Staying on Target - But What Target?

Maybe I'm going about this blogging business the wrong way.

I've got no idea what my brand is. What's my target audience? How am I adding value?

Some of Grandpa's buddies horsing around at lunchtime.

A look through my sporadically maintained archive reveals 260 posts crammed into some pretty vague categories. "Smoking" and "Health" seem clear enough, but the fact that I've got both on the same page says something about my scattershot approach to finding an audience. "Music" and "Gaming" make sense. But just what do I mean by "Essays?" And how are they distinguished from "Writing and Blogging?"

Then I spent a couple months transcribing a bunch of letters from the Civil War. How does that fit in?

Just about the only thing that unites my posts is that they seem to be a bit wordy - 1,000 to 2,000 words on average. So, not including the history posts that my great-great-great grandmother wrote, I've tapped out 285,000 words of original content on here. That could have been three novels - if I'd had the presence of mind to write on the same subject for longer than a day.

Then there's all the comments and the photographs.

Huh. That's a lot of work. Doesn't feel like work, though.

I'm not complaining. I'm celebrating.

I don't think I'm ever going to be able to write on one subject consistently. And you know what? That's not how I want to read, either. The world is too big and interesting and, frankly, distracting. Fighting against the way things are that just takes too much effort. Why work to divert a stream when you can let it flow and draw energy from it?

The bloggers who I enjoy most are the ones who bring their unique voice to anything they write about. That's why we enjoy reading on sites like this. I'm more interested in the writer than the subject, because seeing the world through another pair of eyes is one of the biggest thrills going. I may not be interested in the same things a writer is interested in, but if they show me something new and how they take pleasure from it (or fear, or outrage, or a call to action) then I'm happy to hop in and go for a ride.

For my part, the only thing I can do is write as clearly and concisely on whatever's on my mind, whatever it happens to be. My posts might be a little long by today's standards, but I do spend a ton of time editing them down until I feel that every word clears things up rather than getting in the way.

If I can make you laugh at the same time, man, I really do get off on that.

See, I know there is a ton of stuff in your face right now. You've probably got several windows open with dozens of tabs. Maybe you use multiple monitors. Your crypto portfolio's open on one screen and you're wondering if it's time to dump that Doge. You've got photos and artwork open in front of you - that color balance isn't going to correct itself. You're getting pinged by Twitter on the cell phone. And there's probably a music player tucked away somewhere, kicking in with a song you've just got to skip.

And then there's porn. I'm just saying. It's never more than a couple clicks away.

If, somewhere in this electronic chaos, you've got a browser with my words open on it, I'm not just grateful. I'm humbly and utterly shocked. At that point, all I want to do is keep your eyes scanning my lines, and to have you feel that it was worth it when you reach the end.

If I can keep your eyes on my words instead of that porn, it's a victory.

Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
-- Kurt Vonnegut's first rule of writing.

How about you? Do you worry about maintaining a "brand" when you write? Do you feel like you're trying to hit a target?

What's your real purpose in writing on Steemit?