Hiking, writing, and trying not to get hit by a car

The weather is warm, but the hunters are out. I don't currently own a neon vest or hoodie-- I do have a tie die shirt, but wearing that on a hike in the woods would probably make me a target of the hunters.  I went for a run instead. No cars veered to hit me, so it was a good one.

Running is not a new thing for me.  In college, my friend and I started a running blog to document our training for a half-marathon.  It was called "Tales of the Running Trails," which we thought was pretty clever at the time.  Probably most of my ideas are this clever.

After becoming a Teach for America alum, I started to write about education, but that's not easy, and I was just looking for an innocent project that would get me routinely writing again (or at all).  That's when my blogging about hiking started.  

It's tough to stick to a topic as a blogger.  Famous writers have the luxury of writing about whatever the hell they want because people will eat it up! Even writing about blogging feels sort of foolish when you're a normal person.  

So most people have to write about things that people want to read, if you can even figure out what those things are.  What I can gather from watching the Kathie Lee & Hoda show on my day off is that people want to read and watch all about flask bangles and flowers that get rid of hangovers, etc. etc.  If you clicked on that link, I've proven my point, but I'm also not one of those annoying snobs who thinks they're too good for it.  I enjoyed that segment, and I was, after-all, watching the show.

My point is that if you're no one big, it doesn't hurt to write about topics that are shamelessly meant to attract readership. Even the famous blogs that already attract lots of readers do that-- to keep them, I'd assume.

However, it can be a bit frustrating if what you want to write about, no one wants to read. Or even HOW you want to write is not how people want to read.

Skip this part if you don't give a flip about writing, but here is some advice I read from a writer named Benjamin Percy (who, by the way, I had never heard of until reading one of his articles in a magazine):

"The truth is, of course, that if you're good enough, you can do anything... William Gay can use backstory, William Trevor can change point of view midscene, Alice Munro can write a short story that takes place over several decades.  They can do these things not because they're ignorant to risk, but rather because their writing is so good it transcends rules."

So where does this leave the rest of us?

Hiking in a hippie shirt?

No.

Running in a hippie shirt.

And trying not to get hit by a car.