowledge expands your thinking.
My Writing Routine
In my writing routine, I pick an idea that intrigues me (for example, “speaking up”), and I’ll play with that idea for several days like my seven-year old plays with play dough. Roll it around, form various shapes with it. See what you can make of it. In the end you create a scene that no one has created before.
There’s play dough all around us, every day. As long as you can think and reflect and ask questions, you’ll never run out of ideas to write about.
So how would you classify the posts on your blog? Are you a creative writer or a knowledge documenter?
Tags: Creativity, innovation
Creative. My new blog contains just a few of my writings. After I “flipped the switch” and opened my mind to my creativity, I had sorts of ideas. Too many. I had trouble sleeping for about a year.
As soon as I would clear my mind, the voices would start up. It took me a while to learn how to deal with with the characters and plots and so forth that would pop into my head.
I started an idea book. I have written down the ideas for a good dozen or so stories. I joined a local writers group and contribute regularly. It is hard work, but I enjoy it.
Craig, what did you do to flip the switch into creativity?
Great post, Tom!
I try to aim for a balance between creative and knowledge posts. Sometimes the line gets blurry because a knowledge post starts the wheels turning and I end up writing something completely different than I originally intended. Often I’ll break such work into two separate posts.
Knowledge posts seem to be useful for establishing a blog as an authority, and for pulling in traffic from search engines.
Creative posts are great food for devoted RSS readers. They also serve to lighten the mood now and then. (You can only read about XSL transformations or 1,001 uses for Perl for so long before the mind goes numb!)
I try to keep my “mood monitor” turned on. If my blog starts feeling stodgy, I’ll lighten it up.
Blogs are also great places to ask questions. Sometimes I feel pressured to be an authority on a given subject, but that just isn’t warranted. New bloggers shouldn’t be intimidated; readers will pick up the slack as long as you can throw out interesting topics for conversation.
I tend to write knowledge posts rather than creative ones. Even in that category, I break down the types of posts that I tackle as either expository or link-based.
With the latter, I’ll point to something interesting or thought provoking that I want to share. I may or may not add my own comments or thoughts (depending on how lay I’m feeling at the time of writing). Link-based posts tend to be shorter.
The former are longer posts, where I express an opinion, share my experiences, and the like. These posts tend to be longer, which allows me to develop an argument. Sometimes, a link-based post inspires an expository one.
Scott, thanks for your comment. I know that many of your posts are brief, but you also make longer, more thoughtful posts that have a lot of insight and discussion. You’ve mentioned before about writing content within the tight space of a blog, which I interpret as an argument for brevity. I mostly agree, but I think a good mix of long and short posts is also welcome.
Craig,
Thanks for leaving a comment. You mentioned lightening the mood. I think blogs really need to have a light mood. When I get too serious (and I’ve often been criticized as being too serious), the post just doesn’t come out right.
[...] write real often, but when he writes it’s required reading for me), and the aptly named I’d Rather Be Writing Blog (link is to post on two types of blog posts). And, you should check out our Series of 10 articles [...]
To flip the switch, I began regarding life as fodder for ideas. I now carry pens and a notebook EVERYWHERE. Someone will say something that will stick in my head. Then I have to write a story to wrap around that idea or phrase that someone said. I also never stop thinking about where my next story is coming from. I invited the voices in my head to speak up, rather than telling them to shut up. That has made all the difference.
Speaking of lightening the mood, one of my big ideas involves supernatural horror. Yet, my biggest reactions are laughs I get from family humor stories. My horror novel languishes. I am trying to lighten up the mood of my novel to match that of my short stories. I think I am good enough to make them meet in the middle. Sort of “Buffy” meets “Leave it to Beaver,” with a healthy dose of Laurie Notaro thrown in. Google her if you don’t know who she is. She is another one of my author heroes.
Thanks for elaborating Craig. I think carrying a notebook everywhere is an excellent idea. I’m always getting ideas for new posts. I’ve been adding them to a task list on my Google home page, but I think a notebook is cooler. More writer-like.
I have to get that idea or the sentence, or the sentence fragment, or the one-liner down on paper FAST.
Otherwise, I’m asking, what did Uncle Al say just a minute ago?
And of course no one remembers, not even the person who said it.
[...] write real often, but when he writes it’s required reading for me), and the aptly named I’d Rather Be Writing Blog (link is to post on two types of blog posts). And, you should check out our Series of 10 articles [...]
@Craig: I do agree with your statement [...I never stop thinking about where my next story is coming from. I invite the voices in my head to speak up, rather than telling them to shut up.]
Carrying a laptop around to write my thoughts isn’t always convenient. So I just carry a simple (old fashion pencil and blocknote (instead of a notebook).
That works well for me.
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