Liz: *grimacing at Martin* YOU! Get in bed! *stands up and zombie chases him into his bedroom*
Martin: *laughs all the way*
Liz: BED! NOW!
Martin: I’m not scared of you! I’ve got a…*looks wildly around, grabs the first thing at hand* …a BOOK!
Liz: *stops short, puts hands on hips, mocks* oooo…knowledge is scary!
Liz & Martin: *giggle madly*
I’ve been thinking about trying to write a post a day for, I don’t know…a week? A month? The whole year? I don’t think it will happen, though, and I’ve actually come to the conclusion that I get more comments on posts that come with a little breathing room between them. If you don’t comment, you’re not reading, right? Only the people who actually comment are reading your blog posts. Isn’t that a sad thought? I know it’s not true, not by a long shot, but it’s a sneaking pathetic little feeling nonetheless.
Sometimes I write what I think is a GREAT post. Pulitzer-worthy, award-winning, frame-able. Then I get 3 comments on it, one of them from my mom, and think, “Hmmmm….well, that must have sucked more than I realized.” Why do you suppose that happens? Why would YOUR validation of MY writing, whether it’s on-topic or not, mean that much? Why would it become any measure of how good my writing is? Of its value or its worth or its power to COMPEL YOU TO COMMENT?
Weird how this scribbling brings on such feelings of judgment, of me for myself or me for others or me for what others might be thinking. Often I get the most comments on what I think are the most inane ramblings. I can never really predict what will cause people to take the moment to answer or comment or question something I say.
Most of you that read this also write, in the same kind of public forum. How much do the comments you get drive your content? Do you write differently in order to generate them? Do you give a rat’s ass about your comments, about WHO is making them, or the amount of them? Part of me doesn’t care at all, but part of me does. Acknowledgment and validation are part of the markers we humans hold up to ourselves, and learning to ignore them and forge ahead regardless takes a strong personality.
The comments that I get here, that I answer, and those that I leave on other blogs and journals are part of that network and community that builds friendships and relationships with kindred souls all around the world. The fact that I can tell someone in another country, on the other side of the planet, that I appreciated something she wrote mere minutes after she posts it, is amazing and not to be discounted.
Getting comments from readers, getting validation from friends and acknowledgments from virtual strangers makes me want to be a better writer. It makes me want to show my stuff. I don’t know if I can manage to write a post a day for a week or a month or, good lord! all year, but I hope you’ll be with me on the journey, whether you respond with a comment or not.