Guide for New Writers: Dealing with Trolls

Freelance writing is a great experience. With countless opportunities to express thoughts, opinions, and creativity through websites such as Yahoo! Contributor Network, there is, unfortunately, one hazard that can put a damper on the dopamine high that writers achieve by expressing themselves: trolls.

Internet trolls.

My Experience

I began writing for Yahoo! Contributor Network in January of 2011 after informally blogging for a few years before that. I enjoy writing a great deal, and my topic of choice happens to be sports--football, in particular. I work really hard to produce what I feel are articles that blend knowledge, opinion, and entertainment through humor. I don't post anything until I'm proud to have my name associated with it.

My personal blog was not exactly what you'd call widely circulated. Most of my readers were family and friends, and comments were rare but almost always positive. New comments excited me because I got quite a sense of satisfaction out of knowing that someone else enjoyed my handiwork.

As I have become more experienced and polished in my writing for Yahoo! Contributor Network--certainly still a work in progress--I have had an increasing number of my articles picked up by Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! News. What an eye-opening experience it has been having my work widespread in mainstream media. There are internet trolls everywhere, whose life missions seem to be to post the nastiest comments they can think of.

It was pretty demoralizing at first. I poured my heart and soul into my articles, and these trolls shredded them to bits in a matter of seconds. Most of them seemed to miss the point of my article altogether, or they'd blast me for passing thoughts that were not at all central to the theme of the article.

I really enjoy debating differing ideas and opinions, and I relish the opportunity to have a constructive conversation with someone who disagrees with me. But these trolls give me nothing to work with. It's pure venom.

I anguished over this, wondering how I could improve the clarity of my writing so that people would understand what I was trying to say. It didn't seem to matter what I wrote about. If my article reached any level of significant circulation, at least one troll would find it.

I've been called every name in the book. I've had every significant part of my personality, my anatomy, my writing skills, my intelligence, my sports fandom, my patriotism, and my sexuality crudely questioned. I've gotten unpleasant messages in my Y!CN in-box. I even had a woman telling people on Facebook that I support the mockery of mentally challenged children as a result of my sociological perspective on the Natalie Munroe incident.

So as new writers jump into the arena feet first, I offer three suggestions for dealing with internet trolls, based on my experience.

3) These people aren't attacking you personally.

This concept is a little difficult to explain. In my other job as a probation officer, I learned long ago that when probationers lash out at me, they're lashing out at the authority figure, not at me personally. It wouldn't matter who was behind that desk, they'd lash out at the probation officer. It had nothing to do at all with what makes me me. Training myself to recognize and accept that separation allowed these outbursts to roll off of me like water off a duck's back instead of internalizing the hateful words.

Try separating your on-line writer persona from your actual self. Maybe a professional pen name would help in that regard. Recognize that these trolls have nothing better to do with their time than to tear apart the efforts of others because they're not creative or talented or brave enough to do what you're doing. They're not attacking your character, since they don't have a clue who you are personally.

2) Remember that you're not alone.

Don't just take my word for it. Another Yahoo! contributor has had the same experience. You can read about it here. His article caught my attention because I was simultaneously weathering a troll storm over the same topic: my opinion that Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler quit during the NFC Championship Game.

Have you ever read anything on Yahoo! Sports by columnist Chris Chase? There are THOUSANDS of people out there who have nothing better to do than to demand Chris Chase's termination from Yahoo! Sports. It's crazy. Every single column he writes results in hundreds, if not thousands, of trolls proclaiming "Fire Chris Chase" in varying forms of vulgarity. It's so bad that when I wrote an article citing one of Chase's pieces, some troll posted on MY article to fire Chris Chase.

So when some troll lights up the Comments section of your article, remember that there are lots of us out there, too, experiencing the same thing. There is solace in numbers.

1) Ignore them.

In fact, beyond ignoring the trolls, I recommend not even reading the comments at the bottom of your articles. Don't even look. Ignorance is bliss. Trust me, there is absolutely nothing productive to be gained by looking at them.

Whatever you do, don't engage them or respond to them. It will only get exponentially worse. Learn from my mistakes.

A Troll-Free Zone

If you still find that the trolls are dragging you down at any point along your writing journey, a safe haven does exist: a Facebook group called Y!CN Peer Mentors. There are no trolls allowed there, and you can get lots of positive feedback, constructive criticism, and support there from other writers just like yourself. Heck, you can think of it as your favorite virtual neighborhood tavern--a place where everybody knows your name.

Cheers.