Reflections on Last Week’s Feedback
A big thank you to everyone who responded to last week’s post. If you didn’t, you can still leave a comment. I’m always appreciative of feedback, on any level. For those who did, I’ve reflected on your comments (both those posted and those which were said to me privately). What some felt I should blog about, whether it be restricted to writing and art or to include all aspects of my life and interests, differed from person to person; however, there were more important things I learned from this exercise than whether anyone would be interested in reading blogs about my love (since boyhood) for the Castlevania series–a major inspiration for me.
First, I learned that more people are reading my blog than I originally thought. What’s more, the people who are reading it are enjoying it on some level. So, from what I can gather, I haven’t been doing such a terrible job to begin with. That, at least, is encouraging. In fact, it’s inspired me to be more conscious of leaving comments on other helpful articles, blogs and the like in the future. After all, a silent readership makes one question whether they’re hitting the mark or coming off as a snore-inducing, windbag.
That said, whether each person explicitly said it or not, they did confirm my suspicions: I could be writing about more or perhaps more interesting topics. The common thread, from person to person, doesn’t seem to be so much the specific topics of my blog posts, but rather the content. More specifically, it seems people would rather read about how I painted a comic page or what inspired me to write a story, rather than how I’m feeling at the moment about my watercolour techniques.
So, I’ve decided to do just that. I’ve considered it for a long time, and last week’s feedback has helped me come to a decision. Of course, I’d still like to know if there’s anything specific my readers would like to read about (my writing process, how I prepare for a convention, or even why Castlevania is such an inspiration to me), but I am now aware there are better ways for my readership to get to know me as a writer and an artist rather than to engage in these self-gratifying cerebral exercises (such as I am again falling into in this very blog entry).
I can’t say I won’t ever write this way again (it seems a difficult habit to break), but I do mean to make an honest attempt at giving more interesting and helpful information. I’ll save my reflections for my journal.
Thank you, again, everyone. I’ll be back next week with something a bit more informative.