“Bow. James Bow.” is The Journal of James Bow and his Writing. James, according to his own “Who Am I?” box on the page (complete with his photo) is “a 30 year old aspiring writer and web designer living in Kitchener, Ontario”.
The blog, powered by Movable Type, is crisp and clean and filled with a whole load of links. Despite this dense live-pointer population though, the blog’s design is such as to not overwhelm the visitor. Everything is neatly ordered and categorized on the right-hand side of the page and you can proceed step-by-step and click to your heart’s delight.
The archival structure of “Bow. James Bow.” is one small gem. A list of “Recent Entries” allows you to jump directly to recent posts without clicking archive links and scrolling down “deep” pages. The “What Have I Posted?” section is in effect the total archive of the blog and allows you to go straight to groups of posts by month and subject. No clicking buttons and dates and reading here and there. You’re directed to what is available from the word “go”. All is well organized and flowing. Kudos to James for this simple but extremely effective idea that makes for effortless touring of the blog.
“Bow. James Bow.” is also a pleasure to read. James writes with the steady pace of someone who enjoys putting words together to produce pieces both “average” and “advanced” readers can enjoy.
This may sound a “natural” characteristic of anyone who devotes a good part of his/her time to writing (and, of course, has the talent to go with it), but, in real practice, it is rarely achieved without laborious effort (which is not always successful). It’s obvious though that James doesn’t profusely sweat over his keyboard; he’s what I call a “glider”, someone who points his mind this or that way and, presto, commits the sentences to paper… ummm TFT display (?) flat monitor (?) — or whatever.
Posts range over a variety of subjects. Scrolling down the “What I Have Posted?” list you encounter family life, politics, tech issues, and several others. I clicked and clicked and wherever I went there was always a piece that was interesting and enjoyable. And when James chooses a current issue (like the post of December 12th), he demonstrates he has done his homework. This is what I call “respect for the reader”. I found that James’s blog achieves something few bloggers truly arrive at: “Bow. James Bow.” is not boring.
If we were putting together samples on “How To” in blogging, I’d nominate “Bow. James Bow.” as a top contender. Technically, it is darn near five-star. Content is varied, interesting, and readable. And presentation is straightforward and reliable. Do I need to say more?Bow. James Bow