Develop. Develop. Develop. Aug 05 '01    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet The Bottom Line Use words like midst (see example herein), just try not to say, 'I couldn't see for all the fog and midst.' No. I'm kidding you. I'm a kidder. But, since the subject was developing an epinions personality, I couldn't resist. The truth is, if you want my advice on developing an epinions personality, it's this-- Don't! And those out there who are already in the process of same-- Stop! There is, quite honestly, no sense to this subject at all. Let's look at this idea in a serious light. What's an epinions personality? If we take the question for its most legitimate meaning, it means nothing more than a writing style. But, if we take it to mean writing style, this is hardly the forum for developing one. Certainly one might come here and put a little fine tuning onto their writing style, but what do we mean by giving advice on developing a writing style? That we want to encourage people to post here who are completely devoid of a writing style. I shudder. I also see that the facts are somewhat representative of this idea being the case. On the other hand, if we don't mean writing style, what do we mean? We don't seriously mean personality do we? Developing a personality is something I hardly think we can be held accountable for, and I feel as though there might be some sort of licensing grievance to bring up against us. What can it mean to say that we want people to develop an epinions personality anyway? Please do not let your writing convey your own personality. We would much prefer you create some other one from scratch. This is rather ludicrous at best. I suppose we might mean a persona, which is what I have seen this topic to be taken as. There are a few people here who have, in fact, created a persona under which to publish their epinions. Let us not mistake this for creating an epinions personality. They are quite separate ideas. Where the one is quite meaningless to try and even comprehend, the other is quite a mistake in trying to accomplish. If you need advice on creating a persona, the best you could hope to accomplish would be to create a persona non grata. No matter how you define an 'epinions personality', anyone who has it brought it here with them. If it's a writing style, they had it when they started at epinions. It certainly may have improved, but this is almost surely due simply to the fact that they have written more. If it means personality, well, the person had a personality to begin with. As I said, I can't even fathom what it could mean to say that we would help them develop one, or even more bizarrely (as the idea implies) a second one! That sort of thing is best left to the professionals, and we shouldn't be monkeying with it all. If it means persona, then it's likely the person didn't actually have it before they got here, but they had the ability to have it. The truth is, if you are looking for help developing an epinions personality (or, in fact, even know what that means) you might want to take a break from epinions for a while. If you are looking for help developing your writing style, say so in the body of your epinions. Ask for help. But, be serious. Make a major effort first. This means don't ask for help in the body of your fourth epinion. Try maybe around your fortieth. By the time you get to forty it would be easier to help anyway, and you may have worked out a few things yourself. Now, there are the comments, and one might say that hopefully some help would be given without such an invitation, and some people might even say that is the whole idea behind the comments (some people will say anything). Still, it helps to know that the advice you are giving is actively being sought. I will throw in one paradoxical tip about writing ala epinions. This might be something that pertains mostly to me, but I think it sums up a general idea/rule. This might be seen as getting your personality across in your epinions. In any single epinion I don't really want to know anything about you. That, of course, doesn't mean you can't, or even shouldn't say anything about yourself. But, you should keep in mind that I don't want to know. I want to know about the thing being reviewed. But, after I read 40 of your reviews, I had better know you pretty well. You have to tell me who you are without telling me. There's the rub (I actually just like working that phrase into a conversation wherever possible). But, I will say that you do have to work at it. Develop. Develop. Develop. No. See, I tricked you again. The whole category here, of course, implies that you do need to work at it, but not only do you not need to, you can't. As soon as you were to try and work at it you'd be lost. It'd be like practicing being spontaneous, or trying to get better at golf. Well, okay, you could practice at golf, but you'd still be lost, just in a slightly different way. And, I'm told you can get better at golf, but I'm not sure I believe it is actually a result of trying so much as it is just a certain mystical, spontaneous event. But, I digress. Oh, you can get better at it (I'm speaking of writing again, ahem, not golf), you just can't try to get better at it. As time goes on you'll get better, or you won't, but there you are, and that's as good as it gets. The whole thing here smacks of being just so much politically correctness, as though we aren't allowed to simply say that not everyone can be a good writer because someone might cry. Well, not everyone can, and it's nothing to do with me. We may as well have a topic, 'How to win the Nobel Prize for Literature', as though there were some formula we might jot down, and then all trot along to pick up our million. Here in our very midsts, our own version of 'How to be a genius' (as though it could be taught), 'How to make a million dollars' (as though I would tell you and not simply go make myself another million), or 'How to make the perfect compost heap' (that one just annoys me on a more personal level). Call me a cynic if you will (I call myself one rather frequently) but I am opposed to misleading those who might be looking here for the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx, and I will not mislead them! There is no answer! It's not real! Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Soylent Green is made of people! You sold your watch?! I sold my hair?! Chocolate?! Peanut Butter?! Train of thought?! I rode a train once. All the way to Torring Tuff. Tough? You think you had it tough. ARRGGGG. Very few people were harmed directly (in a physical way) during the creation of this sleep-deprived, partially caffeine-induced rant.

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