June 13 2007: Be Natural
Filed under Online
What is it about us Asians living in Western societies (Australia, America, Britain, etc.) that makes us so unnecessarily verbose when blogging?
I try to keep my verbosity to a minimum on Jingwen, and opt for a conversational tone over sounding like I have pins and needles in my mouth. If you think about it in terms of accents, I prefer to sound more Valley (see: Clueless) than BBC (see: Helen Mirren). It’s more approachable, more readable, and most importantly, more relatable. When people read my entries, they feel as though they can comment and say “Hey, that happened to me too!”, because I’m not waxing lyrical from some imaginary podium, clutching a sheaf of papers covered with words consisting of more than ten letters each. You could say that I’m a grass-roots liberal politician rather than a Tory bastard. Paris Hilton instead of Germaine Greer. Madonna instead of Maria Callas. A hamburger instead of caviar. Andy Warhol instead of Leonardo Da Vinci.
However it seems like everywhere I turn in the e-community these days, I’m being confronted by another close knit blogging clique whose members are a) predominantly Asian, or of some other ethnic minority in Western society, b) sporting blog layouts that are simple, yet which still take over half a minute to load (simple but with extraneous images that add to its ‘aesthetic value’), c) write standard blog entries that all seem to be exactly the same - long contemplative entries about the state of their schooling, friendships, relationships, emotional health.
There is no humour. No humour at all, nothing to draw an empathetic audience in…sympathetic yes, but not empathetic. Nothing but “I wonder how true a friend I actually am - I find myself increasingly unsatisfied with those whom I surround myself with and yearn to break away and discover who I have the potential to be when freed from the shackles of a conformist society”.
…were you bored? Were you yawning? Now imagine a whole page, nay, a whole site, of prose in that same style. Who knows, maybe they are a tortured soul with nothing but melodramatic thoughts. If so though, they should be seeking help, talking to a therapist, or smoking something that gets them on a bit of a high and makes them forget their woes1.
I may be cynical, but I honestly doubt that they speak like that naturally. I’ve no doubt that they have a wide vocabulary at their disposal, but if what they blog is what first comes to their mind, I’ll eat my very stylish black merino wool beret that I bought on sale.
With all that said, I suppose my point is: be natural. Blog naturally. Don’t blow yourself up like some overly eloquent and melodramatic tortured writer when instead, you could be having fun when you blog and truly letting your readers know who you really are, not who you wish you could be.
1See! That’s humour! This blog has humour!
21 Responses to “Be Natural”
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*waves teenage angst flag*
I need my thesaurus and dictionary on hand so I can write an unnecessarily long and redundant blog about the state of my social and family life. Woe is me!
Tracey on June 13 2007 #
But we know that you have no humour at all and that you think that when people call their site perfect they really mean it ;)
Julie on June 13 2007 #
Well I don’t really know what to say to that except leave ‘em be :-P I’m sure they’ll grow out of it at some point. Just a bunch of friends trying to out-emo one another. LOL!
Kat on June 13 2007 #
I’ve always found your blog engaging so far. It’s accessible and interesting. I can always count on your blog for something amusing or thoughtful. :]
I’ve always tried to be natural, because I figure mostly people who know me, or want to know me, are going to read it; I may as well be myself.
Robert on June 13 2007 #
I post cat macros and big, freaky critters. That’s my raw, unadulterated, crude sense of humour at work. ;)
Jordie on June 13 2007 #
Every once in a while I LIKE doing an entry like that. In fact, back when my blog was Rewyn, that’s pretty much all I did. It wasn’t necessarily “woe is me” but I liked having entries that I thought out and that really made you think about something.
When I moved my blog to Ealain, the best of my old Rewyn posts were posted as articles on Skyefairy. I now mainly blog more naturally and, thus, can blog more often. Sometimes it is just nice to get out the more verbose thoughts you have; and where better than your blog for your personal thoughts?
One things I’ve realized, though, is that it’s better to have some sort of combination. Not all verbose but not all humor. Balance. And I did get more comments back when I had those, though… XP
Reply: That’s the difference I think. I’m not saying “DEATH TO ALL MELODRAMA!”…sometimes you need to vent, I can understand that. But when every single blog entry is nothing but overly wordy melodrama, you have to wonder whether the blogger has ever been truly happy. And when you’re not happy…well, that’s when mental and emotional problems arise.
Skye on June 14 2007 #
I don’t like those deep posts either. I used to want to be able to write like that, though. But it’s more suitable for a paper than it is for a blog. Blogs should be fun and written very lightly and with humour, I agree 100%. =)
Susie on June 14 2007 #
I used to be like that … I think it’s the fact that I’m pretty much unapproachable in real life, and that failed to sort of … go *poof* whenever I turn to the online world. I like to be full of excuses. XD
I don’t know, but I’ve seen over most blogs that the “screen” of eloquence just slowly dissolves. Happening to me, too, come to think of it … teehee.
On a very out-the-way tangent, oh my word, is this emoticon trapped in a box? :) Deary me.
