It’s a universally acknowledged truth that it is better to write about what you know. When I started blogging about 10 years ago, I wrote about whatever appealed at that particular moment. I would witter on about cars, radio shows and whatever interesting links were flying round the so-called blogosphere that day. I’d talk about fashion, evening classes, photography, and would sometimes veer off into feminist rants. It was never very focused, but it was my blog and so the only person it needed to appeal to was me.
These days, blogging is an entirely different beast. Even personal sites have a more commercial edge to them, because PR folk have cottoned on to the fact that absolutely loads of people read blogs. Mind you, I doubt they’d accept ‘loads’ as a reply if they wanted to know your site’s traffic! Bloggers now write (or attempt to write) like journalists, and readers rarely get involved in discussions in the comments section because they just don’t have time. Blogging’s not just a little cosy world for you and your friends any more – now we have social media for that kind of thing.
So, as I kept up with the blog due to my love of writing, I realised that I was going to need to focus a little more. I worked out my core strengths – writing about fashion/style, feminism and sex/relationships – and tried to concentrate on those wherever possible. After a year of a more streamlined output, I started to be seen as something of an expert in these things. Not massively so, but enough for me to be surprised by it. I was invited to be on a fashion panel at last year’s SHINE unconference, and this year I will be speaking about sex writing at both Eroticon 2012 in March and Cybher in May.
I don’t consider myself to be an expert on feminism, but everything I write about has a feminist slant to it because one of my core beliefs is that no one should be treated any differently from others solely because of their gender. I doubt anyone would ask me to give an expert opinion on a feminist topic, but I like to think that it is still possible to write about sex and feminism. And, when you add fashion into the mix, well, lingerie is where it all meets, right? Perhaps this just means I should write more about lingerie? Hmm… what would you like to see more of on Rarely Wears Lipstick?
Image via the SHINE Unconference Facebook page.
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