Feedback and Coments Are Essential

Writing online there is too often no feedback.
There is no editor to draw a red line through something and very few fans to compliment you. In most cases the person reading your thoughts can't comment because they are not a part of the network you have published on and the people who can sign in and comment are busy shooting their own work into the weberverse.

Blogging is sometimes different. There is more feedback, more interaction, more than just statistics about page views and maybe that is why the blogosphere has exploded in growth.

As is usually the case, I have not done much more that shoot work into the weberverse myself. I had to force myself to look past my own keyboard and give feedback to others.

Inviting strangers to be my friend is not a natural instinct for me. I will talk to the person in line at the grocery store but have been very shy about reaching out to the people publishing next to me in cyberspace.

Three people changed my approach to online writing when they welcomed me and commented on my content.
Mr. Bill and Dustin's Mom on RedGage.com and Lyn Lomasi on Associated Content deserve appreciation.
It is thanks to them that the light bulb went on in my head that there is feedback in cyberspace. Being selected as feature content on RedGage and AC has been great but having strangers congratulate me has been awesome.

Writing can be a solitary life. If I am talking I am not writing and when I write the universe fades away as I withdrawal into my pages. I have learned to be careful not to become trapped in the pages.

Just like you have to come up for air when you're swimming, writers have to come out and play with people and experience the universe beyond the page.

Making online friends, being a fan, and following other content producers and writers is essential to improving as a writer and a person. Feedback will urge you on and give you strength when inspiration becomes dull.

Taking the time to read other peoples work and make comments doesn't create a closed environment of writers cannibalizing writers; it feeds a creative community that grows stronger and better!