On Engagement, Briefly
Plus: The results of the reader poll
Before we get started on this week’s rambling, lemme thank y’all who took the time to click on the second reader poll. Thank you! It helps to know the microphone is on.
Second, let’s briefly go over the results …
Results of Poll #2
Question 1: How many emails do you want from me each week?
About half of you said 3, the other half said as many as I want, and there was one person who said 1. So, I apologize to the lone oner. Please don’t drop me; I would have for real scaled it back if that’s where the numbers went.
Question 2: What times are best?
Half said it doesn’t matter. A quarter said in the morning on the weekends; a quarter said in the morning on weekdays. Sooo imma stick with Wednesdays for fiction and try to move the talky pieces to the weekend to accommodate both groups.
Question 3: Should I put fiction in web posts only? (meaning no emailed fiction)
Half said it doesn’t matter, a quarter yes, and a quarter no. So, hmm. I guess I will keep with it as is, maybe posting a few more on the site without emails and see how it goes.
Again, thank you for taking the time to give me your feedback. You can always leave me a comment here, on Ello, on Vero, or email me.
Okay, so on to today’s subject …
On Engagement
So one of the things that’s been said about me (and to me) that my ego finds very flattering is that I can be very engaging. Sounds great, right? Made me feel like I was ‘doing it right’ and all that. But let’s have a closer look …
Engagement converts to friends
Which is nice—very nice, actually, and perhaps more important than any of this writerly nonsense we spend so much time agonizing over. But friends—for whatever reason and some present company excluded—don’t typically buy (or read) your work. Or my work. The work. So, there’s that.
Then there’s …
Engagement converts to argument
Which is horrible—just fucking terrible, really, and is a waste of already precious psychological resources. I spent maybe, oh I dunno … five years arguing with people on the Internet. That was unwise, and I (hope I) learned my lesson: Don’t feed the trolls. Don’t engage. Just block and release.
And lastly we have …
Engagement fails to convert to anything and you’re banging your head against an imaginary wall
Which is, perhaps, the most common outcome. For me, anyway. So far.
The most ‘engaged’ people tend to disappear, presumably to become engaged with something or someone else. Which, I mean, is fine. Honestly. But it still leaves you with the issue of impermanence and how to deal with that, which is a bigger issue than most artists are prepared to take on, and can be a colossal bummer on any given Tuesday.
So, that’s it for this week—which is actually a straggler from last week. Sorry about that. What is time? I don’t know anymore.
Hope you’re doin’ well out there, muh babes.
Xoxo,
T
