A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how I turned comments off on my blog back in November 2010 due to severe time constraints:
I didn’t know what impact it would have, but one of the surprising results was that now my blog thoughts sometimes dig deeper into things. The time I used have to waste wading through spam in the queue instead gets spent thinking and writing the post instead.
Since writing those words, I’ve been mulling things in my mind, and I’ve come to realize that there’s more to this than having more time to think now that I’m no longer babysitting a blog comments queue. (I do, however, still have comments flipped on in Facebook and a Contact Me page so people can talk to me direct when they need to.)
There’s the issue of a writer’s voice, or what I’ve nicknamed the “Aw, crap” factor–as in, “Aw, crap, if I write about that, I’ll have to deal with too many comments. I want to spend that time writing instead.”
So instead of writing the post that might stir things up, I’d write something bland that would have no risk of being interesting enough to trigger responses from people.
Writers who have the extra time to referee a comments section don’t have this “Aw, crap” problem. But it’s become clear to me that I do. And I suspect there are other writers out there as well who are subconsciously making their posts bland because they also have time crunch issues.
A few months after I turned off comments, I finally felt comfortable enough to do livelier blog posts, and my web traffic jumped. I also started writing things that would unexpectedly catch the eye of other, more established, bloggers. It’s too soon for me to tell what the permanent increase in web traffic will be since the spikes in traffic happened so recently. I’ve seen spikes as high as 10x the November traffic. Maybe 2x – 3x? I’m guessing at this point.
So if you’ve got a severe time squeeze, you might want to give flipping comments off on blog posts for a few months a try to see if the “Aw, crap” factor has been in play.
Also, the same “Aw, crap” factor can come into play if a writer posts fiction online with comments flipped on. I’m never going to post fiction with comments turned on, since I’ve already learned I’m too likely to self-censor myself to avoid comments.
I can easily imagine myself thinking, “Aw, crap, I don’t want to write that story idea because it will piss off too many people and I’ll have to deal with too many comments and fights between readers who either love it or hate it. I don’t have the time for that. Let me write something soothing instead.”
And so I’d end up writing something so boring it would put everyone to sleep. I’d stifle my voice as a writer for fear of having to deal with too many comments.
Hmm, I think this happens quite a bit to writers even outside the world of posting fiction online. It’s so much easier to write stories that are bland and soothing and make everyone go “Zzzzz…” so that one can tiptoe away before they wake up. Stories that are lively stir everyone up like bees so that they break into camps and start fighting about the story (some love it, some hate it).
Of course, some writers thrive on controversy and fistfights and instant feedback. Their writing gets better, instead of worse. So it’s important to experiment and see what works best since each writer is different.
Good luck testing all of this. May you find the path that suits you best.
