I Promise...

... we've all had this happen: you upload a post on your blog, then go about the business of writing and waiting, working and waiting, eating and waiting.

Two hours pass and there's no visitors. Not a single comment. Maybe you wait two more hours, check after lunch, dinner, before bedtime, first thing the next morning, but ...

Nada.


So what do you make of that?

You sent it out on all the wires, right? Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads ....

Receiving no comments is not personal. They aren't ignoring you. They're caught up in life's dramas, just as you are. They may have even read your post, loved it, but (for reasons that probably have nothing to do with you) didn't have time to comment.

Writers care. That's why you're on their Twitter, Gather, Facebook, or Farcebook, as Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar likes to call it. That's why you're on the wedding list, maybe even in the wedding party. It's why you're invited to dinners, baby showers, barn risings, to the neigbour's to see the slide presentation of their trip to Roswell, to your brother's-in-law colonoscopy party, or any number of other events you sometimes wish you weren't invited to.

Nobody thinks they're the only one who can't respond at that precise moment. They're expecting that if you don't see a comment from them, you won't notice because you'll be swamped with comments from all your other blogroll buddies. How many times have you thought that same thing yourself?

There are always reasons for a lack of response. You're new. You have no one on your blogroll. Your timing is bad. Something momentous is happening at work, or on the news. Your blog post was swallowed up by the bigger picture. Or they planned on sending you an email and forgot.

Again, trust me, it's never personal.

For whatever reasons your post didn't receive a comment or at best only received a few, it doesn't matter. It shouldn't stop you from ever posting again. Simply lift yourself up, brush yourself off, and next time someone on your blogroll broadcasts a post, take a moment and check it out. Even a simple and sincere: "That was interesting, thanks" goes a long way.

Besides, it'll say volumes about you, the blogger.

If you ask our Ninja Captain how he does it, receives hundreds of comments every post, I bet he'd say it's because he takes the time to reciprocate. It's all about fellowship. In other words, it's that wonderful old saying, "Do unto others..." my blogging friend.

I promise.

 ~ ~ ~

Now for an all-important message:

The first Wednesday of the month is coming up and that means our official IWSG Day, Insecure Writer's Support Group is upon us. IWSG is a group dedicated to supporting and encouraging all writers of all genre. If you'd like to learn more, if you're tired of crying in your soup alone, click here. 

If, like me, you live a solitary and sometimes insecure writer's life, you'll meet some terrific like-minded writers. It's definitely made a difference in my life.

~ ~ ~

Joylene Nowell Butler lives in Cluculz Lake, BC with her husband and three cats, Garagee, Marbles, and Shasta. She is the author of mystery thriller Dead Witness and winner of the IPPY awards 2012 for her psychological thriller Broken But Not Dead.  You can learn more about Joylene at her blog.