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.
I'm not interested in reading hate posts. I know why writers write them. Glom onto a bigger writer and try to ride their coattails through a bombastic post that trashes them. How about just try to write good content?
For now I'm staying the course, writing my unique content on Medium, earning what I can, turning the content into e-books, and pitching more to mainstream pubs. Medium has turned into a cluster-fuck, but there are still opportunities to be had there, if you have patience. You've just illustrated one of those opportunities!
It really is kind of a mess over there, hey? I agree with you, though. Lots of opportunities if we think about what we're doing. I need to do better at that, too. I tend to treat Medium like a sandbox. A place I go to play when I'm not working.
wow congrats Linda! For a moment, I thought Lewis C and you are related.. wait, are you?
I'm really blown away by your track records -- 3 clients featured in Oprah! wow wow.
As for hate posts, not my thing. I don't really know how to write them. Also I find that, if I do, I'm feeding some hate monster inside me and I get even more hateful at the world and myself, which feels very exhausting and dreadful for me.
No random and helpful contact who felt their world has changed because of something I wrote, but had a random contact reached out to me after they read some of the stuff I wrote. Strange bizarre world.
P.S. I submitted a piece to HOW a month ago. Not sure if it's rejected or it's just sitting in wait list. :P
Nope, I'm not related to Lewis Carroll. He was British, my family is from Ukraine. I so agree, hate posts are just mentally exhausting. Can't do it.
About your HOW post... omg, I am so sorry. I haven't been getting notifications so I didn't even go look. My bad!! Hope there's not a whole bunch I don't know about. Cripes. Guess it's going to be a catchup kind of weekend.
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.
Woohoo! That's terrific! I try to not read hate/bashing/negative posts. I wrote a piece once about how the media we consume affects us and shapes who we are and how we treat the world. Ever since, I am far more choosy with what I read. Very proud that your writing is attracting so much well-deserved attention, Linda!
I love the positive comments here and, of course, your dedication to positivity and truth. Thank you for not adding to the grime. There's too much of it and I am sick of people profiting off of fear and lies.
Yeah, I prefer to stay away from hate posts. When I feel compelled to offer sharp criticism of someone, I try to also include something about how the reader can do something positive too so that it's not all about bashing the person I'm criticizing.
Though I've never had a 'I got my clients on Oprah three times' or even 'Mark Manson linked me' level of success, I have gotten helpful leads because someone responded to something I wrote (and one blog post I wrote blew up because a mainstream magazine linked it... at first I thought the statistics were broke too, lol).
Oh your last sentence made me laugh, Sara. Isn't it the truth? I was so sure the stats broke or that some robots found me or something. It's delightful when that happens, isn't it? I wish it happened more often.
It's easy to kick things, but a thoughtful story about what went wrong or a personal story comparing lived experience has value. The Will Smith debacle comes to mind. I read the stories that considered the bigger picture. I still think Chris Rock is a mean comic. There is a terrific biography on Flip Wilson that describes his long career to be a comic. It has value. As to the nudity stuff in Lewis Carroll, I wasn't ready to read it. I know that the boy who was nude in Agnes Varda's film refuses to have anything to do with her. Takeaway!! Pull your bath time pictures of your children out of the family albums. They are private!!!!
You are so right on the merits of a thoughtful story about what went wrong. And fyi, there is nothing horrifying in the Lewis Carroll story. There is nothing horrifying that happened except people being ridiculous. I actually quoted the people who started the rumors to show how crazy it was.
I didn't know that about the Agnes Varda film, but wow you reminded me of a story I want to write about another young boy so thank you!
There's such a broad spectrum of posts, it is hard to be certain what you mean by "Hate". Jessica Wildfire and Umair Haig are constantly predicting the end of the world and bemoaning its demise, yet they are entertaining. John Oliver on Last Week Tonight and John Stewart on The Problem with John Stewart tackle important social issues with a fair amount of Fuckery tossed in. The writing world is blowing up with the leak of the Supreme Court potential demise of Roe.
On one hand it is therapeutic. Get your worries down on paper is a tool for everything from Productivity and Time Management to Anxiety Management and assisting with Sleep Disorders. The brain does tend to release worries once they are written down.
