Thursday, August 18, 2011

Tightening It Up

I received an anonymous comment this week from a person who told me I write well. However, he/she went on to say that I needed an editor because I rambled too much and strayed too often from my point. He suggested I should tighten up my writing style to avoid loosing the interest of my readers.

To this anonymous critic, I have only two words: You're right.


In a 5 second sound bite world, I am an anachronism. I love words and I love to use them. My whole purpose in blogging is to help married guys who are struggling with their sexuality come to terms with that sexuality and integrate it into their lives in such a way that they can meet the demands of their sexuality while living a relatively normal, happy and successful life.

Tightening Up the Cinch
I know how often the turn of a phrase or some minute detail or even an out of the way bit of trivia has had a powerful impact on my life. Thus, I tend to want to leave no stone unturned when I write.

The problem is none of that makes the critic wrong in his stated suggestions. One can't reach people if one doesn't do it within the attention span people are willing to allocate to reading.

So with the critic's suggestions in mind, I'll try to tighten things up.

Thanks to all of you who bear with me and a special thanks to those of you who take the time to comment. I love honest feedback, even critical feedback. I'm not too enthused about anonymous feedback simply because I love to interact with people and I can't interact with anonymous people. I hope many of you will consider comments with an email address attached.

Nevertheless, thanks anonymous for your critique. I'll try to do better, and I hope to hear from you again.

Jack Scott

6 comments:

  1. Jack, don't change a thing! What you've written has helped, provided real insight, into what I am going through. I don't think you need to tighten any thing up, say it all. I with you, words are important, and only you know how to get your point across.
    Jay

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  2. Jack, occasionally its fine to post a shorter post. For those of us who grew up in the digital age with short attention spans, it's helpful.

    On the other hand, if you have something to bear your soul about, don't hold back.

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  3. Jack, thank you so much for making this site available. How fortunate to have a place to share concerns, ask questions and gain knowledge about a part of each man's life which is integral to how we interact on our planet. I look forward to coming to this site as often as time permits. It is a great place and I hope to make knew friends both on-line and in the area where I live.

    All the best - marc
    Austin, TX

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  4. Jack, don't you dare change your style of writing. Your style makes you the unique person you are. If someone wants sound bites they should try another venue. I enjoy your style immensely. I see a perfect balance of words and thoughts when I read your writings. Keep up the good work for me and your other readers. Johnny

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    Replies
    1. Johnny, thanks so much for your comment. It is encouraging to me and means a lot.

      Strangely, we both came to the same conclusion. I struggled with the issue for several weeks before deciding that the world does not need more sound bite artists. Instead they need writers who make them think independently on their own.

      So my writing style will remain what it is.

      Jack Scott

      Delete

I deeply regret that I must reinstate the verification process for those who want to leave comments on my blog. This is due to the intolerable amount of spam that spammers are attempting to leave on the blog.

At the same time I am changing settings so that those of you who have a Google Blogger ID or other recognized blogger ID will not have to have your comments moderated. My hope is this will encourage more readers to take the time to comment. The fact is I want to read comments with those of you who disagree with me as well as those of you who agree with me. All I ask is that you keep your comments clean and non-threatening.

The only reason I take the time to write this blog is to spur your thoughts and comments. Please do not let the spammers cause you not to comment. I know entering the verification words and numbers is a pain in the ass, but I hope you will not let the spammers cause you not to comment.

I still very much look forward to hearing from you.

Jack Scott

Anyone can comment on what I write in this blog. Regretfully, the recent amount of spam in my email account as required that I reinstate the word verification process for comments which I personally hate.

But at the same time I have loosened the comment moderation process so that those of you who have a Google Blogger ID or other recognized blogger ID will no longer need to wait for your comment to be moderated. I'm hoping this will tempt you to take the trouble to comment.

The truth is I want respectful comments both from those who agree with me and those who do not. All I as is that you keep comments to the point, clean and non-threatenting.

I look forward to hearing from each of you.

Jack Scott