Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Finding my Voice

Why is it so hard to find a voice online? With a seemingly infinite number of blogs about public relations, marketing, social media, and the future of the web it may be a bit of an understatement to say that I'm struggling to find my angle. Who am I and what do I have to contribute to the vast world of social media? After a 4 months of posting, I have little more to show than a few boring observations about work a a list of 'things I love about PR'. No direction, no theme, no real voice. And what kills me about it all is that I love to write. Blogging should be easier than this, shouldn't it?

What I've created is an a random collection of forced thoughts about an industry that I know little about. And maybe that's the essence of the problem. I spend my days reading blogs from PR pros who speak, so naturally about the things that they know best -- the fabulous world of PR. And so when I sit down to write I try to do the same thing. But there's a problem: I know so little about the industry. I'm just so new. And what I do know is boring as all heck. So what does that leave me with? A boring blog that even I don't want to read.

But maybe I'm not alone. How long does it take an author to find their voice? Maybe it's unfair to expect a first blog to be a perfect blog. Maybe I just have to work my way through this and figure out what works for me. Write what I know. Use the gurus as a guide but not as the answer. Don't worry so much about what other people are going to say about it.

And just keep writing.

If you're reading, bear with me for a few more months. I can hear someone down deep inside me trying to talk... She just hasn't quite figured a way onto the screen.

1 comment:

Jon Reed said...

Megan,

Keep writing. That's it - write your way through to finding your voice.

The one thing I can say with certainty about my career is that putting myself out there, in all the awkwardness that has sometimes entailed, has always paid off. You don't find your voice on the sidelines, you find it in the fray.

Not to mention, you are setting an excellent example to others who can follow you through your learning process and your resulting successes. Of which I'm sure there will be many.