During the recent much discussed, revamp many things happened. Some were trivial and some were revelations.
One aspect of the change is that "connections" were turned into "friends". I feel that Gather should prepare the way for making connections but that friends are formed by magical means away from the Gather protocol. But that's a minor issue.
It's just that I feel that friendships are gifts not created by a tick on a form.
When Gather began to recover from its sleep, it then seemed to leap into action with renewed vigour. In fact, I was stunned. So stunned that I stared at my screen scrolling down at Mach 3 speed, without me being able or willing to take action.
Oh I knew that I had to find those "preferences" and uncheck and uncheck, with my fingers striking at cobra-like speed.
But I couldn't. I was mesmerised. I was seeing a convoluted mesh of greetings and back-greetings and comments and back-comments flowing backwards and forwards as if I was suddenly looking at the communication hub of the world.
To my astonishment, I saw that persons that I knew, were flashing communications to each other in rapid sequence, with sometimes 15 calls from the same person within a 5 minute period. I had begun to see another life on Gather.
I thought about this a lot and came, after much cerebral but not much soul level contemplation, that there are two basic life forms on Gather and that they are as follows.
Chatters-who-write and writers-who-chat.
Now, to get the definitions right. I'm regarding positive comments on style, content, dialogue, imagery, metaphor, storyline, etc as apart from chatting. I regard such comments as part of the study of writing.
I belong to the second category and that explains why I was once invited to and why I agreed to join Gather. I'm passionate about my writing and the improvement of my art.
Oh, I love to chat and stay in touch. I love to take part in fun scenes on Gather. You all know that. I've amused you all at times. But how much time do I have each day?
I have to earn a living. There's an energy crisis here and they're begging engineers to join in a one-time massive project. I must develop my web site and I must do my editing of EVERYTHING that I've written. I must prepare my ebooks...and a 100 other things.
The price that I pay, for all that, is a low number of comments from others per article. My articles are not really suitable as chat material, it seems.
So??? It seems that I'm at a point of crisis. Do I go for popularity and write popular attention grabbing stuff...or do I remember that I'm a learner writer trying to do better.
Well, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to write better than ever. That has been and will be my mission. