Now I'd like to turn to a new section I've decided to kick off.
Some people are not interested in journal writing. That's perfectly fine; nobody is going to force you. But some people think “Ooh that's a cool idea!” and start one, then it falls away pretty damn quickly. Sometimes it's only a few posts, sometimes it's so bad it really should never have been born (I think Batty would term these “journal abortions”) and sometimes you can clearly see the person who began the journal either didn't think it through, thought it would be fun to do and then realised a) how much work was involved and/or b) that he or she had not actually got enough content for it, or just changed their mind and let the journal die. And when journals die, there's only one place they go...
I would like to stress, this section is not specifically intended to have a go at people who have given up on their journals (though some deserve it and may receive my scorn) but rather to remind them that the journals are there, and perhaps encourage them to pick up the torch again. In that regard, you could say it's similar to Great Journals We Miss, (which will be making a return, as soon as I can find a Great Journal I miss that I have not already featured) except that these journals and not great, and really, probably nobody misses them.
But that doesn't mean they should be left to die.
Some, however should, and to prove that I myself am not above such miscalculation, and to defend myself against future accusations of being nasty, it's one of mine I'm going to focus on to open this section. Great Space Pope,
what was I thinking??
I guess the point is that I was being constantly asked “Why are you not into jazz? What's wrong with you?” and variations of same, some genuinely interested in tone, some baffled, some almost outright hostile, that I decided **** this, I'm going to make an effort. At least, if I try and I still hate it nobody can say I didn't give the genre a chance. And so, with staggering lack of foresight and a typical Trollheart overreaction, I opened
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...re+jazz+street
It was a mistake from the start. I was not engaged in or interested in what I was writing. I wrote for others, not for myself, unlike my other journals. I had no desire to do this, so why did I do it? To prove something? To force myself to like jazz? To be accepted? Because I'm Trollheart? Who knows? Probably a combination of all those factors. However I soon realised that I was on the wrong track. I tried, but no matter what I did – despite a few very predictable early successes (I mean, who can't enjoy
Kind of Blue?) - I soon ran out of steam, and actually dreaded coming up with entries. Unlike my other journals, I did not look forward to writing it, even though I had ideas, some of which I briefly put into action but which soon died, like the journal.
Eventually, I had to admit I hated it and if you hate writing a journal, why write it? So I bit the bullet, or rather, released the safety, pointed the muzzle and squeezed the trigger, putting that journal forever out of my, and everyone else's misery. I think you can tell when someone is not interested in what they're writing, and it's no surprise that the journal folded so quickly.
The moral of the story is, then, obviously, write about whatever you want to write in your journal, but whatever you do, write with passion. Write with interest, write with authority or just blag your way through, whatever suits you. But do
not write just because you feel you have to, or it's the thing to do. Or to put it another way
Statistics
Journal title: A Nightmare on Jazz Street: Trollheart's Voyage into the World of Jazz. And Blues.
Author: Trollheart
Born: March 25 2014
Total views: 1,467
Total posts: 14
Posts (by author): 6
Actual posts by author (ie not just replies to comments): 3
Died: November 18 2014
Graveyard Ranking: Inscribed marble tombstone, flowers occasionally left in remembrance of, but probably in reality they're robbed. Also not unlikely that it's become an occasional toilet, and not just for animals...
And on that sombre note, I bid you farewell and hope that you all have your non-religious-secular-winter-solstice-no-special-day-whatever shopping done. See you all on Christmas Eve, I mean, December 24, which of course has no religious significance at all!
Toodles!