Writers Need to be Loved Too - My Kingdom for a Comment!
Posted: Tuesday, October 13, 2009
by Julian Price
http://www.uk-freelance-content-writer.co.uk/
Most writers (not all) love to know that their work is being read and appreciated. This is a perfectly normal desire, not just for writers but for all humanity. To see something we have written, built, taught, healed, fixed, discovered, rescued or produced, (you get the gist) appreciated and sometimes praised is a natural longing found within us all.
Perhaps, writers experience these cravings even more intensely? An idea is hatched and then formulated and words spill forth. Hours, days, weeks' even years pass before a final product is unveiled. The hope, is that after all that toil, others will share your vision or rejoice in the secret you have now revealed, but what happens when the glory falls a bit flat and the fanfare fails to sound?
Writers (especially if their words are their livelihood) can often feel rejected, lonely or left on the shelf, along with a million other writers feeling the same way. This is sad and unfortunate but writing is a massively competitive arena and usually only the very best rise to the top.
The internet age however has offered hope to a multitude of other writers, who all have their own unique voice, a style of their own and, yes, a craving to be heard. Thanks to blogs, forums and websites such as SearchWarp, writers like you and me have another chance, another window of opportunity and a chance to put our writing "out there".
Despite this new found hope and this fresh platform, lurking just around the corner is yet more disappointment and more struggle. Why? That latest article we wrote about that really exciting subject has been posted a few days now, and no matter how many times we visit the website to see all the fantastic reaction to our latest masterpiece, nothing has happened! A handful of reads and even less comments make our hearts sink and think about quitting, again!
Please don't quit though, because surely we are writing because we love to write and love to express ourselves with words? We love to share our feelings and thoughts about all kinds of subjects and in ways we never thought we would be able. If we are passionate and willing to learn, then each piece or each article we write can be better than the last, as our skills sharpen with every fingerprint we leave on the keyboard.
Please don't quit if there are barely any comments on your work. Most readers, (I would suggest a seriously high percentage) wish only to read about the things they have found interesting in our writings. They arrive at our article with no obligation and take from it what they will. The fact we receive little feedback from most of our readers doesn't necessarily mean they gained naught from reading our words. They might go about their day and remember fondly a sentence or two that may shed light on something they had been thinking about. Most readers leave it there, and that's okay.
Of course, there will be others who will be inspired by what we have written and go on to do something inspirational themselves and there will be some who do love to leave some feedback, especially if the piece of writing has struck an emotional chord and has them bubbling over in agreement, amazement or anger!
If you are writing because you love to, just keep going and keep enjoying, regardless of your "ratings" or "popularity". Then, if and when your work does increase in popularity, and praise is pouring upon you, it would probably be wise to remember your struggles, remember the loneliness you felt and remember others just like you, will still be feeling what you felt as they strive to be seen and heard.
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Top-level comments on this article: (10 total)Hi Julian.I write for myself. I know I could get better ratings if i tried for a less "cute" title, or wrote more of what people want to read- but I cannot do that.Great reminder here. Great article!p.s. Umm, your Kingdom, please!Hi Ken, thanks for the comment. I Really need to hold on to the Kingdom for a little while, just in case I have to share it amongst others. You have a 100% stake so far though! Thanks again, Julian
Hi Julian.I write for the love of it, so I'm just going to keep right on doing it. But I do have to say that I'm thrilled when someone takes the time to let me know that they read my article. And I don't mind criticism, either.On the flip side, if every single person who clicked to my articles left comments, I think I'd be spending all my free time responding to them. So, it's good that they don't. I'm exceedingly lucky in that the SW team sees fit to put some of my articles on the home page somewhere and they get a goodly number of viewings as a result.Your article is very inspirational and I am glad that you wrote it.My best to you,DianneHi Dianne, Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment and indeed for the kinds words. Gotta love writing! Julian :)
I think musicians make music, artists create and writers write. There's no stopping you if that's who you are. It's certainly a huge bonus when people enjoy your music, or admire your art, or learn something from your stories, an even greater bonus when they let you know about it! But in the end when you write, (unless like you say, your writing is your livelihood) it has to be for yourself. There is no better therapy than writing, and the great thing is everyone can do it! Good article Julian, I hope people listen and keep doing what they're meant to do!Hi Brianna, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this article and subject. During my day job I have to write about "stuff" I really wouldnt choose to. I do it to the best of my ability and I try to put my own little stamp on it but its only when I write from my heart that I am truly at home. You are right (write?lol), it's a great therapy and there is a freedom in it too! Thanks again, Julian :)
In my humble opinion a great article Julian.Why, thank you very much Steve! Appreciated indeed! Julian
I write because I have to. I'm always drawn to write by what I visualize in my mind.Hi Kurt, Thanks for the comment! Likewise for me Kurt, I get words bubbling up in my mind and just have to write. It's in the bones! Julian
I'm guilty of falling for what I had not intended to do, and that's writing about writing. I thoroughly enjoy the controversial subjects, even by those I viscerally disagree with. But, too often I detect the need for attention by other SearchWarp writers.
Too many articles are unworthy of a great writer. Some go something like this, "I'm writing to you, all my SearchWarp friends, because you all love me and I'm so popular. I don't really have anything of substance to say today, but I'm writing about that, too!" Those authors, ironically, seem to be the most popular. Things that make you go, "Hmmm..."
