How Are You Expected To Stand Out From The Crowd?

So, I missed my summary post. I feel terrible. I’m such a bad blogger. I was creating a new weekly post for myself, though. I see everyone with their wonderful discussion posts about blogging, and books, and I want that. I may only end up recycling old topics, but it gives me an opportunity to voice an opinion.

How are you expected to stand out from the crowd?

My first post is going to be about finding your own blogging voice, establishing yourself as an individual amongst the masses. I know I have found it difficult finding myself as a blogger. I don’t think I’m there yet, actually. I am still finding myself, which is why I wanted to start posting these discussion posts. I feel that will be the best way to get my actual voice out. To establish my individual voice in reviews and posts like Top 10 Tuesday is difficult as everyone is doing it. You don’t exactly stand out from the crowd, but discussion posts, sure you can posts about the same thing, but we all have our own opinions. It’s difficult to be unique when there are so many people doing the same thing. We are all bloggers writing about our interests. We are all trying to get our voice out there, but when so many people are talking about the same topic it’s so easy for your voice to be lost in the crowd, It’s also easy to just start spouting off the same things as everyone else, unintentionally or otherwise. I think this is especially true when it comes to reviews.

I’ve noticed in the blogosphere that certain books gain a lot of attention, and so many others get ignored by people, regardless of how good they may be. There are certain hyped books which everyone has heard of, I know you all know which books these are. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, many of these hyped books deserve the attention which they received, and it helps to get books noticed. There are plenty of books which I am glad the hype has brought to my attention, such as Graceling and Fangirl. There are so many other books which I had to discover on my own, and these books have not received the praise and love of the blogosphere. Now, hype is not the topic of today’s discussion, voice and personality is, so what is the point of this train of thought? We all feel pressured to follow the hype. TO buy into it, to read the books, wear the clothes, try the makeup everyone else is talking about, but often we read too much of someone else’s opinion and we begin to regurgitate as our own. Not to plagiarise someone else, to steal their opinion, but because we agree with what their saying and we want to ensure others hear it too.

So how do you avoid repeating others opinion? Am I saying to avoid the hype at all costs and shun what is popular purely to keep your voice different? Of course not, the praise for certain books is well deserved, to avoid them due to popularity would be absurd. I just think that you should avoid doing something just because everyone else is, something I’m sure all your mothers told you. My plan to stay individual is not to do something just because everyone else is. I will read books that interest me, I will do things because I want to, because that is the only way to enjoy myself, and surely that is the reason for blogging?

What do you all think? How did you find your voice as a blogger? Do you worry about your blog being more of the same?