Boomerangs

Attention to Our Boomerangs Writers

Let’s connect to build an awesome community

And I happen to have a suggestion for a great way to do that!

Not only am I confident it will work — I’m equally confident it will take up very little of your time, at most a few minutes every day or so.

I believe with all my heart that those few minutes I’m asking you to spend supporting the Boomerangs community will be well worth your effort. That has most definitely been my experience from day one with our writers.

Clever me (one man’s opinion anyhow) even came up with an acronym for how we can all help each other out — RC.

Care to take a guess what RC stands for? Hint — think simple! If you’re successful, you get to pick what’s behind door #1, 2, or 3 (oops, here I go, dating myself back to 1960s Monty Hall and Let’s Make a Deal.) Sorry, you’re not getting a 2021 Honda CRV or a set of Whirlpool kitchen appliances if you guess correctly.

I’ll give you 10 seconds to figure it out … 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

And the answer is:

Read and Comment

As I said, “think simple.” In the words of the 14th-century theologian William of Occam (and yes, I needed to google that) … the simplest solution is almost always the best.

Aren’t Clapping and Highlighting Good Enough?

How do I politely say this … nope. Yes, they’re nice and no doubt appreciated by all (self-included). Despite that, commenting is the only route to build that awesomely supportive Boomerangs community I know we can attain.

Claps may be good for the ego — the more claps, the happier we are. But they don’t foster connection. Not only that. In theory, they’re supposed to be a good indication of how well-written our articles are. I question that premise, as my gut says many of my better-written articles receive far fewer claps than those which are not nearly as good.

Highlights also leave a lot to be desired in the connections department. At least, they provide more useful feedback than claps, as they tell me which specific lines were effective. Yet, they leave me wanting more, wondering what specifically was appreciated about the highlighted words. Was it the writing style, and if so, what did you like about it? Was it that it was conversational? Was it that I did a good job of “showing” rather than “telling”?

Comments — now that’s how to connect with your fellow Boomerangs writer. When you comment on my pieces, I’m grateful you took the time and effort to share your thoughts with me, on a whole different level than I ever have or will from claps or highlights. (A little birdie just told me you relate).

I have an instantaneous urge to reciprocate your kindness. And I do that by reading one or more of your articles, and of course, commenting. I see many other Boomerangs doing the same, and that’s awesome.

I’m so proud of our publication and how far we’ve come in such a short time. All of you have been great to work with, so very cooperative and flexible with editing suggestions and the like.

That being said, I think we can do even more to further build a sense of community, which will come about as more and more of us get into the habit of regularly commenting on each other's work.

Go, team Boomerangs. We can do it.

Your Comments — “The Gift That Keeps on Giving In Oh So Many Ways”

I suspect you’ve heard the below phrase from “The Three Musketeers”:

All for one, and one for all

The quote means that the group will support its members and its members will support the group.

Your comments help your fellow Boomerangs to:

• become better writers. It’s as if you’re the teacher, with your comments providing the lessons. Not to mention the supportive encouragement.
• experience that special feeling of knowing their words resonated with their readers as they had hoped for — whether to laugh, cry, learn a life lesson, or a practical skill.
• feel connected and supported. That connection is no small accomplishment on the humongous and ever-growing Medium platform (almost 200,000 writers). Where it’s so easy to feel lost in a crowd.
• be motivated to continue writing, knowing their words reached their readers' hearts and minds as they hoped for.
• increase their readership.

Not too shabby a list, eh?

Becoming a Better Writer

The more specific the feedback I get from my readers, the more helpful it is. As I alluded to earlier, comments add tremendous value above and beyond highlights, as they not only tell me what worked but also tell me why.

A penny for your thoughts — have you learned a lot from comments? If so, what are the first things that come to your mind? If you’re having a brain fart coming up with specifics, here are some possibilities I’ll throw out to you …

Perhaps you’ve learned you’re good at touching the hearts of your readers. Or that your self-improvement advice clicks with your readers. Or you’re actually as funny as you think you are.

Knowing Your Words Resonated

Most of the articles I write are related to self-growth, written straight from my heart with the intention of stirring something in yours. Nothing feels better than when I know I’ve accomplished my mission.

Neither 3000 claps nor 30 highlights communicate to me how successful I’ve been at touching your heart. Yet, one brief comment will do the trick. It could be as simple as “that brought tears to my eyes.”

Or perhaps you’ve written a humor piece and you come across the comment, “OMG, I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.” How freaking awesome it must feel to know your sense of humor hit home. Even better — maybe the reader was having a crappy day up to that point, and reading your article lifted their spirits, thinned out the clouds.

