So here’s the story of the first time I shared my writing online.
The first time I shared my writing online, I was fifteen. It was a short story I had written that I felt pretty good about. I wasn’t a part of any writing communities yet, so I did an online search, picked a community that looked good to me, and then signed up and posted my story.
And then the drama began.
I proceeded to get the rudest comments I have ever received in my entire time of sharing my work online. I’ve posted tons of work online since then, but those comments to my first story were the worst. They were totally unwarranted and unnecessary, now that I look back on it.
One comment was like, “I hate reading stories like this. It’s so cliche.”
As an adult I want to be like, “You are not the person I wrote this story for.”
But as a 15 year old, receiving this kind of feedback was extremely hurtful. On top of that, not a single one of those comments contained constructive criticism or did anything to help make me better.
It was all like, “I hate this story, rarr, rarr, rarr…You wrote about high school cliques, rarr, rarr…”
Well then, what am I supposed to do with that? As an artist, I can always improve my skills, but I can’t force anyone to like my work.
The biggest complaint I received about this story is that I wrote about high school cliques. It’s so “cliche” and “boxing people in” but…I was a high schooler in public school. And I was writing from first hand experience and observation.
I remember logging back on and deleting the story from the site. Then I never posted any of my work online again until I was in my early twenties.
In my early twenties, I was ready to share my writing and determined not to take crap from anyone. Rude comments will be ignored and/or deleted, and I will focus on growing my skills and creating what I love. I stopped letting the fear hold me back. And here I am.
I just want to say that now, I don’t blame myself for the rude comments I received. I realize that those reactions were completely out of line and only served to tear me down emotionally instead of pushing me towards growth and improvement.
But besides learning some valuable lessons about mindset, I also learned some important things about sharing my work online that all introverted and sensitive writers need to keep in mind.
Share your work where it will be supported
Before I share my work somewhere online, I ask myself, “Is this a place where what I have to share will be supported?”
For example, when I first started working on my webcomic, I posted it to Deviant Art. I knew that it was a community that would not only accept my beginner level comic-making skills, but also support my growth and improvement.
With this blog, I love making social media posts to Pinterest. Pinterest is a great place to share blog posts and to support other bloggers. Most bloggers who post to Pinterest feel deeply supported, and I feel the same.
Even with my current fanfiction project, I didn’t randomly decide to post it to Tumblr and to Archive of Our Own. I knew that both of these communities are very open to accepting what I am creating.
So before posting, ask yourself, “Will the type of work that I create and my current skill level be supported on this platform or in this community?”
Get to know the culture of a new community or service before posting
Like almost everyone during the pandemic, I signed up for TikTok, and I immediately fell in love with it.
I watched tons of videos and followed a lot of accounts that I enjoyed. After watching so many videos, I started picking up on how to put together a decent TikTok video, and I made a few videos myself that performed pretty well.
Unfortunately, I had to abandon using TikTok because my phone can no longer run the app. Nowadays, that may actually be a good thing because TikTok is on the road to being banned here in the US.
But the point of all of this is that by familiarizing myself with the style and culture of that online space, it was much easier for me to create and share work that resonated with others.
Getting to know the culture of an online platform goes beyond knowing what kinds of things people like to post there. It’s also important to take a look at how people tend to engage and comment and what policies the platform has in place for handling rude people.
When looking to see if an online platform will be supportive of your work, consider the skill level of what you are trying to put out there. If you’re a beginner, is the community you’re trying to join supportive of that? If you’re more experienced, will that space accept and appreciate your higher skill level?
Then of course, take time to consider…
What is the comment moderation policy of this service or community?
Are there effective tools for blocking and silencing rude people?
Share to services and communities where you enjoy hanging out
I believe that for introverted writers who often struggle to share their work in the first place, this needs to be a high priority.
If you don’t enjoy hanging out on a specific social media site, it will be extremely hard for you to post there in a way to get your work seen. The reason why is simple. Each social media site and community platform has its own culture, and if you’re not familiar and deeply involved with that, it can be harder to reach people.
Recently I joined Instagram because a lot of my friends seem to enjoy it, and I’ve heard people rave about how great it is for connecting their products and offers with people as a business. So I decided to give it a try and…
For me, Instagram is really boring. No matter what I do, it’s boring to me. Because I couldn’t get into the vibes of Instagram and get a feeling for the interactions there, I found posting to be difficult and not fun.
Instagram is simply a place where I have no interest in hanging out. I thought I would be interested in it, but I was wrong. In fact, today I just uninstalled Instagram from my phone.
On the other hand, my experience with Pinterest is totally different because I hang out there all the time. I love being there so I enjoy posting there.
Even if it’s a space where you lurk around all the time, as you are taking in content, you’re gaining knowledge of what works or doesn’t work on that platform. If it’s a place that will support your work, try posting to it and see how it feels.
As an introverted writer I always focus on sharing my work where it will best reach its intended audience. Focusing on where I will get the most support is essential for making that happen.
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Free Resources
So…What’s Your Story? A Guide to Creating Powerful Personal Essays as an INFP Writer