On the other hand, it is community building. Find like minds and get them singing the same chorus and you can change the world. MLK never set out to change the world, he just happened to be in the right place and time and it was his ability with words and crowds that let him become the leader history shows he was.
On the third hand (and yes, this is likely an octopus), misery loves company. There are very few humans in this world who look at someone at the bottom of the luck scale and don't have some subtle "I'm glad that's not me" ringing in the back of their heads.
I know I promised 8 but I'll let your imagination take it from here!
I don't count Jessica and Umair among the "hate" posts. If you haven't run across the ones I'm talking about, you are fortunate, indeed. Late last year I had someone post a story accusing me of being anti-Semitic. Bizarre given that I lost ancestors in the holocaust. And the "so and so is an a-hole" posts are more frequent than they should be, and don't get shut down nearly fast enough. True indeed that misery loves company. So does hate, and it shows on some of those posts. Glad I am not the only one with 3 hands. lol
This is great ! Yeah, we NEVER know who may be affected by our actions.
I totally agree with all the click bait, hate and negative articles. Everywhere one looks people are hating on one another. This world is in big trouble. - the DIVISION :/ I feel like there’s a ‘French Revolution’ type thing happening. So many feel left behind, so many feel triggered, oppressed, and offended by almost everything. Everyone stays in their individual silos - fostered by the algorithms of social media. It’s very concerning, I try to stay in higher vibrational energy to stay above the fray but honestly, it’s hard not to get pulled down at times - especially with all the complaining and judgement calls.
Thanks for this, just keep being you, and I’ll keep reading. ;)
Hey there Linda! Congratulations on making that connection--so cool! Years ago I wrote a guest post that got accepted to Mike Dooley's site tut.com call "Mindset is the Magic When it Comes to Weight Loss and Health". Psychic Medium John Edward ended up reading it and invited me to be on his web series Evolve. It was a great experience and I was sure it was going to catapult my career into the stratosphere, but the show is only available to his paid subscribers, not his million or so regular subscribers lol. But it was a connection I never would have made if it wasn't for that article.
As for all the angry, hateful, doom and gloom crap--it's exhausting. I'd much rather be uplifted, moved, or inspired so I will keep reading your articles!
Second, I couldn't agree more! I've actually been meaning to write about exactly this at some point. Forbes hired me to "inspect" and write about an insanely luxury resort in 2017. And it wasn't because I asked for the gig. THEY found and reached out to me through my personal travel blog. And that one event morphed into a long string of fabulous opportunities to follow.
And third, I can't stand all the bullshit hate stories on Medium. I can't believe the bitterness people put out there and then wonder why they can't get hired. There's even one writer who bitches about never getting hired. Well....hello!!??
First paragraph -- that is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. I'm a little jealous. You got to go to swanky resorts. I just got to write about hollywood celebrities. lol. Kidding. (kind of, lol) Couldn't happen to a nicer person, though. Honestly. God, I have had a few of those hunt me down. I don't get it. Life is too short for all that vitriol.
Incidentally, my mom used to say "Well....hello!!??" exactly like that. lol.
Negative comments and hate speech have always sold well - at least in America. Positive thoughts and ideas build things and are far more profitable than hate in the long run. When I see or read something that gets me angry, I wait for some time before responding. People do not respond well to insults, and while I am waiting, I can clarify my thoughts to make a more reasoned response. I also try to keep in mind that my opinions can be just as wrong as those that upset me.
Right? What a world it would be if more of us had the patience to step back and think before responding. Too many people think an opinion is correct simply because it's theirs. lol
Excellent article. Thanks
Thanks, Benjamin :)
I'm not interested in reading hate posts. I know why writers write them. Glom onto a bigger writer and try to ride their coattails through a bombastic post that trashes them. How about just try to write good content?
For now I'm staying the course, writing my unique content on Medium, earning what I can, turning the content into e-books, and pitching more to mainstream pubs. Medium has turned into a cluster-fuck, but there are still opportunities to be had there, if you have patience. You've just illustrated one of those opportunities!
