Inside The Mind Of The Writers

Writing as a hobby becomes something more. It can become an infectious disease, without a cure. As it happens, it came to me during an infectious disease outbreak, and initially, there was no cure. Hell, there was no vaccine, there was no answer, and the world literally fell to pieces that year.

Why write? Why bother?

So, why do you write? Why would you even bother? Who's going to read your dribbling words of woe, wisdom, humor, or whatever else you've got in your rattling mind? Why would you put yourself out there like that, and subject yourself to the ridicule of the public's opinion. That is, the biggest problem with putting anything on the internet.

Putting things onto the internet is akin to stepping to the podium in the Whitehouse press room. Anybody can see it, anybody might hear about it, and it's open season. It's not that same as writing for a newspaper or magazine. So, you have to be ready for the barrage of comments to come your way.

Some of them are really nice, so don't get me wrong. There are those that have commented on works I've put together, and they were and are, very encouraging. Julie Smith is one of those people. As was the famous Mikey Dread. And it's the same way on other platforms. There are going to be those awesome individuals who will appear, the simply genuine and nice people, and they'll become like your long lost friends.

When you're writing, you open up about things in your head. Whether it's fiction, or whether it's based on non-fiction, real world issues of the day, or something from history, there's a little tiny piece of yourself inside those words. It's very revealing, to say the least.

Imagine that you're standing in front of the world. Are you picturing it, like being in gradeschool doing a book report. Even into adulthood it's a very daunting prospect. Putting yourself out there, sharing thoughts, ideas, musings, hopes, dreams, nightmares, opinions, and things you've learned with complete strangers is one of the most crazy feelings. Some take to it like a fish in water. Others, they struggle with it.

There's the need of feeling like you're doing at least okay. You want to be able to "compete" with your peers in any situation. Much like playing ball, or in some cases, going to the firing range, you write and put it out for the world to disect, so you don't want to suck. Would you agree?

Now, imagine you're standing in front of an audience, and you're giving a speech, to, let's say members of congress. They're always fun to screw with since they don't do anything useful anymore.

Ooops, you're in your undies!

For many, it's like that. The fact that some people will judge their work with an eye that's less than nice, and sometimes can be irritatingly unnecessary, makes the writers consider stopping. Why?

Think about the low read counts, the often times less than communicative readers who drop just a heart, and you're counts don't change.

For some, they feel like they'll never get the recognition of a top story, or a challenge win. It's a miserable feeling when it hits you, because why did you enter all those challenges, give so much of your effort, your heart, your soul, and your imagination, for nothing.

That's were some people depart Vocal Plus. It's a sentiment that some very nice, and talented writers, have come to feel and expressed to their circle before they dropped Vocal Plus, or they just stopped writing publicly.

What can be done to change things?

When you read something, remember that someone worked to make that story, article, or essay a reality. Regardless of your slant on the topic or issue, remember to read it and digest it, before going out of your way to challenge the writer's view point. Respectfully disagreee.

If it's a fiction piece, or a piece of poetry, or something not regarding the issues of the world, then be kind. If there's an issue with what they wrote, leave them a kind word about what they did correctly, or how interesting their idea was, or, the amazing image and title that got you to open their work. Then, if something stuck out, like a typo, or mispelled word, or something was confusing, let them know in a constructive way.

My Final Thoughts

If you go to Faceboook groups and look at posts on Vocal groups, and we'll include Medium groups, you'll see those posts about helping and supporting eachother, and growing together. Remember that idea when you read something and leave the comments on the platforms. Why?

Because, not everybody is you! Your particular view points aren't the only ones. And maybe, you might help them out, or have helped them out, just because you read their piece of writing and offered something positive instead of that negative in your mind.