The Writing Journey: Why audience feedback is important

14) And why it should be publicized

SECTION I: The Writing Journey begins anew (again)

Since I started writing with a new vigor 3 months ago, and I converted my blog to a newsletter on Substack 2.5 months ago, I have had numerous exchanges with people, be it on chat forums or personal email or text exchanges, or just good old fashioned conversations about what I have been writing. 

I’m sure many of you are familiar with a common rule of thumb that for every negative comment made, you need five positive ones to offset the negative one. This is often why people, famous people in particular don’t engage on twitter, or if they do they just are angry, kind of like how NBA Superstar Kevin Durant always broods.

Part of what makes a writer’s journey unique (or any artist for that matter), is that you can’t always control the feedback you get. Therefore, if you enjoy my work, I definitely want to hear it. If you don’t like it, please let me know too. 

And as my newsletter grows, I hope you take better advantage of the chat and comment forums, so that good conversations can be generated. But, for now I will just recreate/quote feedback I have gotten on various posts. 

For some loyal readers of mine, who don’t always necessarily enjoy my work, yet still consistently read it, they have been ringing loudest in my ears as of late. As you will read on, some of them certainly don’t hold back. They are not exactly pleasant things said, but at least I’m getting people engaged and talking. 

Yes! These are real comments from real people. I am keeping these commenters “Anonymous”, as they privately reached out to me and didn’t comment publicly on the comments section, which of course you are welcome and free to do. To see the non-anonymous comments, just click on the comments/discussion section in each of my pieces.

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SECTION II: Initial Feedback - All signs point to a successful reboot

Confidence Game & Teaching

“That was an interesting read. I like the assertion regarding not being a hypocrite and pushing yourself to write.” - Anonymous

“I love the fact that you are holding yourself accountable and practicing what you preach.”- Anonymous

The Human Condition and Self-Destructive Behavior

“Well done!” - Anonymous

“Great piece. The Group hug part was pretty transformational”. - Anonymous

“Wow! Way to build relationships with your students, and have them build it with each other. The better someone is at relationship building, the possibility of great quality of life increases.” - Anonymous

Everybody Needs a Hype-Man!

“This lends itself more to sports, but can apply to real life situations.” - Anonymous

“Great reference to wrestling. Consider yourself lucky to only have sacrificed one shoulder. I hope you shoot the basketball with your other arm.” - Anonymous

“This is actually pretty good. Good way to bring the reader in with you.” - Anonymous

The Almost NBA Champions

“How are you not including the 2009 Western Conference Runner-up, Denver Nuggets among your list of teams?” - Anonymous friend

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SECTION III:  Sports?! Aren’t you a little bit too old to still be caring about sports?

Here is some general feedback and private commentary I have gotten on some of my sports postings in recent memory. (Compliments of people who don’t like sports).

“I grieve at how commercialized sports makes me ill.” - Anonymous

“F* the NBA. What a G-d damn waste of anyone’s time. Write about something men dig. Like the art of picking up women.” - Anonymous

I realize some might interpret that last comment in a negative light. (You are of course welcome to comment on the comment). But, keep in mind that reader comments are welcome as long as they do not propagate hate, violence or sow divisiveness. I welcome all readers with all perspectives. I actually take pride in the fact that I have a subscriber base of people that is not a monolith, and that does not fit neatly into a prescribed ideological box. 

The  last reader comment in SECTION II about The Almost Champions was from a friend that became one of my more recent subscribers, who instead of clicking on one of my more recent pieces, instead read an article of mine that was published more than a year ago.

This friend is also a huge fan of Carmelo Anthony going back to his early days in the league (pre-Knicks era). I, for one, am not! (For more on Melo, Check out Carmelo Anthony - The Anchor that sunk Phil Jackson's Ship?? (NBA Talk).

Interestingly enough, it is my sports pieces where I have some of my most enthusiastic readers, but also where I have the biggest drop-off in interest from my average subscriber. 

That is something that isn’t exactly a quick fix. All I can say is that (for now) the best way for me to address this is by putting in the SUBTOPIC - what the main theme of my article is about. If you are not interested in it, just skip it, and if you are interested in it, then read it! 

I post a number of political pieces as well. This is where I have seen tempers really flare! 

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SECTION IV:  Enough of this Leftist Propaganda! 

Part 1 of - The 90%, Cowardly Cops, and Garbage-Men

************************************************************************************************************ “Why don't you take the time to understand that's why people own guns, because you can't hold the police accountable for failing to do their job and then you talk about racism when they said nothing to do with race. Why do you do this? Do you intend to influence the influence? If so, how does this comport with your previous posting that obviously didn't take the time to appreciate the circumstances...

