no apologies about the background noise when you do the audio! you can hardly tell plus its a pandemic so perfection is the enemy of the good producing content these days
I think you're doing wonderfully and the more I progress - I think I can see your writing style improving and becoming easier to follow and visualize. I hope you'll push forward and see this through!
I've really enjoyed all you've had to post so far. I'm actually pretty impressed with how much detail you're able to recall especially in terms of your emotions and thoughts at the time (I have a terrible autobiographical memory - so I'm always jealous of people that can do this well). I do think writing about childhood presents a lot of challenges b/c so much of this (and you've mentioned this before) is just achronological snapshots of moments that just stick out for one reason or another. And it can be hard to figure out why they stick out and to tie them back to the present. I guess my point is that writing about earlier childhood memories would present a lot of challenges to anyone. It's inherently messy and I think you do a good job of tackling it.
I don't have much in the way of criticism. I enjoy your writing style and I think it does reflect a lot of your character. Who knows how much of that would be lost if you used a ghost writer? Maybe the writing would be slightly more engaging but some of your voice would be lost, so the tradeoff isn't clearly a net benefit. I will say that what you have written so far seems to fit the blog format you're using now. I'm not sure it would translate well into an actual book for whatever reason. Either way - I've enjoyed reading and am looking forward to future posts :)
The most important comment is that it's awesome that you posted your process of dealing with the hard feedback and how you got your optimism and tenacity back!
I replied one comment in a reply email that probably goes into an abyss. I was cracking up at the word sharding, which maybe is the same thing as sharting? so I googled it. It's a hip version of sharting or a DB partition.
I am so enjoying this! I am a person that likes more details and a lot of this resonate with me on many different levels, AZ native, love the rez, shopping trips to Winslow (probably like Gallup), parenting a clever, adventurous and untypical daughter in the 90s. I get why she enjoys your friendship so much.
The only negative comment I can offer you is that you don't write enough. Seriously, I binge read all you have written in an afternoon. You have a wonderful mind and an exciting life so the only bottleneck here for a great story is your work ethic. You, sadly, you don't have other excuses for not producing value than your own work ethic :)
You have been doing a great work. As others have said the first class seat into your mind that you've given us by your rawness is a fantastic experience for a reader. You need to continue cultivating that awesome virtue of sincerity, more and more as you get a bigger audience.
I don't think you should focus too much on a "Narrative" or some coherent plot. If you are true to yourself it will magically appear by itself. Although it wouldn't hurt you to have more rythim if you want to make the reading experience more catchy and pleasurable, for that I recommend listening for music. The mystery of every art is that it somehow represents human experience and music does that in the most primitive way. The ups and downs, the happiness and the sadness, how long to crawl or dance in them, that's what music can teach you.
Ill love what you are doing what you are so i just want to finally let you know that this stories are very inspiring for people like me who don't feel they fit in the place they are at, and that your has really offered me good company.
I am based in Beirut (Lebanon), not in VC or tech, and follow you on Twitter. I do not identify with your story given but I read every post of yours as it has authenticity and rawness that cannot be found in any written material that has gone through stages of filtering. I also suspect I will learn a lot from your story and it will enrich me. Keep them coming !
I love the early childhood stories. They help me understand where you came from. I have known you a long time, and never would have guessed you came from this place. Sometimes you explain your thoughts at the time, other times you don't. I think it helps to explain what you were thinking, and how these events would impact you later in life.
It is OK to say as a child I thought this was normal, but later I came to realize it wasn't. Or, after describing an event in your childhood, to say how that memory shaped your emotions or reactions in the future. You aren't giving away the future story by saying in the moment how those experiences shaped your thinking in the future. Your life is shaped by what you SEE. Significant Emotional Events (SEE) are the fabric of our personality, and everyone has a different set of SEEs.
I have used the example of when I got eye glasses for the first time at 13 years old. Up to that point everything seemed normal, and I thought everyone was seeing the same things I did. It was only when I tried on a friends glasses that I discovered I wasn't seeing clearly. That is true of many things we experience early in life...it all seems normal because yu don't know anything different.
Please keep writing. Your stories are thought provoking, and make us think about similar situations we might have experienced...and how they impacted our life. Great job!
no apologies about the background noise when you do the audio! you can hardly tell plus its a pandemic so perfection is the enemy of the good producing content these days
I think you're doing wonderfully and the more I progress - I think I can see your writing style improving and becoming easier to follow and visualize. I hope you'll push forward and see this through!
