Notes on course-setting.

When I was advising business owners on marketing--which is to say, steering their products to their customers--I used the word "focus" a lot. Everybody gets too diffuse. You travel much faster when you choose just one direction.

Of course, that's easier to say than do. This blog, for example. I tend to want to write about whatever's on my mind. But I've found lately that I get more specific visitors when I'm specific about hype in healthcare. I've considered focusing just on the mess hype has made of drug development and hospital management. There's a lot to do. But that's not who I am. I'm not a doctor--I don't even play one on the radio.

And I sure don't want to surrender to the natural slide into curmudgeonry. No matter how good it feels to skid over there sometimes. There's no shortage of pissed-off blogs and fuming "forwards" stomping around the Net.

So, I'm focusing on "focus" again. Including resolving to attend only to my offline writing projects and bag the blog habit. But even after I say I'm going to drop it, I can't bring myself to push "delete." I guess it's becoming part of my writing practice, as Natalie the American Zen writing princess would say.

So, I wander on, trying to be more journalist than polemicist. Still practicing.