Tag Archives: Blogging

A Story About A Story Short

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One of my favorite shows is Jim Henson’s Story Teller. Each episode started with the old storyteller recounting an old European Fairy Tale to his dog and us – the audience. The Dog of course was a muppet and the storyteller well he was the actor John Hurt. FOr me the series was a success because it brought to life a lot of the fairy tales and amazing stories.
Several tales were told and at one point the series came to storyteller’s story. And its tale was called A Story Short.
It goes like this…
The Storyteller and the Beggar tricked the cook into giving them food by telling him they could make the most wonderful soup from a stone. Needless to say the Cook was mad when realized he had been fooled by the Storyteller and the Beggar.
Taken before the King and his court the storytller retold what happened and the King and his court was so amused that they did not punish the Storyteller and the Beggar. Instead , much to the frustration of the Cook, they were each given a golden coin and set free – on the condition that the Storyteller would tell a story everyday for about a year. Each story would earn the Storyteller a golden coin. However, should the Storyteller fail to tell a story he would then be taken to the Cook’s kitchen and bee placed in a man-sized kettle of boiling oil – the Cook kept such a kettle for special occassions – parties and feasts not for executions, but the Cook was angry so he was just as willing to use it for torture and death for this occassion.
A year nearly passed: It was the last day for the Storyteller to tell his story but alas he had ran out of stories – there were no stories in him. And from his mindseye he could imagine the Cook and his man-sized kettle bubbling with oil.
The Storyteller walked, hopped and bumped about. Trying to get a story out but there was none. Suddenly a knock was heard it was theBeggar.
It was his Old Friend theBeggar and he came on the day of all days to gamble. The Storyteller who was out of stories obliged theBeggar.
But he lost
And he lost
And he lost
Till all of his Gold coins brlonged to theBeggar
TheBeggar then told him to try again and try to recover his lossed by betting his wife. The wife agreed. The Storyteller reluctanly agreed.
But he lost
The Storyteller who had no stories to tell, who last all his money and who recentlty loss his wife was despondent. But theBeggar yold him why not bet himself so he can recover all his belongings – especially his wife whom he treasured so much.
But he lost
TheBeggar then turned the Storyteller into a hare and placed him into his bag.
Then theBeggar went to see the Cook, who was busy boiling the oil. As theBeggar went inside the kitchen he tranformed the Storyteller into a flea. And theBeggar also began his prank on the Cook. The Cook was left with less an ear, less a few fingers from the prank.
Naturally, theBeggar was taken to court where he played a prank on the King. Making his heir disappear.
But pranks are pranks. And within a few moments – as fast as three swishes of a lambs tail or even a dragon if it is more appropriate – everything was restored. The King’s son soon appeared, A wiser and more humble Cook was restored all his body parts, and the Storyteller ceased to become a flea and returned as a man.
And before the King and his Court the Storyteller told the everyone the day the stories ran out and his adventures thereafter.

One of my favorite shows is Jim Henson’s Story Teller. Each episode started with the old storyteller recounting an old European Fairy Tale to his dog and us – the audience. The Dog of course was a muppet and the storyteller well he was the actor John Hurt.  The series was a success because it brought to life a lot of the fairy tales and amazing stories.

Several tales were told and at one point the series came to storyteller’s story. And its tale was called A Story Short.

It goes like this…

The Storyteller and the Beggar tricked the cook into giving them food by telling him they could make the most wonderful soup from a stone. Needless to say the Cook was mad when realized he had been fooled by the Storyteller and the Beggar.

Taken before the King and his court the storytller retold what happened and the King and his court was so amused that they did not punish the Storyteller and the Beggar. Instead , much to the frustration of the Cook, they were each given a golden coin and set free – on the condition that the Storyteller would tell a story everyday for about a year. Each story would earn the Storyteller a golden coin. However, should the Storyteller fail to tell a story he would then be taken to the Cook’s kitchen and bee placed in a man-sized kettle of boiling oil – the Cook kept such a kettle for special occassions – parties and feasts not for executions, but the Cook was angry so he was just as willing to use it for torture and death for this occassion.

A year nearly passed: It was the last day for the Storyteller to tell his story but alas he had ran out of stories – there were no stories in him. And from his mindseye he could imagine the Cook and his man-sized kettle bubbling with oil.

The Storyteller walked, hopped and bumped about. Trying to get a story out but there was none. Suddenly a knock was heard it was theBeggar.

It was his Old Friend theBeggar and he came on the day of all days to gamble. The Storyteller who was out of stories obliged theBeggar.

But he lost

And he lost

And he lost

Till all of his Gold coins brlonged to theBeggar

TheBeggar then told him to try again and try to recover his lossed by betting his wife. The wife agreed. The Storyteller reluctanly agreed.

But he lost

The Storyteller who had no stories to tell, who last all his money and who recentlty loss his wife was despondent. But theBeggar yold him why not bet himself so he can recover all his belongings – especially his wife whom he treasured so much.

But he lost

TheBeggar then turned the Storyteller into a hare and placed him into his bag.

Then theBeggar went to see the Cook, who was busy boiling the oil. As theBeggar went inside the kitchen he tranformed the Storyteller into a flea. And theBeggar also began his prank on the Cook. The Cook was left with less an ear, less a few fingers from the prank.

Naturally, theBeggar was taken to court where he played a prank on the King. Making his heir disappear.

But pranks are pranks. And within a few moments – as fast as three swishes of a lambs tail or even a dragon if it is more appropriate – everything was restored. The King’s son soon appeared, A wiser and more humble Cook was restored all his body parts, and the Storyteller ceased to become a flea and returned as a man.