I like your blog. ^_^ It’s pretty, down-to-earth, and light. Although I can’t relate to the tampon post, it’s still cool. :P
Reply: *cough* Box? What box? *edits CSS*
Xuan on June 14 2007 #
Hmmmm but what if that’s how they naturally talk? I’ve been accused by a friend (of equal if not greater intellect) of using “encyclopedia language” in the way I talk. I certainly don’t think so, and I like being succinct and direct. But maybe that won’t seem that way to people who are used to even more casual speech?
I guess maybe some people also have a different purpose for their blog. Rather than writing about light hearted, everyday, quaint and fun things, they would write something that they consider to have “impact” and “significance”. Maybe that’s what they want to share with the world. Not everyone’s cup of tea of course.
Reply: I think the difference is that even though we might use “encyclopaedia language”, we certainly don’t use it unceasingly, with every second word being over four syllables and overy pretentious. I mean, if you look at this entry and reply alone, I’ve used - verbosity, extraneous, contemplative, unceasingly, pretentious etc. “Impressive” words in their own right, but as I’ve used them in conjunction with more ‘common’ words, they don’t sound like the ramblings of a woeful teenager who’s blogging with a thesaurus by their side.
Belinda on June 14 2007 #
Me? I embrace my shallowness! I have no angst, I don’t contemplate my existence or whatever it is emo people do all day, and I definitely don’t take myself too seriously. This is the most “tortured soul” I can get.
So I gravitate toward bloggers whose attitude is similar to mine. That’s why I’m a regular here :-P Overly serious or emo blogs are incredibly boring to me.
I do have a close friend who’s just like you described, though. And it’s not an act; it’s how she really is. She talks, thinks and feels like she writes — verbosely and seriously. Sometimes dealing with the other can be a little frustrating for both of us, because we’re practically polar opposites. But she is a wonderful, wonderful person, so I still love her overly serious ass :-P
Nikki on June 14 2007 #
I find reading those blogs very difficult. If I want to read something like that then I’ll pick up a book. For me blogs are meant to be light hearted (generally) and entertaining. I’ve always found the blogs that you’ve described as incredibly pretentious and like reading a thesaurus.
We know you’re clever. Next.
Amber on June 14 2007 #
That’s very true, and a good tip for bloggers! I’m going to try it out next time.
It’s impossible to write blog entries using only long words without sounding like an alien who’s learned English from, as you say, Helen Mirren.
Laura on June 14 2007 #
Hear, hear!
I can never stand those kinds of blogs. I came to your blog to enjoy it, not feel like I’m reading an assignment.
Aravis on June 14 2007 #
I agree with you. I like your conversational way of writing which is why I enjoy reading your blog so much.
I can only hope that I’m not one of those Asians you’re talking about.
Actually, I know I’m not… but I can get a bit melodramatic at times. I try to keep it at a minimum at my blog though.
Reply: I’m a bit racist I suppose, because when I say Asian, I mean predominantly East Asian, not Central Asian. You’re in the clear. :P
Rafia on June 14 2007 #
I sometimes get told I write too “academically” but I suspect it’s less noticable in between posts about monkeys.
Jack on June 14 2007 #
I don’t think blogging would be any fun if I had one of those boring blogs. At least, not for me. It’s just not my thing. Reminds me of writing essays. I hate writing essays.
P.S. Advocating drug use, Amanda? :P
Reply: Who me? Never. *whistles*
Josh on June 14 2007 #
I don’t mean to have a dig at you Amanda, but although you are decrying excessively verbose and melodramatic blog entries as being uncharacteristic of blogger’s (specifically Asian bloggers by the sound of things) true colours, I seriously doubt the eloquence and verbosity of this very post would be a true reflection of your own social skills.
I’m not saying that you’d be terrible in conversation - far from it - but I doubt many people verbalise thoughts nearly as eloquently as they type them. This is surely universal, and not simply a phenomenon of the Western-bred Asian portion of the blogosphere (hell, this comment is much better structured than it would be if I were to verbalise it, even if the basic argument is the same).
I agree with the melodramatics though - there’s nothing worse than an overly edited, woe-is-me rant about the misery of some middle-class, spoilt teenage brat living in the Western world.
Reply: Like I said in an earlier reply though, I think the difference is that by the tone of these entries, I’m not writing as though I have a thesaurus on hand to help me translate my mediocre words into more impressive words. There should be a balance struck between overly formal (e.g. what I’m denigrating) and overly casual (e.g. “omg today i like went to the mall and like bought a totally hot top”).
Pete on June 14 2007 #
I might make it through one sentence when it’s written like that before I click the little x. And I probably won’t be back either.
Chans on June 14 2007 #
It doesn’t really bug me… I mean, i most probably won’t read entries like that but I don’t care about how people want to present themselves to the blogging community.
Personally, I try to write as I would if I were speaking to someone… Sometimes, my posts are deep… and sometimes, they’re superficial and/or shallow. :P
When I first read your post… I was totally spacing out and read verbose and I was like, “Wha?!” lol
Felisa on June 15 2007 #
I think some Asians which live in western societies don’t really know how to write concisely - they just waffle on without structuring their content. I used to have that problem until I had tuition for VCE English X_x~!
If it’s boring, you have a choice not to read it =)
Mish on June 17 2007 #
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