matt_zimmer | A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO I GOT A VERY NEGATIVE NOTE ABOUT THE FRONT PAGE OF MY SITE

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gilda and meek and the un-iverse

A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO I GOT A VERY NEGATIVE NOTE ABOUT THE FRONT PAGE OF MY SITE

As I do with every single note I get, I ignored it. It's amazing how pissed off this makes people.

The note was about how I warn on the very front page that The Un-Iverse is structured like a novel and needs to be read in its entirety in the proper order to properly be digested and appreciated.

This person, this published writer, thought that was an asshole thing to say. People sample comic books in and out of their runs and that specific "demand" will chase people off.

First of all, people can "sample" other comic books because they are NOT structured like a novel. And an Author wanting their work to be read as intended is in fact a reasonable want from a creator. I'm sure there are plenty of people who think Stephen King is an asshole for basically calling every single person who reads the last page of the book first an utter monster and a bad person. But he's allowed that opinion. And while my view is not nearly as extreme regarding spoilers (although I avoid them, I get why other people eat them up) I am confident people picking up the saga midway through will get almost nothing from it. It will not just be hard to follow. The character moments I've spent years building will not land and mean nothing.

As for scaring and chasing people off? Dummy, that's why the note is there! I'm warning people ahead of time that the saga is NOT for casual readers, and requires an alarming amount of commitment up-front. Does that chase people off? Yes! Deliberately! I don't want people to waste their time on a huge sprawling saga they'll need to pay attention to and reread several times without knowing that's the deal ahead of time. I would guess the front page of the site chases off a LOT of readers, especially casual ones. I am perfectly okay with that. The readers who are willing to delve deep after that specific warning are my kinds of people, and who this is actually for.

This person, a published author, they reminded me, was annoyed I refused to take notes, or change my story or approach via feedback. Almost all other writers do this, I'm told.

And you know what? Most fiction sucks ass. There are very few creators who are consistently confident in their own visions, at least enough that I actually trust them at the time.

I LIKE the way I do things. I LIKE that my saga is a mess. I LIKE that some people hate it. Hell, I LOVE that last bit.

I could be way off base here, but I always get the sneaking suspicion Jasper Hansen also utterly ignores notes and finds them useless, no matter who they are from. He can correct me if I'm wrong, but it's something I dig about his work, and it's why I feel our stuff vibes in spirit, if not content.

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I think it's a valid warning. Comic books are often open to casual reading, but some have such massive backstory that they really aren't, even if they are ostensibly episodic. Graphic novels, in the literal sense, are books told in visual imagery, so like other novels they don't lend themselves to picking up just one chapter. It's good to let potential readers know what they're getting into.

My audience and I have built up a generally familiar set of warnings. Some of them are things I've specifically been asked to indicate like "Asking for help and getting it" or "This includes graphic descriptions of delicious food you may not be able to find or make." Once in a while, someone bitches about it, but the approach fits my audience and I'm not giving it up. Same with my footnotes. I have readers who are from different cultures, the whole QUILTBAG, had a deprived childhood, etc. and they need those references. About 19 times out of 20, people appreciate it; as for the other one, it's not addressed to you, just skip it, but don't diss what other people really do need.

I don't begrudge other people taking notes. Especially if they want or need them. What I don't like is the automatic assumption that EVERYONE wants or needs them. I don't believe writing is a one size fits all type of deal. People have different processes and ways they structure and plan and world-build. And I find a lot of people really don't approve of other people figuring out their own way themselves.

And you know my stuff will never be as polished as that professional published author. But it's entirely my voice. And that's something I need the work to be.

>> I don't believe writing is a one size fits all type of deal. People have different processes and ways they structure and plan and world-build. <<

Agreed.

>> And I find a lot of people really don't approve of other people figuring out their own way themselves.<<

Yes, and that's a problem. It's less of a problem than it used to be, because they no longer have a bottleneck. Anyone can go online and publish whatever the hell they want -- which is how some worldviews have a voice at all.

>> And you know my stuff will never be as polished as that professional published author. <<

I'm a published author, and also an editor. The professional publishers are nowhere near as concerned with polish as they used to be; a few decades back they fired most of their editorial staff who took care of polishing manuscripts. Now you'll see mistakes on the first page of a book and nobody cares.

However, writing is mostly about practice. If you write a lot, and pay reasonable attention to what you're doing, you will get better over time.

>> But it's entirely my voice. And that's something I need the work to be.<<

Good for you.

Do you have a link to anything you've written? I'm curious. I love sampling people on my journal.

I do write a lot. Every day. Each day and week and month I do it I get better at it.

>> Do you have a link to anything you've written? I'm curious. I love sampling people on my journal.<<

A great deal of my work is available online. Be aware that people have lost whole weekends down that rabbithole, so it's best to explore when you have some time.

