If there had not been a web, I would probably never have been a writer. I can’t imagine what it would be like not to have the kind of dialogue I have with the people who read my stories and my essays.
Of course, the interaction does get addictive. And I have been accused of being the literary equivalent of an exhibitionist from time to time. It’s a fair criticism – I probably am. From time to time, though, I get these wonderful comments on a story, where people have read it and then either revisited an experience in their own past and reflected on it differently, or tell me how they wish the story had ended in another way. Sometimes people see parallels to their lives in certain aspects of my stories and then I feel that amazing envelopment of being allowed into a reader’s mind. It’s wonderful. I doubt I would write without it.
Then, sometimes, I get readers whom I’ve disappointed. And they let me know that something I have written has disturbed them, or jars with their experiences. Sometimes it’s just that they believe I’ve gotten something wrong. And sometimes I have.
After reading my story Pleasure’s Apprentice, Korhomme gave me some crits on twitter. One I took to heart, feeling it was very important to incorporate the change into the story, and the other I decided to ignore because I disagreed. He has written a post on it at his new blog “The Empirical Reader“. I told him I thought he was what Umberto Eco described, in his essay “The Author and his Interpreters“, as an ’empirical reader’ because facts were very important to him, and when he found something that he felt was untrue, it really spoiled the story for him. I didn’t mean it as an insult. I tried to explain that some readers were simply much more likely to suspend disbelief than others. Most writers, from time to time, make factual or grammatical errors. Some people find that unbearable, and some people find it easy to overlook because they are engrossed in the story.
Nonetheless, I gather I hurt his feelings. It wasn’t purposeful on my part. I do appreciate criticism from my readers, both negative and positive. That doesn’t mean I will necessarily take it to heart and change the story. People have a right to their opinions but, when I disagree with them, I am the writer of my stories – my name is on them and I take responsibility for them. And so I feel justified in saying that I disagree and giving my reasons why.
Similarly, I have had people criticize me for using words they are unfamiliar with. This has happened more than once. Surveying other writers who aim for the literary side of their genre, I don’t think I use a particularly large vocabulary, but I’ll own that it may be a little more extensive than other writers within my genre. However, this is something I won’t give on. I don’t use my vocabulary to make anyone feel small. I use the words because I think they are the best ones for the job. Similarly, I often run across words I don’t know or phrases or usage I’m not familiar with, and I have am proud to admit that I have the OED in my browser’s quick links bar. I love learning new words. Every time I am challenged to look something up, it feels like a gift to me. We have this gorgeous, rich, constantly changing language – who can know it all?
But if you are someone who feels like the need to look up a word is a personal slight, a mind game, or me trying to make you feel small, you might want to give my writing a miss.
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