Author Encouragement!

Good day, readers!
Well, on this fine morning I'd like to talk about encouraging others, as you can clearly read from my helpful title. it's also about being kind, and giving compliments, and how important a community of authors can be. Let's get started. Oh, and stop by the Contact Mimi page if you want to chat! I'd love to hear from you.

"I love this!!!" "Can you write another like this?" "This is a wonderful story!" "Keep it up!" "Oh my Lord, that was amazingly written!" "Write more, it's so good!" All of these comments are things that have actually been said (well, typed) to me. And you know how it makes me feel? Warm and bubbly. It makes me want to keep writing, to make those people happy in such a way again. Often, especially on Wattpad, the people who respond to my writing with encouraging comments of praise are the people who keep said story going. Yeah, I know, i just did a lovely post on writing for me and not others, but let's be honest. Self-motivation is hard.

That's why it's important to give and receive honest encouragement. Compliments are a bit dangerous, you see, because if you just say something generic like "Awesome!" then how does the author know you even read the work? If you're going to take the time to say something nice, make it worthwhile, like "Wow, it was awesome! I loved the way you did this thing with that character". But make sure it's truthful. Lying to someone about the quality of their writing doesn't do anyone any good. The author in question can't improve on whatever you don't like, and you have the tiny pang of guilt from lying to a friend.

Giving a kind, well-thought out comment to an author is one of the nicest things a reader can do, in my opinion. But an author-to-author compliment is often even better! Another author 'really gets' the struggle it can be sometimes to churn out that next chapter or write that characterization scene or find the perfect witty exchanges, and can therefore appreciate your work all the more. It's important to have other authors read and review your work so that they can offer you suggestions to make your writing better, point out plot holes you never even saw gaping in the middle of your page, and even be your own personal spell check. (If my 'editing team' is reading this, I LOVE YOU AND YOU ARE APPRECIATED!)

So, to close out, if you want to receive kind compliments to your work, go out and give some. Karma, 'what goes around comes around', however you want to say it, it's pretty true. People really do love it when you say kind things, because we don't live in a world that's usually kind. So go out there today, whether you're on Wattpad, Google+, someone's blog (*cough cough*), or your friend's laptop as she/he watches you reading their work over your shoulder, and say or type something sweet. Make someone's day brighter. And your day will be a little brighter too!

May the comments be ever in your favor,
~Mimi

This has been your semi-weekly post of Writing with Mimi, a blog about fandoms and creative writing and other random nonsense. If you enjoyed it, please tell Mimi. If you hated it, please tell Mimi. And if you have nothing to say, well, make something up about a pie or a fez or something of equal value and tell Mimi about that. Today's Awesome Thing: Mimi shipped two of her friends at school. They actually got together (and almost gave her a squealing fangirl heart attack). Thank you for reading!