A couple of weeks ago, I received an odd email from a friend of a friend that said, “I don’t get it,” referring to my blog. I thought about it for a few minutes or probably a little bit longer then I needed to. My first thought was that it felt rude. Why would someone send an email like that? After further reflection, I just shrugged it off.
I mean after all, she wasn’t very specific, she didn’t leave this comment on my blog and she didn’t reference any specific blog that I wrote and in the end it just left me wanting to throw the comment right back to her, “I don’t get it.”
It reminded me of the first short story I ever wrote. I had only dabbled in poetry and song lyrics but I’d never thought about writing anything beyond that. Never even considered poems or music lyrics as real writing but one night I had a dream that was so colorful and felt so real, I had to write it down.
I gave it to a coworker and after she read it she said, “I don’t get it.” I couldn’t understand why she would say that, so I went into this long explanation on what the story meant. A co-worker who happened to be listening said that if she didn’t get it, then maybe it wasn’t her and that maybe it was the way I had written the story.
For days I thought about what he’d said. He could be right. I mean after all, it was my first time writing anything like that.
But over 10 years later after studying the craft of writing at Cerritos College and LMU and not to mention the many, many stories I’ve written since—a couple of contests where I was quarter or semi finalist, the articles I’ve had published or the ones where I actually won for my writing—what does this comment now mean to me?
Not a lot. Why? Because there have been books I’ve read from famous writers or movies I’ve seen from established screenwriters that have made no sense to me and where I’ve said those same words, “I don’t get it.”
A few years back, I used to wear ties as belts and I remember a couple of people looking at me and making comments about how it looked weird. Then a couple of years later, I saw the style on an actor. I wear my hair natural because I just don’t want to straighten my hair anymore plus I just like the way I look. I wear blue eyeliner and mascara because I like how it looks on me instead of black. I’ve always danced to my own rhythm. People don’t always get that.
Different opinions, views, attitudes and beliefs make the world go round. I’m not saying that everything I write will be good and that it will be for everyone. I do value other people’s opinion—certain editors and writers and even friends who are critiquing my work in order to help my writing grow. But we also know people who never compliment anyone’s work no matter how good it is and people who are just plain negative.
Either way, my blog is not that deep. It’s a diary of a woman who has dreams of becoming a successful writer and the daily struggles that go along in making that dream come into fruition.
Not everyone understands someone else’s journey. They may not understand why you want to be a writer or why you quit that job. And they may never understand why you decided to move to another part of the world or why after all those years you’re returning back to school. There will always be many naysayers you will meet on your journey but just make sure they don’t try to jump on the bandwagon when you become a success.
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