So, guess who emailed me because of Medium?
Happy Friday,
Yesterday I got an email from the official Lewis Carroll Society of North America.
Good grief, what kind of writer am I? I should have dragged that out to build suspense until the big reveal at the end, right? lol. But no. It’s just a small part of point that applies to all writers.
Apparently they read my “Lewis Carroll Was No Pedophile” article and wanted to reach out to thank me for the piece.
The fellow I exchanged emails with shared some info I hadn’t found and I agreed to write a follow up. It’s about one of the little girls Carroll photographed nude and what she said about him years later.
They asked me to send a link when it goes up. So that’s coming.
Here’s the point.
You never know who is reading your work...
There’s a trend on Medium and the internet as a whole to write hate and controversy.
It’s the world we live in.
Hate pays. Controversy pays. Smash and smear. Name and blame. Bash the big writers. Clicks are cash. To bash is cash. We see it everywhere.
And yet the opposite has worked far better for me in the long run.
When Mark Manson linked to one of my Medium stories, my views went through the roof. Same thing when a historical society linked to a story about Anne Boleyn and I got 5K views the first hour and thought Medium stats were broken.
Somewhere out there is a person who can make all the difference to whatever you are trying to achieve or do. You know?
A person who has the information you need or the contact that can turn everything around in a heartbeat. Seven degrees of separation and all that good stuff.
It’s not just writers.
It’s how I got 3 different clients featured on Oprah in the past. Not one, three. It’s how I got one client featured in Forbes repeatedly. Because someone out there knows someone who can make all the difference in the world.
But it’s really hard to make those kinds of contacts if you go through life throwing dynamite and burning bridges.
You never know who is reading your writing.
I’m curious... What do you think of the trend of hate posts? And have you ever had some random and helpful contact because of something you wrote?
More reading…
Stream of Consciousness Writing. It’s Rude. Sorry About That.
Sorry, Lewis Carroll Was No Pedophile, and The Photos Are Fake
P.S. If you are reading this in email, you can click the title to see the online version, where you can leave comments, just like on Medium.
xo,
Linda
Congratulations on hitting all the right spots. The older I become, and that process seems to have speeded up, I lean towards the positive. Hate and the taking of offence seems to make some people feel more important.
Congratulations on your success with writing positive posts! The world needs more of them :-)