A few quick notes on writing for a paper

A few quick notes on writing for a paper [blogging and writing a column]:

  • For the most part, I stopped reading the comments a long time ago. It’s way better for my health. I’m not looking to debate with people looking to debate. I’ll only look if the subject of a post of column is relatively banal.
  • If I am writing a thing, I am saying something I’ve thought a good deal about. I’m open to feedback, absolutely, but not in comment form.
  • People criticize my grammar all the time, and they’re usually right because I don’t know what I am doing and bloggers have no editors (columnists do, which is why my columns are way better than my blog posts). But joke’s on them and me because blogging is dead and I am doing it anyway and they are arm-chair editing an extinct medium.
  • My life is tonally discordant and that shows in my total body of work. Some days I am acerbic and others I am thoughtful and sensitive. I don’t know how to balance those things and so some pieces are weighted one way more than the other. This is something I’d love to resolve.
  • I am not brave for speaking any truths. I fully occupy a gigantic pool of privilege. Sometimes people go over the line in how they respond, absolutely, but I personally have little on the line. My loved ones, usually, are the ones who have to answer for my opinions and insights.
  • Back to the bravery thing, no one ever threatens to rape me, which happens with frequency to women who express themselves across media.
  • This is a weird time to, as a trade, think and have opinions because expression is obviously a very hot commodity and very easy to come by. So it kills when I’ve written something and thought a lot about it and, out of laziness, people come to opposite conclusions. And it kills when I put a lot of sweat and blood into something and it doesn’t go anywhere because it requires more thought than others.
  • Whenever I know something is going to hit, it immediately feels cheap even if it feels right or good. Maybe that’s the punk rock teenager in me feeling that.
  • I know when something will hit because of the rhythm of the writing, which is something I feel in my head and my body as it comes out.
  • I appreciate your support, even when we disagree. I appreciate the pockets that still exist where critical thought thrives.
  • It is my therapy. When I don’t do it, I feel unbalanced. And it has connected me with many of my heroes. For that I am grateful.
  • Writing benefits every other element of my work. It makes me a better video producer by a long-shot. It makes for better everything. Whenever folks ask for professional advice I always say, regardless of discipline, find time to read and write whenever possible because it gets you closer to your brain and heart.
Alex Steed

About Alex Steed

Alex Steed has written about and engaged in politics since he was an insufferable teenager. He has run for the Statehouse and produced a successful web series. He now runs a content firm called Knack Factory with two guys who are a lot more talented than himself.