A Response to a Previous Post

I am so excited! I got my first viscerally negative response to my writing!

I knew this day would come. Actually, there is a little part of me that's surprised it didn't come sooner.

The real surprise?

I feel good. Rather than this being a devastating experience, it's actually exciting! I'm being dead serious here. It means someone not only took the time to read my writing - they took the time to tell me what an awful person I am for it. This means that I once, however fleeting, harnessed the power of the written word.

Quick recap: My last posting was about my ambitions to have my writing reach the vaunted status of being Published. To flesh out my post, I put someone in the crosshairs of my mockery. I didn't reference them by gender or name, only a Facebook posting that they themselves created regarding their writing ambitions. A most important clarification to be made here: I did not mock the ambition. I mocked the pretention.

Never one to assume anyone reads anything that I write, I was surprised to see a comment left on the blog post, awaiting my moderation. It reads:

"I find it disconcerting that you're okay with tearing down another person simply because her ambition is in the same vein as yours. Even more so that you'd post it in such a manner so easily decoded - it's not hard to understand exactly about whom you are writing. Do you think that any of this tearing down of others may have contributed to the "story of isolation?" - anonymous

I am actually being sincere when I thank Anonymous for her comment. It takes great strength to stand up in the world and say, "Hey, I think you're wrong here."

Sometimes I write in a very complex manner. One pass at my written thoughts might leave a reader thinking I'm saying one thing, while the second pass (if taken) might reveal a completely different...shit, I can't think of the right word. It's late, and, after all, I am responding to a less-than-positive critique. Why strain the brain.

I'm going to make life easy on myself and go step-by-step:

"I find it disconcerting that you're okay with tearing down another person simply because her ambition is in the same vein as yours."

Crap. My writing failed here because I was not tearing down Would-be Writer's ambition. I was tearing down the pompous attitude and the complete oblivion about how hard it is to actually write well. I was tearing down everyone who ever calls themselves A Writer before they've earned the right to do so. And no, Anonymous, I do not consider myself as a writer. I am merely one who writes.

"Even more so that you'd post it in such a manner so easily decoded - it's not hard to understand exactly about whom you are writing."

My source came from The Writer's own Facebook update. Facebook is a voluntary and public forum. People who post stupid comments have no guarantee that their postings are not made fun of. It's the nature of the beast.

"Do you think that any of this tearing down of others may have contributed to the "story of isolation?" - anonymous

Good burn, Anonymous. : ) Hmm. Upon deep reflection, my answer to that would have to be "No".

PS-Thanks for reading.