Hello my dear readers, friends and followers,
I thought I should use my first blog entry to talk about about a few things. I hope that this will help me and maybe you understand a few things about writing, stories and emotions.
When I started writing my stories and poem (just one for now) I just typed out whatever was in my head. The characters came magically alive in front of my own eyes and the story pretty much developed itself. Of course, I am talking about "The beginning" and the sequel "The life of Riley". My stories gained a few devoted followers right away which was really encouraging.
However, as my stories grew larger and more complex I had to consider a lot more details especially regarding life and events around those characters like the dynamic and logic of threats against Riley etc. A few comments I received sparked this thought process. The comments were very analytical and seemed to make 100 % sense. Now, I am not trying to get defensive and I love feedback that shows me mistakes or errors in a respectful way.
I did my best to consider those comments and yes I know that it is also possible to ignore any bad comments. Ultimately, I decide how I write my stories and yes, nobody forces me to read those comments but on the other side I don't force anybody to read my stories either.
A positive way of doing this happened a few days ago where a reader sent me a personal message making me aware of some errors in a friendly way which I loved. I prefer this discrete way much more.
I am grateful I have not received any nasty comments (yet). I will gladly ignore that if it happens.
Please keep the feedback coming. I want to improve as a writer. The story I am writing is so close to my heart that I simply cannot have an outside view which I value from you, dear reader. I want to be able to happily write down my thoughts but still be able to consider logical aspects of my stories. I want them to be heart warming but also realistic.
It is a journey and a lot of fun figuring this out. So long!
Anna Olivia
Comments
It can be difficult..,
...to unread a hurtful comment.
Sometimes I wonder if commentators remember those who post fiction are real people with real life feelings.
Listening to Jim Florentine’s excellent podcasts about people who leave negative Yelp reviews help me not care.
アンその他
Sometimes I wonder if
Sometimes I wonder if commentators remember those who post fiction are real people with real life feelings.
I do. That is why I often ignore the complaints from authors that they want more comments.
If I can't say something nice and constructive, I'd rather just leave a kudos.
Dealing with hurtful comments
When I find a comment hurtful, rude, unkind, or supercilious, I try to wait a day so I can cool off a bit. Then I go back to see whether I read the comment the way it was intended. It is possible, after all, that I was as poor a reader as the person who left the unkind comment.
If it's just as bad on the second day as the first, I try to write a helpful response; one that points out how their comments are either mistaken, ignorant, or both -- in a nice way, of course. It's highly likely that it's a problem of reading comprehension on their part.
I don't talk about how their comments made me feel. I make it into a "teachable moment" for them. Once or twice I've thanked the commenter for giving me the opportunity to help them understand them how to use this site better. That sort of thing.
I doubt that the offending commenter will read my reply. It's great if they do, but although I'm addressing them, I'm really writing for myself. Once I've burned over their unkindness, I don't think it about those comments any more.
It works just as well in retrospect. There was a set of comments that REALLY bugged me, but I didn't have a way to grapple with them at the time they were written. Months later I went back and had a fine time writing some satisfying replies, and those comments don't bother me any more.
- io