Well funny thing is that's the Pareto Principle, which says 80% of results come from 20% of actions. But in nature everything has an opposite. Day and night. Up and down. Life and death. Tides go out and come back in. Which applies? Good question.
Pareto Principle? I didn't know that. To me Pareto was the guy who came up with the a principle of optimization we use in economics. Pareto optimality occurs when two cooperative people or groups can't make any more changes without one party winning. I'm not saying this well but, if you're not at Pareto optimality, then there are still win-win choices to make.
I couldn't have said it better. Trolls will not get anywhere in the long run. In fact, if you check out a trolls account, they usually have little to no followers.
I got a nasty comment recently. I felt attacked. Out of curiosity I checked out the trolls account. And sure enough she only had one follower. And isn't even a medium member.
The cheaters deny that they did anything wrong. It frazzles my brain when I am confronted with it. I deal with it and walk away because engaging wastes my creative spark. Everyone has to grow their talent like any living thing. It fascinates me that (f)ireflys grow in swampy and damp areas. Transcendence comes out of tough environments.
Trolls suck for sure. One nasty comment can ruin your whole day. But, like you say, you can't let them stop you. They won't get anywhere in the long run.
Linda, A beautiful conclusion. I was shocked when I read on the Medium Blog that Medium suspended 212,355 user accounts in September. That's a lot of jerks! But you're right, we have to stay on our own path and put in the time to grow.
Most of us don't like giving up. It's etched in the old DNA, those strands that were around 250,000 years ago. Giving up meant lunch - but not for us. So, we keep moving forward, and sometimes sideways, but at least it's not stopping. Writing for most is like breathing, we can stop, sure, but with dire consequences. Best to keep the in and out going, keep the brain oxygenated so we don't keel over and crush the laptop. We never know when we'll strike gold - a nugget the size of a glazed donut and be set for life or at least the next 72 hours. 😁
"Because the day I let some a-hole drive my bus, I’m done. Might as well jump off a bridge. Fill my pockets with rocks and walk into the river." Right there with you, Linda (and sorry, Virginia). Being a writer has probably always been a tiptoe through a mad circus; it's just that nowadays the circus is so much bigger and louder. But if the sane writers all flee, who's running the show?
Holy moly, the 200K + booted from Medium for plagiarism, etc. YIKES. Hard to believe it's that many a-hats. Still shaking my head. Makes me sad, too.
RE: "It affects more than just writing. It changes you as a person...." Yes, indeed. When we stop learning and growing, stop developing new skills, we die a little every day (more quickly than otherwise). Thank you for recognizing this reality of humanity and saying it out loud, so to speak.
It IS crazy, isn't it? I suppose it's inevitable once they opened to so much more of the word, but still. And you're very welcome. We have to keep learning or we wither. And how are you holding up? I think of you, so you know :)
I am the struggling writer right now facing perfectionism and that second half of the article just lights up some neurons on my brain. Probably gotta hit a lot of keycaps tonight.
Good. I'm glad to hear that. That's what we all need, just light up some neurons. No faster way to do that than to write something different than we ever have.
Thank you Sam, and good to see you again!
I think it's probably 80/20, like all things in life.
Well funny thing is that's the Pareto Principle, which says 80% of results come from 20% of actions. But in nature everything has an opposite. Day and night. Up and down. Life and death. Tides go out and come back in. Which applies? Good question.
Pareto Principle? I didn't know that. To me Pareto was the guy who came up with the a principle of optimization we use in economics. Pareto optimality occurs when two cooperative people or groups can't make any more changes without one party winning. I'm not saying this well but, if you're not at Pareto optimality, then there are still win-win choices to make.
I couldn't have said it better. Trolls will not get anywhere in the long run. In fact, if you check out a trolls account, they usually have little to no followers.
I got a nasty comment recently. I felt attacked. Out of curiosity I checked out the trolls account. And sure enough she only had one follower. And isn't even a medium member.
I loved how you related what goes on in our minds to how it affects our writing Linda. Beautifully put. 🙂🌻
Thank you Kanika :)
I concur with your thesis, that writing can make us better.
I would also extend that thesis to other types of activities such as wood working, composing music, etc.
It would be interesting if you could measure changes in the brain, where would writing rank in terms of those changes?
Thanks for the excellent article and food for thought!
I agree, Ken. It applies to all the arts, absolutely!
If you want a hammer to hit the nail on the HEAD, I'll send it this minute!
You have a wonderful writer's knack of saying what most of us are thinking that we haven't taken the writing time to turn into written words--Bravo!
You made me laugh Susan. I have a hammer. I hid it so I don't use it in places I want to but shouldn't. lmao. And thank you
Oh! I hope all read, read to the beautiful end! What a place to go. Thank you, Linda!
Thank you Alison. Sometimes I feel like parched earth. Thank you for bringing water.
I so understand... Mutual.
The cheaters deny that they did anything wrong. It frazzles my brain when I am confronted with it. I deal with it and walk away because engaging wastes my creative spark. Everyone has to grow their talent like any living thing. It fascinates me that (f)ireflys grow in swampy and damp areas. Transcendence comes out of tough environments.
Oh Margie, this is why I love you to bits. Yes. Agree. So much
So far my substack feed has remained free from the writing jerks, hope it may stay that way 🙌
Me too!
I hope so too, Sophie. Mine was for a long time. lol
Trolls suck for sure. One nasty comment can ruin your whole day. But, like you say, you can't let them stop you. They won't get anywhere in the long run.
I enjoyed reading your 'JerKs" post today. Thanks.
Linda, A beautiful conclusion. I was shocked when I read on the Medium Blog that Medium suspended 212,355 user accounts in September. That's a lot of jerks! But you're right, we have to stay on our own path and put in the time to grow.
Most of us don't like giving up. It's etched in the old DNA, those strands that were around 250,000 years ago. Giving up meant lunch - but not for us. So, we keep moving forward, and sometimes sideways, but at least it's not stopping. Writing for most is like breathing, we can stop, sure, but with dire consequences. Best to keep the in and out going, keep the brain oxygenated so we don't keel over and crush the laptop. We never know when we'll strike gold - a nugget the size of a glazed donut and be set for life or at least the next 72 hours. 😁
"Because the day I let some a-hole drive my bus, I’m done. Might as well jump off a bridge. Fill my pockets with rocks and walk into the river." Right there with you, Linda (and sorry, Virginia). Being a writer has probably always been a tiptoe through a mad circus; it's just that nowadays the circus is so much bigger and louder. But if the sane writers all flee, who's running the show?
Right? A mad circus, indeed. And I'm not going anywhere. Maybe I'm as mad as they are but in a different way lol
Holy moly, the 200K + booted from Medium for plagiarism, etc. YIKES. Hard to believe it's that many a-hats. Still shaking my head. Makes me sad, too.
RE: "It affects more than just writing. It changes you as a person...." Yes, indeed. When we stop learning and growing, stop developing new skills, we die a little every day (more quickly than otherwise). Thank you for recognizing this reality of humanity and saying it out loud, so to speak.
It IS crazy, isn't it? I suppose it's inevitable once they opened to so much more of the word, but still. And you're very welcome. We have to keep learning or we wither. And how are you holding up? I think of you, so you know :)
I am the struggling writer right now facing perfectionism and that second half of the article just lights up some neurons on my brain. Probably gotta hit a lot of keycaps tonight.
Good. I'm glad to hear that. That's what we all need, just light up some neurons. No faster way to do that than to write something different than we ever have.
A fine a piece as ever. Made me feel that much better in applying the written word. Thanks much.
Thank you :)