encouraging creativity

sadhuji

Anything associated with the word ‘hot’ conjures up visions that usually tickle the baser instincts. Some TV channels show ‘hot spots’ mostly after 11 PM. Music videos depict young girls, in skimpy dresses gyrating to popular tunes of yore. Their gyrations only add to the ‘heat’ and such videos are marketed as ‘hot dance numbers’.

Hence, when I came across an entity called the ‘weblogs hot list’, I was pleasantly surprised.

I am associated with quite a number of blog sites in India and overseas. One of the sites has this beautiful system of awarding points to each blog depending on the number of persons who visit it within a specific period of time. A really novel means of encouraging talent. A competition is always under way to identify ‘the best’. The result is fantastic – each and every contributor tries to win the eyeballs and get elevated to the ‘hot list’. A wonderful feeling engulfs you once you reach that stage. Then comes the problem of retaining that position. That is easier said than done because, once the initial attraction wears off, visitors become wise. The secret is to influence the visitors continuously. How? The blogs are displayed on the blog-page along with the first twenty or so words. Obviously, these first few words must catch the visitor’s imagination. If the beginning appears to be full of promise, the visitor is bound to click on it and read further...

That is an art by itself.

As is commonly said, the morning shows the day! The beginning, therefore, has to be extraordinary - some thing like the ‘teaser trailer’ of movies.
In order to do this effectively, one option is to write on the latest happenings – like the ‘camera-phone’ scandal or the Kanchipuram seer affairs or the firebrand Laloo’s blow-hot-blow-cold speeches or related to the business house of the Ambanis or even calamities like railway accidents or tsunamis. All these are likely to stir the veins of curiosity in an individual and tempt him to click on the blog and try to add to his knowledge. If it does not meet up to his expectations, he will switch to some other piece. At the most, he may sign off giving vent to his disappointment in the form of some comments.

The second option is to write on something that is scandalous in itself! Probably some personal experience that has left a deep mark on ones mind or on some actions that have had a direct bearing on the lives of some friend or relative. Such things do not get any mention in newspapers or news medium but are important just the same – may be to some individual. And – penning it down helps us to get it off our chest.

other interesting links:
http://peekayjee28.blogspot.com - destination india
http://peekayjee29.blogspot.com - indian satire
http://peekayjee34.blogspot.com - sweets of india
http://peekayjee35.blogspot.com - festivals of india
http://peekayjee40.blogspot.com - wonder women of india