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Tomorrow night will mark the last edition of Original vs. Cover by curmudgeon in its customary time slot at 10 pm ET on Fridays.  curmudgeon is not abandoning the series and has expressed a desire to complete at least 100 episodes, but because of changes in his schedule no longer feels that he can commit to a weekly deadline.

And he wants to be free to write other things which, as a writer on a daily deadline, I can totally sympathize with.

Fortunately we have Translator’s similar series, Popular Culture, available and we’ll start by promoting that.

But it does lead to a larger discussion about regular contributions and since it’s much more than will fit above the fold I’ll continue below.

Unless you’ve done it for a time writing on deadline seems kind of glamorous in a Front Pagey kind of way.  Everyone thinks they’re Hildy Johnson.  It’s hard to explain how soul destroying yet vital this task is.

A website is like a tv or radio station except that you have actual ideas and words you can read and refer back to instead of bloviating babble from a teleprompter.

What you do have in common (as well as in newspapers where my training comes from) is a day to fill with an article (at least) of enduring interest.  Not only does the moribund Reader’s Digest fulfill this task, but you can also use it to wipe your ass.  If you have a litter box or bird cage or puppy you’ll want to subscribe to a broadsheet.

Your cat’s ass appears more intellectual.

Now if you happen to be Ian Welsh or Glenn Greenwald or Robert Reich or Paul Krugman you can maybe get away with a piece or two of muse driven inspiration every couple of days, but Atrios might disagree.  When I run a site my target is MyFDL.  Outside of pieces Front Paged, DocuDharma levels of traffic and activity are easily comparable.

We both run on a schedule, though Dog is a little less transparent about it than I am.  We have a small group of people who contribute on a semi-regular but muse driven basis and a smaller group of people who contribute on a regular basis.

I for one appreciate all of you.

What regularity gives you as an author and community organizer is an audience.  People tune in for the familiar.  I can’t tell you how often as a DJ I’ve played a hot song but because people hadn’t heard it 100 million times they’ve headed for the bar or the bathroom.

Likewise a site as a whole has a rhythmic energy of expectation.  You can visit The Stars Hollow Gazette or DocuDharma 9 or 10 times a day and always find something new, while also never missing a thing.

I encourage people to contribute frequently and often.  Not everyone of my brain children is a gem.  If you want to write to a deadline the best thing to do is establish a franchise, something with a common well understood format and a reliable source.

As a site owner I use the regular pieces to feature the more random and muse driven, even if that means I have to create my own fun, but I’ll not deny the soul destroying part.  I wrote over 244 Prime Times which have as many links and take just as long as any News.

If you do not have a structure you hardly have a blog.  Why as a reader should I visit when everything is the same as it was a week or a month ago?

I warn you before you commit that it is an avocation from which you can expect little recognition or respect and yet at the same time I encourage you to step up and take a stand.

If not us who?  If not now when?

Do you have two hours or not?