Here on Dreamwidth, the Poem tag has thousands of my poems, mostly narrative but some other styles. How To has a lot of my nonfiction. I did a guide to my meta for

marchmetamatterschallenge.

Over on my author site, the My Work tab has the pulldown menu for various things including Serial Poetry (with poems in series-chronological order) and Shared Worlds (where some of the fiction is).

Also despite being a professional wordsmith, I still write fanfic for fun. My most popular series is Love Is For Children (The Avengers).

I also do prompt calls. Next up will be the

crowdfunding Creative Jam on Saturday 19-Sunday 20 with a theme of "Empowerment." Next Poetry Fishbowl will be May 6 with a theme of "Ethical Supervillains." I'm also hosting this months Aesthetics fest over on

allbingo. You're welcome to drop by and join the fun.

>> I do write a lot. Every day. Each day and week and month I do it I get better at it. <<

That is awesome. :D I'm always glad to see another writer developing their craft.

I've finished my saga so my craft has pretty much peaked. But getting there was a ride.

I'll check your stuff out tomorrow.

>> I've finished my saga so my craft has pretty much peaked. But getting there was a ride.<<

That's quite an accomplishment!

>> I'll check your stuff out tomorrow.<<

Cool. Let me know if you have favorite topics and I can point them out for you. There's a huge amount of stuff to go through.

I still have to put 22 issues to paper. But I literally finished writing the 90th and last issue last week.

I'll let you know if I do.

Wow, that is a lot! Go you.

Over 3000 pages so far. You may check it out if you like. NOT for the timid:

https://gildaandmeekandtheuniverse.blogspot.com/2020/02/welcome-to-gilda-and-meek-and-un-iverse.html

I read three of your poems at that link. I'm going to read some more later tonight. I thought they were cool in that I have never read any other poems like them. You were sort of pushing the medium there, which is brave and real.

Edit:

I JUST read The Velveteen Rabbit. Real is my new favorite word.

Edited 2025-04-17 01:08 (UTC)

>> Over 3000 pages so far. You may check it out if you like. NOT for the timid: <<

I'm amused by the idea of blaming the mayor for hiring an idiot. If only.

I have boosted the signal on my blog.

If you have a crowdfunding mode active (e.g. you sell swag of your characters, or you have a donate button) then you might be interested in the Rose & Bay Awards.

>> I read three of your poems at that link.<<

I'm glad you liked them.

>> I'm going to read some more later tonight. I thought they were cool in that I have never read any other poems like them. <<

:D There aren't a lot of people writing narrative poetry, which is most of what I write; and when I write linguistic poetry, that's even farther out.

>>You were sort of pushing the medium there, which is brave and real.<<

Yep, that's me. I'm a pushy little thing.

>> I JUST read The Velveteen Rabbit. Real is my new favorite word.<<

Yay! :D

One of my readers is constantly asking for a mug of Not-A-Morning-Person Gilda. But I am just so consumed in putting the rest of the saga to paper I can't really focus on swag. Maybe if it had taken off I wouldn't mind somebody else handling that (I LOVE swag!) but I'm too busy right now to merchandise!

I finished The Adventures Of Aldornia and Zenobia. Pretty subversive stuff. Your characters don't like being told how to behave and refuse to take the note. I like that.

Edit:

Would you mind if I added you to my friends circle?

Edit 2:

Also read Dragonsilk (or at least what was on LiveJournal). Still looking around.

Edited 2025-04-17 10:28 (UTC)

>> One of my readers is constantly asking for a mug of Not-A-Morning-Person Gilda. <<

That's a good sign.

>> But I am just so consumed in putting the rest of the saga to paper I can't really focus on swag. Maybe if it had taken off I wouldn't mind somebody else handling that (I LOVE swag!) but I'm too busy right now to merchandise! <<

It's okay. You can always come back to swag if you have more time later.

>> I finished The Adventures Of Aldornia and Zenobia.<<

Yay!

>> Pretty subversive stuff. Your characters don't like being told how to behave and refuse to take the note. I like that.<<

That's pretty consistent across all my work.

And yes, this is one of several series I wrote explicitly as subversion, in this case, live happy lesbians because I was annoyed by the dead lesbian stop-trope.

>> Edit:

Would you mind if I added you to my friends circle? <<

Go for it! I can't add people back right now because my account is jammed, though.

>>Edit 2:

Also read Dragonsilk (or at least what was on LiveJournal). Still looking around.<<

That's cool. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Great. Thank you for sampling my work. I hope you liked it.

I will add you to my circle and feel free to add me when you get unjammed.

I will read more of your stuff tomorrow.

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A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO I GOT A VERY NEGATIVE NOTE ABOUT THE FRONT PAGE OF MY SITE

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