In fact, I first discovered SearchWarp by Googling for an article on a particular subject, it was probably the Iraq War, or some other political thing, and I know for a fact the author was Mogama, whose writing style I like very much. In that case, Mogama succeeded in achieving proper recognition, rather than pandering for back pats within the closed loop of intellectual inbreeding.
I don't see the intrinsic value in writing for other SearchWarp writers. That's just me. When I write, I think of a subject that should be of interest to the world at large. Maybe that's why my popularity rating is so low, because I'm not writing for all the saccharin praise, but to state a concern of general human interest. I spend more time of late commenting, because comments can be equally interesting (though, most are dull as crabgrass), and incidentally are read by others.
Let's hug!- GGreetings Gregory! I have just read your article "Try A Little Harder", and having absorbed it, I think my own article is perhaps the less educated but very keen little brother to your article. I am just a novice but I want to be better. I love writing and would like to be reasonably good at it one day. I am currently reading a book (which is a few years old now) called "Eats Shoots and Leaves" which is both humourous and helpful and hopefuly a sign that I am genuinely trying to improve. I understand your loathing of bad or perhaps even worse, careless writing, but perhaps encouragement and some pointers to those websites you mentioned in your article would be the most constructive method of cleaning the drivel up? I think "blog" writing has a lot to answer for, as many articles these days seem to be simply blog postings dressed up in article format. Thanks for taking the time to read and for commenting with so much depth. Much appreciated. JulianI have to agree with you, Gregory. We need to write for ourselves, and hope it strikes a bell with someone else.
I love getting feedback on my work, it helps me understand what I'm doing well, and what I'm not doing so well. That's what made English class so great; I would write something, and then I would get feedback from it. It's much harder to get any sort of response from people nowadays, though, with the internet being so vast. But I continue to write - it's what I love doing.Hi Lazar, Thanks for the feedback you have contributed to this article. Much appreciated! Your spirit, passion and willingness to improve is perhaps something all writers should have but often ego gets in the way and we are unable to handle any constructive criticism. ( I am a believer in criticism needing to be constructive in some way...I think tearing someone's writing apart, either because we don't agree with it or because it isn't our "cup of tea" is just pointless and vindictive) At the very, very least, spell checking and proof reading through our work before submission shows we care about it in some way. Anyway, better end this reply before it turns into my first novel! Thanks again, Julian
Another very good article, Julian. I love praise as much as anyone, but I appreciate constructive criticism even more. This is about the only way, for me, to improve my writing. I write for many of the reasons already listed; therapy, a desire to share my views with the world, etc, but I also want to feel that my writing is 'good.' Not just the content, but the way it's written. So, to any of you who read what I post here, please remember all of this. :)When my professors grade my papers and give me less than 100, The first feeling I experience is humiliation, that I'm slighted, and some anger directed at the professor. Then I try to disprove her comments, like "Paragraphs should be more than one sentence," and "References should be centered at the top of the reference page." When I go back to my paper, I see examples of what she is talking about, and when I look up proper APA style, I see she is right, and I'm wrong.The problem is compounded by the fact that accepted styles change. For example, when I wrote for a newspaper, I was allowed to write one sentence paragraphs. Also, only a few months ago, the proper APA style for putting "References" at the top of the reference page was to left justify it at the top of the page. Now it is to center it. What this all means is that outside of blatantly bad grammar, good writing style tends to be a moving target, depending on your venue and audience. I've notice outright contradictions in the "Tip of the Day" here on SearchWarp and the AP Style Guide. For instance, I saw one tip that said you should put a space after the ellipses... Like this. But in the AP Style Guide I used to follow, it was considered good practice to put no space between the ellipses...like this.
One other change of note I have had to adapt to is whether or not to place a comma before the last 'and' in a series. For example, at the newspaper I would write "This, that and the other thing." For a psychology paper I would have to write "This, that, and the other thing."
Another difficult concept is where to place the punctuation mark when using a quote. I was taught the punctuation mark goes inside the quotation marks at the end of the quote, rather than outside of them.
For example:
Mary said, "I have a little lamb," and then she walked to school.Thanks for more feed back on this one Gregory. I always enjoy your words of wisdom and insight. The punctuation issue is probably the one that hinders writers more than any other. You mention the evolving standards of acceptance and you can add to that a simple lack of knowledge regarding the basics of sentence structure. My own punctuation is far from perfect but I shall strive to improve. Thanks again for your comma...I mean comment. JulianThanks Joyce. For me writing is fun, it's a creation, a building of words that hopefully looks like something recognisable at the end and I always want it to be the best it can be, especially when attempting to craft something close to my heart. Thanks again for your comment Joyce. Julian
Hey, I just saw this article pop up, I much prefer the original title! (Look at the URL.)
We just started facebook integration a week ago, and it's amazing to me to see the different types of people who are willing to comment through facebook, but not through SearchWarp's own comment system. I wonder what the difference is?
Anyway, I thought this article deserved a comment. Keep up the great writing!Thanks for the comment Bruce! I wonder if it's as simple as people tending to be almost permanently logged into their facebook accounts and so it's almost second nature to them?
Perhaps, I should revert to the original title, after all, as you point out, it is used in the URL. I have learned a lot more about article "titles" since I wrote this one! Thanks again.
A good article Julian, a good article in that is questions, what are we as writers doing here? Are we bored, do we really want to share an understanding (we think), are we egotistical, or are we simply lonely?
Probably all of the above and then more............
Thanks for reading Terrence, and you know what...you are probably right!
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