The police are not accountable, they can't be held liable for failing to intervene under such circumstances, and then can you rationally say to somebody that they shouldn't have the opportunity to own weapons legally? If you call this gun violence as opposed to the 2nd amendment, you should get on a showbox and start preaching because you basically have just as much credibility..

So, I submit to you, lose an audience member or have integrity in what you write? What would you like to do?” - ANGRY EMAILER

*************************************************************************************************************How does one “influence the influence?” I’m inclined to think this might have been mis-phrased, but the intention behind the words isn’t exactly lost on me. That I need to adjust how I write to keep him as an audience member? This is an ultimatum dripping with such irony, delivered with such arrogance and such condemnation, that I’m not sure if I should still be shocked by this email, or just marvel at how unintentionally comical this reader actually is.

For the record: This person (the angry emailer) is no longer a subscriber of mine! It was ultimately his choice, as I still welcomed him (and his feedback).

On a more positive note, the passion this reader displays is something we all need a little more of. And look at that! I was able to find some  positive things out of what he shared. The common rule of thumb, five positive comments for every one negative comment, lives on for another day!

After that character assassination by email, I needed to solicit the feedback from a trusted friend. This friend I solicited advice from is in fact someone who not only owns a few AK-47s himself, but is also incredibly well-read, and is also on balance a very sensible, even-keeled type of person.  

Based on my friend’s reading of the aforementioned story, and what I shared with him in conversation in regards to the angry emailer, his take essentially was - 

“When you write a piece like this, that is trying to cover so much, it’s kind of all over the place, kind of like spaghetti. Of course there are going to be people who are going to find the weak points in your story, especially if they already don’t like what you are sharing.” - Anonymous (well-read) friend who owns AK-47s.

Based on the feedback I got from this trusted source/friend, I decided to write a follow up.

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SECTION V:  Converting the unconvertible 

PART II of - The 90%, Cowardly Cops, and Sanitation Workers <Revisited>

“You are woefully misinformed. Brown was a thug and he was beating the cop. We already have universal background checks and that includes gun shows. You never said it but I think you want to ban guns.” - Anonymous

That feedback was on a conversation thread, to which I did respond saying. 

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“With respect to the Michael Brown / Ferguson situation.

1- I get it in the heat of the situation the cop retaliated, just like any human would.

2- There are a number of conflicting reports in regards to how the situation ended

3- It would have been better for the police force if Michael Brown had lived, and suffered bullet wounds where he was treated while in jail, instead of dying and becoming a martyr.

As for the last comment about guns, how do I even dignify that with a response? You are making a straw man argument right there. That's not a fair way to engage someone.” - JPJ

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That thread did get locked, so the conversation did not continue. I would have been curious to see how it developed, but the opportunity did not present itself. 

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SECTION VI: Success comes to those who commit themselves to successful acts on a daily basis

Ultimately, I need to remind myself that writing is a labor of love. When the passion burns out, the discipline and consistency must stay. I realize I’m not going to always hit a home run. (Why baseball analogies seem to always work, even for non sports fans, I don’t know?); But, I do know that in my last three months of consistent writing,  I realize all the aforementioned posts so far are merely a footnote in my life right now. 

Although, I do think The Hype Man piece deserves more love. As for my various teaching posts, sometimes I think there are times I’m too deep in the soup to look back at them with a long-view. I do think I will come to appreciate them more over time as I get more separation from the experiences I shared. There will be a natural progression happening as well, as I grow in my pedagogy, as well as in my writing.

One incredibly valuable lesson I learned in these last three months is how some things just resonate in a way that you can’t necessarily anticipate or expect. Sometimes a work of art, or a written piece has a magic touch, almost as if it wasn’t just you writing it, but rather, your message needed to be delivered to the world, and it really had nothing to do with you. Rather, it was you that was fortunate enough to be that vessel that delivered that message to others. 

Columbine and its aftermath: "23 years later"

I am simultaneously proud of the fact that this piece of mine continues to get daily views (closing in on 14,000) yet I am also embarrassed and somewhat sad by the fact that this piece is so necessary. 

The feedback I have received has been widely praised throughout much of it. But some people did mention that they took issue with the political turn it took half-way through. To that point, there are themes in that piece that are still worth exploring, and will be followed up on in later posts in the coming weeks and months.

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SECTION VII - I love you, and it’s not just because you read this far 

When I write about sports, or other matters that are just fun, it sometimes is a nice release from the harshness of life. When I write about politics, I’m speaking as an activist and civically engaged human being. My Columbine piece spoke to the scared parent in me, the former high school student in me, and the overall concerned citizen in me. 

The purpose of my writing is to not only inform, or to make one think, but also to uplift. If at the very least it uplifts me, I’m pretty sure it's uplifting someone else who has been reading my work too. After all, it is your listening/reading of me, which has made me exist as a writer. 

Thank you, for your generosity in reading my stories. Thank you for sharing my stories with the people that matter to you.