Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Compassion as antidote
Recently, two events spread through the writing online community like wildfires in Colorado. They have made me think long and hard, not just about the writing life, but life in general.
I haven't come up with anything coherent yet, but Nathan Bransford, ex-agent and current Middle-Grade novelist, wrote a really wise post this morning. I'd highly recommend a read.
(I am rather concerned about some of the comments that follow the post, which exhorts people to react with compassion, but seems to have excited more judgmental attitude, but that may be another story.)
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6 comments:
I liked Nathan's post, too.
I am really mystified with the human need to pull people off of pedestals. I talked with some students about this the other day. I mean, where is the line between giving your own opinion and bullying? I see kids do this all the time with pop culture icons. "I love Bieber! I love Bieber!" and the next week, it's all about the hate.
I have yet to come to an understanding.
Shelley
I agree, Yat-Yee. Nathan's post was wise and worthy, indeed.
I had read the original review and the author's flaming response. I guessed she'd never spent much time in critique, because the review had a lot of positive comments in it. But that is besides the point, I haven't commented there are anywhere else because I am disturbed by the mob mentality that followed.
People always forget the warning about throwing stones.
Thanks for pointing the way to this post. I've heard a bit of the uproar, but not the full story. Nathan presents a fair and balanced account.
Wow! Crazy! Thanks for posting about this. Nathan's post was spot-on.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. The world is rather crazy sometimes, ain't it? At least these incidents jolt us into looking at what we believe and think more seriously.
Thanks for the link to Nathan's post. That whole unfortunate incident just made me sad. For her, for the people piling on the insults. And the guy's review wasn't that awfull -- I've seen much worse!
It was a good reminder to think before you post. What you type in the privacy of your home stays out there for the world to see.
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