For at least two years before the birth of Extra Criticum, it seems that my old pal Robert Sullivan had been prodding me to start blogging. “You need a blog. Every writer should have a blog. Have you thought about starting a blog yet? I really think you ought to consider it.” I don’t know why I resisted. Well, actually, I do. I resisted the idea of starting my own blog because it struck me then as somewhat narcissistic. A journal of my thoughts, feelings and opinions—not to mention mundane actions—posted online for all the world to see? Why bother? What a bore!
So I told Robert the only way I would consider blogging was if it was a group undertaking. I didn’t want to create a space where all the musings of one Roland Tec would be posted ad nauseum. I’d feel a lot more comfortable if I could do so in the company of good friends and colleagues.
Now, here’s where I differ from Arianna Huffington. I was not in this to make money or to create a brand. I just wanted to create an online space for a free exchange of ideas. And so the site hasn’t had a linear rise, getting bigger and busier with each passing quarter as some funded sites have. Instead, I figured, I’ll provide the keys to the party – a username and password for folks who express interest in participating – and leave it up to the grownups to manage themselves.
The good news is, there has been some lively discussion and thought-provoking conversation on a whole lot of topics I might never have expected us to delve into.
On the other hand, if I had a dollar for every creative person who came to me over these first five years to ask for a place at the table…
I love your site. Would there be any way I might contribute?
I must admit, I am a bit annoyed by the number of folks who came asking for entry and then when I quickly said Sure! simply decided the honor must not be much of an honor after all and simply stopped contributing. I have a theory about this and I hope you’ll forgive me if I sound bitter and jaded. I think I said “yes” too easily. Put simply: I didn’t make people work hard enough to get an invited to our party. When someone asked, if I knew their work or someone vouched for them as a good stand-up citizen, I said “yes” because honestly I saw no reason not to. Several of these people joined us for a time, then launched their own individual blogs and, I suppose, deciding that they’d prefer to promote themselves rather than a group effort, gradually started posting more and more on their own sites and less and less here.
I have to admit that this fact makes me sad because I see it as a reflection of our publicity mad culture. Everyone sees him or herself as a brand. And all brands need constant promotion. So given the choice, they opt out of the shared group experience.
Thankfully this hasn’t been true of all contributors. There are half a dozen of us or so who regularly continue to post here on EC But if you click on the EC Authors button on the main page, that list of authors is deceptively long. Some of you have urged me to purge the list of authors of those deadbeats who haven’t shown up in years. But some part of me doesn’t want to. I like to leave doors open, not closed. In fact, Andrew Altenburg has pointed out that whenever I enter a kitchen, I leave in my wake a trail of opened cabinet doors. There’s just something in me that doesn’t feel like closing something up that I might need opened again in the future.
So unless someone puts forth a persuasive enough argument, I suppose I’ll stick to running this party as I always have – with open arms and free access to all comers. In the end, like any good party, it’s defined by those who stay and chat, not those who come only long enough to sample the hors d’oeuvres.