I am not a professional writer. I have never claimed to be nor intend to be, but I think one of my goals for this blog is to become a better writer. Communication with ourselves and our fellow human beings is a critical part of everyday life.
Recently, one of my articles that was on Digg got a comment, lets say I have a critic.
Here was my thought process on this comment by noamsml:
- Anger
- Sadness
- Happiness
I was a little upset when I first read this comment. Illiterate? Is my writing that terrible? Is my writing so bad that people think I cannot read. Are my thoughts so crazy that they are ridiculous? I was angered and wanted to bury the comment, but I did not. Common sense grabbed a hold of me again. That’s his opinion and as my girlfriend said, “You can’t please everyone“, a truly profound statement at the time.
Next, I go through a phase of sadness, everything I write is junk, complete junk. Why do I even bother? I do enjoy writing, but if I’m not a good writer why should I even try? This stage didn’t last too long, because I think I finally got it. Criticism is how people become writers, better communicators, and well better at anything. People should have varying opinions and I can use this as an opportunity for growth; enter happy stage. So I went back and re-read my article Here comes Linux, Thanks Vista! to critique myself.
After re-reading my article I think there were a couple of things I could have done better. A lot of my thoughts were jumbled together and could have been explained more thoroughly. One sentence should have one idea and one idea alone, except those leading to another sentence. I didn’t like my use of the word “damn” and should have used something more descriptive and fitting to the post.
Things to Improve:
- Keep focused on topic
- Finish current thought than move on
- No profanity, unless absolutely necessary
Overall, I didn’t think it was a terrible article, but it did have room to improve. There’s nothing wrong with that; I don’t think so anyway. I will use this as a way to improve my writing and become a better person overall!
I like the use of the image and the use of quotes. I like articles with quotes from various people. Also, links to material that is related is something I would like to continue. So, I feel the article wasn’t complete crap, but I could have done some things differently.
Things that I liked:
- Use of images to illustrate point
- Use of quotes and blockquotes to set apart
- Outgoing links to related material
Writing “blogs” or articles or anything like this on the Internet is quite the personal thing to do. To put yourself “out there” for everyone to see and critique. I understand that you can’t make everyone happy; that is not my intention. I hope people reading this or anything I wrote understand that I am just a normal person writing about things that I enjoy in life. I have no alternative motives than to enjoy all things technical and not so technical; also to state my opinions on the things that I enjoy.
:-p
Thanks for the comment Noamsml.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Crazykinux // Aug 13, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Don’t worry about idiots like these. At the very least he should have explained why he meant what he wrote. Critique is usually a good thing as it improves what you’re doing. Comments like his have no value whatsoever.
Good luck with the addiction!
:p
2 danzaimar // Aug 13, 2007 at 11:18 pm
U have your own way, your own thoughts, and style..
ignore anybody..
just stay whatever you’re doing k??
best of luck!!!
3 Corey // Aug 14, 2007 at 7:51 am
Aww, I got mentioned! You have to come here to talk about tech stuff because I space out when you start talking geek.
4 Carl Lingen // Aug 14, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Even though it is always important to contantly improve, isnt the basic idea of blogging is to have a conversation? Do we ever speak correct grammer and English? Reading your blogs helps keep it personal and not like reading an owners manual.
[please note that this comment may be improved if sent through several copy editors but who cares]
Thanks for the post and a great topic.
5 Renee // Aug 15, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Hey,
I agree that critique helps you to improve - even though Noamsml could have been a bit more constructive!
I quite like your style of writing… and having only recently started to write in English (other than uni work) I appreciate how quickly you learn if you look back at your posts (and not just before posting them). Keep up the good work!
6 Anna // Aug 16, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Hi Brent;
I wouldn’t worry too much. You actually write quite well. I’ve struggled alot with my own writing so I know where you are coming from. Keep it up!
PS: Carl has a good point! ‘Copy Editors’, lol too funny.
Take care;
Anna
7 brent // Aug 17, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Thanks for all the comments, makes me want to continue to write! Thanks for the support
8 Zmoney // Aug 17, 2007 at 11:14 pm
rofl
critics still end up giving you hits so a critic is your biggest fan xD Nice post I think I learned something from it lol
9 Bobby Revell // Aug 18, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I give people criticism all the time, but it’s always positive criticism. If someone says your blog sucks and you are stupid, that is not criticism. I have been cursed out a few times on comments but I just filter them as spam. Currently I have disallowed over 100 comments because of cursing or extreme rudeness. I like the direction of your blog, making a tech blog with a personal blog edge. I believe this will be more important soon as a lot of top blogs have no personal side. This makes the tech blogs much more accessible to a wider audience.
10 brent // Aug 19, 2007 at 10:04 am
Personal is what this is all about. It is so unique. I enjoy it immensely
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