The Meridian redesign is coming very soon!

When I learned that David Alan Harvey’s Burn Magazine won the Lucie award for best photography magazine of 2009, I sensed some parallels with President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize – awarded not only for the good that’s been done, but to give more momentum to the change that is coming.

Burnmagazine.org, being the first online magazine to win a Lucie in its category, may have raised some eyebrows for its nontraditional format.  But the award was no fluke; Burn wasn’t even the only online nominee (Lunaticmag.com was also nominated).

This got me thinking once again about how easy it is, at least on a technical level, to publish a blog, or even a fully-fledged online magazine.

That was about when Kevin Costner whispered “If you build it, they will come” in the movie that runs in my head.  And so I’ve been hammering away at the keys, simultaneously updating and applying my slowly expanding knowledge of WordPress, PHP, and HTML…all in an attempt to upgrade the Meridian experience.

I’ve realized that Meridian has never really just been a collective with a website and…oh…a blog too.  The blog has been at the forefront from the beginning, both to highlight our hard work as well as to reach out to our fellow emerging journalists.  A clearer recognition that our blog can be (and has been) more than an online bulletin of our endeavors in other media outlets has necessitated a change.  Meridian is an outlet in an of itself.

So, the redesign I’ve been working on will more accurately reflect our mission by revamping the way we deliver articles.  Soon we will have a more attractive home for our finished projects in the Featured section, as well as categories for the resources we so often find and share, our behind-the-scenes anecdotes and the posts gleaned from our friends across the world.

Soon disappearing is our totally weak homepage that hasn’t done much besides provide a link to the blog. You will find all our articles directly at meridiancollective.org.  Make sure to update your RSS feed with the right address.

Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week, discusses why and how he blogs at Wordcamp San Francisco, 2009. (flickr photo by jaycross)

I was reminded when Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, took the mic and began his talk on “How to blog without killing yourself.” He started off by reiterating all of the opportunities blogging provides (besides just attending geeky camps) and he opened up the process behind his high-traffic personal blog, which I found insightful for us newbie bloggers.

First, he posed the question “why blog?” It’s a simple question, but it’s something we bloggers should at least contemplate for all the time and energy we put into our posts. Ferriss answered with a heartfelt “to love, be loved and never stop learning,” which he explained further as access to people and resources and to create a laboratory for learning and sharing. The second half reminded me of the conclusion Jackie, Will and I came to after a long conference call a few months back when we were first starting this blog. We envisioned the purpose of this blog to “tell the backstories behind our images and articles to share the adventures we as journalists go through to get our stories out to the world.” We also hope to create a community for learning and sharing–hence the resourceful posts we provide for each other, as well as our desire to get people to join the conversation and comment.

Another piece of advice was about blog content. In Ferriss’ opinion, “the most important thing is not being a good writer but having a voice.” Although I believe narrative voice develops as people grow, I have been pleasantly surprised by the variety of voices on Meridian. What do you readers think? Ferriss also emphasized a need for passion. “Passion beats poling and focus groups,” he said. “When you’re blocked, write about what makes you angry.” While I’m not sure we aim to express anger here, this collective was born out of passion and so do good posts.

But the part that hit home for me was the concept of making work fun. “Think big but play often,” Ferriss says. “Take fun seriously.” I’ve been noticing more and more that I’m a serious person by nature. I take work seriously; I take life seriously, and sometimes I have a hard time melding the two in a way that doesn’t stress me out. “Blogging can be your own self-imposed hell if you let it,” Ferriss continues. These words echo in my mind.

I want to be a journalist, not only because I think it’s important, but also because of the journalist’s lifestyle. However, too often in my rush to get things done, I forget how fun it can be going to new places, interviewing renowned people and writing about what interests me. That’s why we all want to be journalists deep down right–to do things we enjoy or investigate subjects that interest us and hopefully intrigue others and get paid in the process? I think the same can be said of blogging, but I need some lighthearted ideas. Any one?

I was encouraged to hear that Tim Ferriss takes between 20 minutes and six hours on a single blog post. He thinks some posts are just as important as op-eds for the Economist and should be treated as such. He also said that writing doesn’t always come naturally to him; in fact, sometimes he wants to cry in his pillow. But he pays attention to his biorhythms, functioning best between 1 and 5am, and relaxes with a glass of wine or matte. He’s also very good at entertaining himself with his blog.

If you don’t even enjoy your blog, how do you expect others to read it?

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So what helps you stay motivated and cope with stress? What are some ideas for making blog posts fun? Please comment with your ideas and tips.

Check out this BlogHerald post for more blogs about Wordcamp and read this Socialmedia.biz post to learn more of Tim Ferriss’ practical suggestions for optimizing your blog.