I've really enjoyed all you've had to post so far. I'm actually pretty impressed with how much detail you're able to recall especially in terms of your emotions and thoughts at the time (I have a terrible autobiographical memory - so I'm always jealous of people that can do this well). I do think writing about childhood presents a lot of challenges b/c so much of this (and you've mentioned this before) is just achronological snapshots of moments that just stick out for one reason or another. And it can be hard to figure out why they stick out and to tie them back to the present. I guess my point is that writing about earlier childhood memories would present a lot of challenges to anyone. It's inherently messy and I think you do a good job of tackling it.
I don't have much in the way of criticism. I enjoy your writing style and I think it does reflect a lot of your character. Who knows how much of that would be lost if you used a ghost writer? Maybe the writing would be slightly more engaging but some of your voice would be lost, so the tradeoff isn't clearly a net benefit. I will say that what you have written so far seems to fit the blog format you're using now. I'm not sure it would translate well into an actual book for whatever reason. Either way - I've enjoyed reading and am looking forward to future posts :)
The most important comment is that it's awesome that you posted your process of dealing with the hard feedback and how you got your optimism and tenacity back!
I replied one comment in a reply email that probably goes into an abyss. I was cracking up at the word sharding, which maybe is the same thing as sharting? so I googled it. It's a hip version of sharting or a DB partition.
I am so enjoying this! I am a person that likes more details and a lot of this resonate with me on many different levels, AZ native, love the rez, shopping trips to Winslow (probably like Gallup), parenting a clever, adventurous and untypical daughter in the 90s. I get why she enjoys your friendship so much.
The only negative comment I can offer you is that you don't write enough. Seriously, I binge read all you have written in an afternoon. You have a wonderful mind and an exciting life so the only bottleneck here for a great story is your work ethic. You, sadly, you don't have other excuses for not producing value than your own work ethic :)
You have been doing a great work. As others have said the first class seat into your mind that you've given us by your rawness is a fantastic experience for a reader. You need to continue cultivating that awesome virtue of sincerity, more and more as you get a bigger audience.
I don't think you should focus too much on a "Narrative" or some coherent plot. If you are true to yourself it will magically appear by itself. Although it wouldn't hurt you to have more rythim if you want to make the reading experience more catchy and pleasurable, for that I recommend listening for music. The mystery of every art is that it somehow represents human experience and music does that in the most primitive way. The ups and downs, the happiness and the sadness, how long to crawl or dance in them, that's what music can teach you.
Ill love what you are doing what you are so i just want to finally let you know that this stories are very inspiring for people like me who don't feel they fit in the place they are at, and that your has really offered me good company.
Keep at it!
I am based in Beirut (Lebanon), not in VC or tech, and follow you on Twitter. I do not identify with your story given but I read every post of yours as it has authenticity and rawness that cannot be found in any written material that has gone through stages of filtering. I also suspect I will learn a lot from your story and it will enrich me. Keep them coming !
I enjoy reading your stories because you don't come off as a victim and this also makes these stories less mass marketable.
These Stories are Raw and Original. Everyone has their story. Don't change a Damn thing!!!
I love the early childhood stories. They help me understand where you came from. I have known you a long time, and never would have guessed you came from this place. Sometimes you explain your thoughts at the time, other times you don't. I think it helps to explain what you were thinking, and how these events would impact you later in life.
It is OK to say as a child I thought this was normal, but later I came to realize it wasn't. Or, after describing an event in your childhood, to say how that memory shaped your emotions or reactions in the future. You aren't giving away the future story by saying in the moment how those experiences shaped your thinking in the future. Your life is shaped by what you SEE. Significant Emotional Events (SEE) are the fabric of our personality, and everyone has a different set of SEEs.
I have used the example of when I got eye glasses for the first time at 13 years old. Up to that point everything seemed normal, and I thought everyone was seeing the same things I did. It was only when I tried on a friends glasses that I discovered I wasn't seeing clearly. That is true of many things we experience early in life...it all seems normal because yu don't know anything different.
Please keep writing. Your stories are thought provoking, and make us think about similar situations we might have experienced...and how they impacted our life. Great job!
These are stories that shaped your thinking and who you are today.
This is a more personal and human glimpse into how you became Cyan early on before wading out into the deeper waters of life.
It's hard to not take dismissive criticism personally when it's such a personal account of your past.