‘I’ll have some more crits, please.’
Every budding writer knows the excitement resident at the ‘publish’ button. One click and there I will be: a fervent pilgrim to the views page, hoping that you, my reader found in my words something worth more than a minute of your attention.
Everybody has something to sell us lately, but you are under no obligation to ‘support’ anyone’s ‘hustle’ where there is a gaping cave for improvement, if not a begging chance to call it quits.
If it were agreed that the number glances at one’s work is the yardstick for an engaging writer, I would rest a satisfied man. I do not. It is all too tempting to bask in warm, mellow compliments after a piece ‘well-done’ when there is a sea of opportunity to evolve — unfamiliar, bristling and raw. True to nature, I always choose the path of least resistance: Post. Rally the faithful to read. Sit back and await the ‘feedback’ (almost always compliments). Blush in faux-modesty. Disappear for another couple of months and write again as and when the muse captures my fancy.
Not anymore. I will no longer settle for the platitudes. “Good stuff!” “I feel inspired to write more often by your work!” “You should blog more!” That simply will not do. What I am asking for might shred my confidence and self-esteem but whenever I put a piece out, it is surely not too much to ask that you point out where I fall short?
For all I know, each paragraph might well be a constellation of bland words roaming the screen in vain search of meaning. The vocabulary, the analogies, the wordplay…all of this is a veneer, a smokescreen covering a glaring ‘I don’t know what on earth I am doing.’ To nod and acquiesce at everything I send your way will not do. May it please your honor, I beg to be challenged.
Everybody has something to sell us lately, but you are under no obligation to ‘support’ anyone’s ‘hustle’ where there is a gaping cave for improvement, if not a begging chance to call it quits. That there are many trolls and downers on the internet is no reason for letting positive criticism wither in an age where creating authentic content is Excalibur.
Mediocrity breeds because everyone has a pair until it comes to calling bullsh*t when we see it. Everyone may be trying to fill their plate, but what worth is the meal if the bread is stale? With more people alive that are armed with twenty-four hours to churn out dubious content, the fight to keep good taste and quality on the menu is a matter of ‘speak or starve’. Consider this my first serve.
Waiter, more crits, please.