It really is kind of a mess over there, hey? I agree with you, though. Lots of opportunities if we think about what we're doing. I need to do better at that, too. I tend to treat Medium like a sandbox. A place I go to play when I'm not working.
wow congrats Linda! For a moment, I thought Lewis C and you are related.. wait, are you?
I'm really blown away by your track records -- 3 clients featured in Oprah! wow wow.
As for hate posts, not my thing. I don't really know how to write them. Also I find that, if I do, I'm feeding some hate monster inside me and I get even more hateful at the world and myself, which feels very exhausting and dreadful for me.
No random and helpful contact who felt their world has changed because of something I wrote, but had a random contact reached out to me after they read some of the stuff I wrote. Strange bizarre world.
P.S. I submitted a piece to HOW a month ago. Not sure if it's rejected or it's just sitting in wait list. :P
Nope, I'm not related to Lewis Carroll. He was British, my family is from Ukraine. I so agree, hate posts are just mentally exhausting. Can't do it.
About your HOW post... omg, I am so sorry. I haven't been getting notifications so I didn't even go look. My bad!! Hope there's not a whole bunch I don't know about. Cripes. Guess it's going to be a catchup kind of weekend.
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.
I think you're right. People seem to be very attached to being offended. God, how tiring it must be to live that way. Who has the energy?
Woohoo! That's terrific! I try to not read hate/bashing/negative posts. I wrote a piece once about how the media we consume affects us and shapes who we are and how we treat the world. Ever since, I am far more choosy with what I read. Very proud that your writing is attracting so much well-deserved attention, Linda!
Omg, isn't that the truth. We are what we eat and that applies to brain food, too.
Congratulations on your success with writing positive posts! The world needs more of them :-)
Thanks, Marie. Seems to me we can always use a little more kindness, you know?
I love the positive comments here and, of course, your dedication to positivity and truth. Thank you for not adding to the grime. There's too much of it and I am sick of people profiting off of fear and lies.
Thanks, Dakota. You're right, there is too much of it. God, it's tiring. Can't do it.
Yeah, I prefer to stay away from hate posts. When I feel compelled to offer sharp criticism of someone, I try to also include something about how the reader can do something positive too so that it's not all about bashing the person I'm criticizing.
Though I've never had a 'I got my clients on Oprah three times' or even 'Mark Manson linked me' level of success, I have gotten helpful leads because someone responded to something I wrote (and one blog post I wrote blew up because a mainstream magazine linked it... at first I thought the statistics were broke too, lol).
Oh your last sentence made me laugh, Sara. Isn't it the truth? I was so sure the stats broke or that some robots found me or something. It's delightful when that happens, isn't it? I wish it happened more often.
It's easy to kick things, but a thoughtful story about what went wrong or a personal story comparing lived experience has value. The Will Smith debacle comes to mind. I read the stories that considered the bigger picture. I still think Chris Rock is a mean comic. There is a terrific biography on Flip Wilson that describes his long career to be a comic. It has value. As to the nudity stuff in Lewis Carroll, I wasn't ready to read it. I know that the boy who was nude in Agnes Varda's film refuses to have anything to do with her. Takeaway!! Pull your bath time pictures of your children out of the family albums. They are private!!!!
You are so right on the merits of a thoughtful story about what went wrong. And fyi, there is nothing horrifying in the Lewis Carroll story. There is nothing horrifying that happened except people being ridiculous. I actually quoted the people who started the rumors to show how crazy it was.
I didn't know that about the Agnes Varda film, but wow you reminded me of a story I want to write about another young boy so thank you!
Super. Children are so defenseless
There's such a broad spectrum of posts, it is hard to be certain what you mean by "Hate". Jessica Wildfire and Umair Haig are constantly predicting the end of the world and bemoaning its demise, yet they are entertaining. John Oliver on Last Week Tonight and John Stewart on The Problem with John Stewart tackle important social issues with a fair amount of Fuckery tossed in. The writing world is blowing up with the leak of the Supreme Court potential demise of Roe.
On one hand it is therapeutic. Get your worries down on paper is a tool for everything from Productivity and Time Management to Anxiety Management and assisting with Sleep Disorders. The brain does tend to release worries once they are written down.
