I’m spending more and more time in the spaces between the lines. Or, at least, my thoughts are. In my writing lately, I’ve been gravitating to the parenthetical, to the notes in the margins that surround the text. ((Perhaps my love of footnotes is a symptom. Or part of the problem. Not sure.))
Whatever it is, I find myself seeking some middle ground between the tweet and the blog post. ((Perhaps, if Twitlonger were still nicely integrated with my Twitter clients, I wouldn’t feel this itch that needs scratching. Then again, perhaps not. It’s a silly need, the need for middle ground in writing – write what you need and then stop, right?)) So I’m trying out a new feature here on the blog called an “aside.” These are posts that aren’t quite posts and aren’t quite tweets – they’re something in between. This might be a foolish idea, one that is meaningless to readers and is unclear to boot. And I may well abandon the idea twenty minutes from now. ((But, hey. What fun’s having a blog if you can’t fiddle with it from time to time?))
This post is an aside. Let’s see what it looks like. ((And, I’m realizing, conversations about topics like this would make for a really interesting podcast series on writing. At least to me.))
UPDATE: It appears that asides break my footnotes. Which is ironic and appropriate. So my next post will be an actual “aside,” WordPress speaking.
If you’re wondering, I’m fiddling with the AsideShop plugin, and I’ve determined that it gives me just the little bit of text in between actual posts. The posts themselves get their own page for comments and archiving, just like any other post, and an RSS Reader doesn’t know the difference – it sees a full blog post. So perhaps, what I’m learning this evening is that the advantage of an aside, at least in WordPress, is that it’s a cosmetic consideration on the front page of the blog. Then again, that little bit of different appearance might be useful to me as a writing in thinking about the difference between a “post” and an “aside.” A little self-illusion can be helpful, no?
I’m seeing more and more educators start to use Tumblr in much the same way you’re describing your “asides” here. Just quick little thoughts, or wanting to share something that doesn’t warrant a full post on a blog. Lots of photo sharing, and small snippets from what people are reading too. Honestly I think it fragments a person’s thoughts, and if you can get it to work here, I think it would be more beneficial in the long term for reflection purposes.