And before the King and his Court the Storyteller told the everyone the day the stories ran out and his adventures thereafter.

Originally posted on March 21, 2011 @ 5:47 pm

Freedom or Chains in Blogging (From the Archives)

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While blogging for other people, I realized that it isn’t as easy to blog for yourself and because of that difference in difficulty many bloggers don’t succeed.

People always assume that I have great freedom thanks to my writing on various sites saying things like “it must be nice to get paid to write about what you love” and while it can sometimes be amazing, there are other times when you are pushing out content that is just to satisfy your need for a pay check, and it is at that point where you feel the heavy chains of blogging holding you down.

Recently, while on Freelance Writing Jobs Radio, I realized how I haven’t really made it to that transitionary point that most of the other well known bloggers I know have been able to do. The point where they have been running their own blog for so long, as well as other sites, that they are able to leverage that brand and go out on their own and be successful.

I don’t know if this is laziness on my part, or fear, but I still constantly and consistently work for others, and so I had to defend network/company backed blogging as a career option on the show. The others played it off as something bloggers at the start of their career do, but I have been employed to blog full time by one company or another for the last three years, and it doesn’t look like that will change much any time soon.

For me, there has always been some entity above me that I had to serve, and in having to serve, there are sacrifices I have had to made. Understand this when you get into blogging: you will either find a way to transition and work for yourself, or you will always work for someone else. Doing the former can be much more difficult than the latter but from talking to others, taking your life into your own hands when blogging can be much more rewarding and so if you start blogging as a career, start thinking to yourself very early on: how can I do this for me?

Originally posted on February 28, 2011 @ 10:48 am

Random Thoughts on the Business of Blogging

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Over the course of the weekend, I had some interesting discussions with people, especially Titus Ferguson, who was nice enough to let me car pool with him and share a hotel room, making my personal expenses regarding attending PodCamp Michigan much less than they otherwise would have been.

The conclusion that we came to is that there are many bloggers out there only in it to make money and pay their bills, and just like every other industry that is both understandable, but in many ways negative and a bit depressing. One of the things that many online publishers thought would remain sacred is the power and semi-prestige of online publishing, and that there are many grey areas between spam blogs and useful online publications.

I had recently had a back and forth with someone else who thought that there were things about how certain bloggers were handling themselves that he didn’t like, and of course with anything like blogging, there will always be disagreements, but it seemed to come back to a lack of understanding with regards to the business of blogging.

Bloggers only get paid money for the work that they do thanks to sales of products, services or whatnot. You are fooling yourself to think that it doesn’t come back to that somewhere. Money is always exchanged for something, no matter on who or what you are writing for if your goal is to make money.

So many people aren’t thinking straight if they think that they can write about what they enjoy and make a living off of it forever without worrying about the business aspect of blogging.

I have written numerous times about things I know little about because it is a good paying job and I enjoy researching and writing. If I could write about science fiction and make more money today than I do writing about other things, I would, but there is a long process that is required to get to that point that I can’t take due to other circumstances, so I focus on filling a need that allows me to live the way that I most enjoy.

That’s the key with regards to blogging for money: fill a need. If you can write for pennies for a year, and the writing you do is just a hobby that you want to eventually turn into a career because you are working full time at something else, then that’s great, but if you want to get full time pay, for full time work today, you’ll end up working for someone else, and following their topics, their rules, and finding your own enjoyment in what you do.

So while many bloggers have gotten a lot further in their careers than I, and might be making more money today, I started day one in being able to make a full time living and supporting myself and my wife. Not a bad deal in my book.

Sorry if this post is all over the place but this is sort of an emotional topic for me

Originally posted on April 20, 2011 @ 1:36 pm

Going Beyond Blogging

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If you are looking to assess the skills you’ve acquired by blogging over the last year or more, then Deb Ng’s e-book might have the inspiration and ideas you need to change from being just a blogger to becoming a published author, community manager or more.

Blogging teaches a variety of talents that can be used outside of just blogging, and Deb lives that every day as the Community Manager for BlogTalkRadio. You might know Deb from her famous site Freelance Writing Jobs where she and her friends hand out massive amounts of great advice for freelance writers and bloggers alike.

Her e-book, Beyond Blogging: Using Your Blogging Skills for Bigger and Better Things, is twenty three pages long and comes in at just under ten dollars. An extreme value if I have ever seen one.

Originally posted on February 10, 2011 @ 10:49 pm

Working for a Blog Network

This is my second stint at a Blog Network. My last one ended due to the recession. It was a reminder of the gossamer thread nature of work we live in. It was well illuminating and today I would like to share a few things I have learned.

First, Once you begin working for a blog network the first post you have to do is for that blog network. It is a commitment you do after signing on. So plan your posts ahead of everything else. Even during holidays and vacations.

Second, After writing and fullfilling your commitment to the blog network write your post for your blog. There is saying that there is no such thing as an everlasting Banquet in the Sun. And one day your stint at a blog network might reach its end and you will be left with nothing but your blog. So do not give it up.

For me these two things are probably the most important things to remember when working for a blog network. Of course there are things that one should also consider – the contract and terms of agreements to name one. Always keep your back covered.

Anyway, Once you begin working for a blog network enjoy your stint but do not forget to keep on blogging on a personal level and keep your roots intact. If you know what I mean.

There is no such thing as an Everlasting Banquet Under the Sun.

Originally posted on January 31, 2011 @ 10:49 pm