On the other hand, it is community building. Find like minds and get them singing the same chorus and you can change the world. MLK never set out to change the world, he just happened to be in the right place and time and it was his ability with words and crowds that let him become the leader history shows he was.
On the third hand (and yes, this is likely an octopus), misery loves company. There are very few humans in this world who look at someone at the bottom of the luck scale and don't have some subtle "I'm glad that's not me" ringing in the back of their heads.
I know I promised 8 but I'll let your imagination take it from here!
I don't count Jessica and Umair among the "hate" posts. If you haven't run across the ones I'm talking about, you are fortunate, indeed. Late last year I had someone post a story accusing me of being anti-Semitic. Bizarre given that I lost ancestors in the holocaust. And the "so and so is an a-hole" posts are more frequent than they should be, and don't get shut down nearly fast enough. True indeed that misery loves company. So does hate, and it shows on some of those posts. Glad I am not the only one with 3 hands. lol
This is great ! Yeah, we NEVER know who may be affected by our actions.
I totally agree with all the click bait, hate and negative articles. Everywhere one looks people are hating on one another. This world is in big trouble. - the DIVISION :/ I feel like there’s a ‘French Revolution’ type thing happening. So many feel left behind, so many feel triggered, oppressed, and offended by almost everything. Everyone stays in their individual silos - fostered by the algorithms of social media. It’s very concerning, I try to stay in higher vibrational energy to stay above the fray but honestly, it’s hard not to get pulled down at times - especially with all the complaining and judgement calls.
Thanks for this, just keep being you, and I’ll keep reading. ;)
Thanks, Stephanie. When I feel myself getting sucked into that cesspool, I just go read a book. It usually makes me right again. lol. And thank you!
Hey there Linda! Congratulations on making that connection--so cool! Years ago I wrote a guest post that got accepted to Mike Dooley's site tut.com call "Mindset is the Magic When it Comes to Weight Loss and Health". Psychic Medium John Edward ended up reading it and invited me to be on his web series Evolve. It was a great experience and I was sure it was going to catapult my career into the stratosphere, but the show is only available to his paid subscribers, not his million or so regular subscribers lol. But it was a connection I never would have made if it wasn't for that article.
As for all the angry, hateful, doom and gloom crap--it's exhausting. I'd much rather be uplifted, moved, or inspired so I will keep reading your articles!
That's so awesome Gwen! Congrats! All it takes is the right set of eyes.
Thanks Kristi! Yes, who would have thought that could happen lol!
That's amazing, Gwen. We just never know, right? And thanks!
Right! And thank you Linda! 💜
First of all, congrats!!
Second, I couldn't agree more! I've actually been meaning to write about exactly this at some point. Forbes hired me to "inspect" and write about an insanely luxury resort in 2017. And it wasn't because I asked for the gig. THEY found and reached out to me through my personal travel blog. And that one event morphed into a long string of fabulous opportunities to follow.
And third, I can't stand all the bullshit hate stories on Medium. I can't believe the bitterness people put out there and then wonder why they can't get hired. There's even one writer who bitches about never getting hired. Well....hello!!??
First paragraph -- that is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. I'm a little jealous. You got to go to swanky resorts. I just got to write about hollywood celebrities. lol. Kidding. (kind of, lol) Couldn't happen to a nicer person, though. Honestly. God, I have had a few of those hunt me down. I don't get it. Life is too short for all that vitriol.
Incidentally, my mom used to say "Well....hello!!??" exactly like that. lol.
Hahaha your mom was definitely onto something 🤣
Sometimes you use the same phrases she did and it just delights me to no end. :)
Negative comments and hate speech have always sold well - at least in America. Positive thoughts and ideas build things and are far more profitable than hate in the long run. When I see or read something that gets me angry, I wait for some time before responding. People do not respond well to insults, and while I am waiting, I can clarify my thoughts to make a more reasoned response. I also try to keep in mind that my opinions can be just as wrong as those that upset me.
Right? What a world it would be if more of us had the patience to step back and think before responding. Too many people think an opinion is correct simply because it's theirs. lol