Then I get a dozen emails asking for precisely the orientation towards what I publish that you would prefer I not write. Again, there is an essential dilemma in any crowdfunded project that stems from the fact that different people who participate in the funding simply have incompatible desires for the expression of the project.
Do not shoot the piano player; he is doing his best.
Then I get a dozen emails asking for precisely the orientation towards what I publish that you would prefer I not write. Again, there is an essential dilemma in any crowdfunded project that stems from the fact that different people who participate in the funding simply have incompatible desires for the expression of the project.
Do not shoot the piano player; he is doing his best.
Side note: because I psychologize everything, I'm curious about what your experience is like being a seasoned writer while being this responsive to the varied and immediate opinions of your readers/subscribers compared to other pressures of being a writer in other settings. Do you find this part distasteful? Do you like it? Do you wish there were more clarity around what it looks like to be responsive "enough" to your readers? Do you feel constantly pulled in different directions or stressed about trying to please everyone?
I find myself wishing you didn't feel like you had to be quite so responsive to everyone's opinions and I guess I find myself a little worried about the culture of expectations that can grow up around this kind of niche writing platform. Which is just another subject I'm pretty interested in -- what kinds of unspoken performance norms develop in a profession over time. I'm acutely aware of this as a psychotherapist where there are all kinds of unspoken expectations that patients bring and because therapists all do things a little differently, there aren't clear guidelines about what it means to be responsive "enough" to patients needs/wants. I thrive in some of that ambiguity and am driven mad by it sometimes as well.
I find myself wondering the same thing and it makes me anxious on Freddie's behalf. (I'm probably one of the people who emailed not with scolding, but probably maternal concern. LOL). He invites us to complain, but then warns about the cross-pressures. It's like we're all a bunch of demanding children who can never be satisfied, so why even invite the complaints/comments? I think the crowd-funding aspect complicates this dynamic, b/c now we're no longer just readers, we're "clients" in his mind, people that he now has to keep happy b/c we're paying, even though most of us want him to write as if we are NOT paying him, just want him to write as he wants to write.
The closest analogy I can come up with on a personal level is concierge medicine. About 5 years ago, the owner of our practice went hybrid concierge b/c she literally couldn't give the staff raises w/o another source of income. I had the opportunity to do the same and you couldn't pay me enough to do that. I'm not saying it's not right for some doctors, or that it's unethical. I'm saying, for me, it would've gotten into my head. I don't think I could've separated the idea that someone is now paying me extra for special services. I could see it causing a similar dynamic that I see playing out here-- the sense that someone has now "bought" you and I think Freddie is struggling with that. Not that I have a solution.
Then I get a dozen emails asking for precisely the orientation towards what I publish that you would prefer I not write. Again, there is an essential dilemma in any crowdfunded project that stems from the fact that different people who participate in the funding simply have incompatible desires for the expression of the project.
Do not shoot the piano player; he is doing his best.
Side note: because I psychologize everything, I'm curious about what your experience is like being a seasoned writer while being this responsive to the varied and immediate opinions of your readers/subscribers compared to other pressures of being a writer in other settings. Do you find this part distasteful? Do you like it? Do you wish there were more clarity around what it looks like to be responsive "enough" to your readers? Do you feel constantly pulled in different directions or stressed about trying to please everyone?
I find myself wishing you didn't feel like you had to be quite so responsive to everyone's opinions and I guess I find myself a little worried about the culture of expectations that can grow up around this kind of niche writing platform. Which is just another subject I'm pretty interested in -- what kinds of unspoken performance norms develop in a profession over time. I'm acutely aware of this as a psychotherapist where there are all kinds of unspoken expectations that patients bring and because therapists all do things a little differently, there aren't clear guidelines about what it means to be responsive "enough" to patients needs/wants. I thrive in some of that ambiguity and am driven mad by it sometimes as well.
I find myself wondering the same thing and it makes me anxious on Freddie's behalf. (I'm probably one of the people who emailed not with scolding, but probably maternal concern. LOL). He invites us to complain, but then warns about the cross-pressures. It's like we're all a bunch of demanding children who can never be satisfied, so why even invite the complaints/comments? I think the crowd-funding aspect complicates this dynamic, b/c now we're no longer just readers, we're "clients" in his mind, people that he now has to keep happy b/c we're paying, even though most of us want him to write as if we are NOT paying him, just want him to write as he wants to write.
The closest analogy I can come up with on a personal level is concierge medicine. About 5 years ago, the owner of our practice went hybrid concierge b/c she literally couldn't give the staff raises w/o another source of income. I had the opportunity to do the same and you couldn't pay me enough to do that. I'm not saying it's not right for some doctors, or that it's unethical. I'm saying, for me, it would've gotten into my head. I don't think I could've separated the idea that someone is now paying me extra for special services. I could see it causing a similar dynamic that I see playing out here-- the sense that someone has now "bought" you and I think Freddie is struggling with that. Not that I have a solution.