Reverse Running commentary -1
W
e've used
this column
in the past
to advise you to get
off the computer and
go do some modeling.
That's still true, model
railroading is more
than just talking about it online. You need to actually go do the
hobby, as well.
But what about the flip side: Can going online become a mod-
eling motivator?
Yes, it can.
Start a blog on the MRH website
1
, for instance, and you can use
it to post your modeling progress. There's nothing like need-
ing something new to post as a motivation to go get something
done on the layout.
When you share what you're doing, you create a need to have
something to show for your efforts. Taking a model to a con-
vention or RPM meet is one way to "make yourself do some
modeling.”
Holding regular operating sessions is another way to get moti-
vated. When the guys are coming over soon, you want to make
sure the layout's running reliably, and you feel a need to show
progress, because you know they're going to ask!
1
See August issue Staff Notes on making posts.
Reverse Running: How going online can help you get going
by Joe Fugate
Getting motivated
Making yourself accountable to others is a good way of helping
you stay on task and be less likely to get off track (sorry about
the pun, but it's true). Deliberately making yourself accountable
works in many areas of life, and it works for model railroading
pursuits, too.
Going online and doing a regular show-and-tell of your modeling
efforts on the web can have a lot of benefits. Through the web,
we can share with others of like interest in a moment, regardless
of where they may actually be around the globe.
This kind of sharing over the Internet is a virtual modeling meet.
Going to a meet always gets my modeling juices flowing, and it
challenges me to take my modeling to new levels. Going online
and sharing can do the same thing, and you don't even need to
leave your home!
That's the beauty of doing a blog. A blog, short for weBLOG,
is simply a public journal you post to regularly on the web.
MRH makes it easy to start your own blog and chronical your
model railroading progress for your fellow modelers.
You're encouraging them with your blog posts, plus you get
encouragement and valuable feedback from others, not unlike
what you get from going to a meet.
It's a win-win situation.
But to do this, you do need to get off the computer and go do
some modeling. But don't go too far, because we want you to
come back and show us what you've been up to while you've
been away!
MRH-Oct 2013