Resonation/schmezzonation — who cares, it’s all about making a difference. Nothing tops that!

The Beauty of Connecting with Your Fellow Writers

So here I am once again, sitting on my den couch, hunched over my laptop for hours on end, trying to come up with just the right words. My only company is Maddox, my black cat, lying alongside me attached to my right hip, purring away, hoping that at least on occasion, I’ll be considerate enough to take a break away from the keyboard to gently stroke her fur.

Which is my way of saying — writing can be a lonely process! At best, it’s just me, my laptop, and my cat (no offense intended, Maddox).

That is until the moment in time when somehow, someway, I manage to complete the article and it gets published somewhere. Makes me think of the old Alka-Selzer commercial … plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is.” (god, I’m weird at times)

Actually, it’s far more than a relief — it’s super exciting, as my article is now out there in the world. It feels great to know that within a few hours at most, my prior feeling of loneliness will be replaced with a feeling of connection — in this case, with my fellow writers.

I’m confident that supportive comments will be coming in. Why? Because of the relationships I’ve built with several writers, which came about solely because of a history of consistently exchanging comments on each others’ work.

I cherish that feeling of connection. I bet you do too. If you don’t already have it, all you need to do is be generous with your comments to your fellow Boomerangs. I can’t promise everybody will reciprocate (nothing is ever 100%), but I believe most will.

As a side note, anytime you want me to read and comment on your work, let me know. I promise to do so as soon as I can.

Sample Comments on Boomerangs Pieces

For the sake of illustration, I selected five Boomerangs stories I’ve previously commented on, to give you an example of how it takes no more than a few words to communicate appreciation for your fellow writers’ work.

Bear in mind, as opposed to articles, your comments don’t need to be edited. First drafts are perfectly acceptable. You don’t even need to run them by Grammarly.

Your comments only need to be sincere, with the intent to be helpful (that’s a given). You can easily write them within a few seconds. Hey, the thought is already in your head. All you have to do now is highlight the phrase you liked, click on the comment bubble, and key it in. And …

Voila — connection with your writer, which for sure will be most appreciated!

I present to you, for your reading pleasure:

Terry L. Cooper article This is a beautifully written, touching story where Terry describes what it was like for her to grow up with dysfunctional parents. A three-minute read packed with emotion, which no doubt will touch your heart. My comment: That brought tears to my eyes. BTW, love your style of writing, which I’m sure has a lot to do with the tears.

Barbara Dalton article: A vulnerably written piece on breaking habits (in this case, biting nails) and the potential underlying psychological causes. My comment: Great opening. So authentic. Makes me want to read more.

Brooke Ramey Nelson article: Brilliantly written humor piece on developing a big-time crush on her doctor. And, let’s just say … Brooke was well past her teenage years. My comment: I appreciate you injecting your personality into the article. Here and throughout.

Carolyn F. Chryst, Ph.D. article: A quirky, cleverly written piece about trying to strike up a conversation with people who have a narrow range of interests My comment: Very funny, in a gruesome sort of way.

Judah Leblang article: An expertly written, authentic, and touching piece about the pitfalls of aging, in this case, the author’s mother. (I will add — a most impressive example of “showing” a story, rather than “telling”) My comment: I love how you injected this in the story, although sorry for your pain.

In Closing

God, I hope I haven’t been too much of a pain in the arse. Well, at least, I’m coming from the right place, which is my sincere desire to, as per the article subtitle, that is if you can still recall what it was …..

Connect to build an awesome community together!

Liz Porter and I thank you for becoming a writer for Boomerangs. It’s an honor. But frankly, now that we have you on board, we want to do our best to keep you. The best way I can think of doing so is by building that community.

Let’s face it — we all want as many people as possible to read our articles. And we all enjoy appreciative comments. Boomerangs is growing very quickly (over 100 followers and 75 writers in just a couple of months). Yet, we are a very small pub with no particular interest in becoming huge.

I want each and every one of us (yes, me too) to have as many reads and comments as possible for our Boomerangs articles. We’re well aware there are numerous other publications you can choose to write for, and we are most grateful for each and every article you choose to send our way.

We want to be sure you get a good bang for your buck. And the way to do that is for each of us to be as generous as we can with reading and commenting on our fellow Boomerangs’ articles. With that, not only will you be pleased with your readership count — you will also feel part of a beautiful community of supportive writers. A special pub that you will feel most valued by.

You can start practicing your commenting right now, lol, with this article.

If there is any way that Liz or I can be helpful, please let us know. Thanks for reading.

Art