So, I had a new blog post all ready to go today, but decided I’d have my wife read it over first before launching. I don’t usually do this, mainly because we are both so busy. But this time, I had this gut feeling I should let someone else read the post before putting it out there, even though I liked it and thought it was ready.
Good thing I did have her read it! While she liked it, her impression was I was being a little insulting and could easily alienate some of my core fan base. That wasn’t my intention at all, but apparently the snark in me was a little too strong in that post.
This led me to write this instead. It’s a warning many on the internet have given before, but until today, it was one I thought I had avoided. That warning is: your “voice” can’t be heard when writing! Be careful how you say things!
So much gets lost in translation from brain to page, especially when writing off the cuff like in a blogpost. I am so used to rambling along in my podcast intros, with all the disclaimers, inflections and self-deprecating comments, that I forget that y’all can’t hear my inflections and obvious mocking tones when I’m writing. What would normally be considered just a joke, could easily be misinterpreted as an insult if not worded correctly. Yikes! I dodged a few bullets by having someone read my post before I hit the “Publish” button.
I can only imagine the comments I would have received.
Maybe later on I’ll publish the post as an example of what not to write. Kinda a learning lesson. I don’t know, I could risk being misunderstood even with a giant disclaimer at the beginning.
So, if any lesson can be taken from this post, it’s that if you feel at all hesitant to say something then don’t. Or at least have someone read it over (or listen, if it’s audio) before you put it out there for all the world to see. Once you do that, you can’t take it back (thank you archive.org).
Hope everyone is doing well on this fine and wintry day (wintry here in the Appalachians).
Cheers Y’all!
Jake Bible Fiction 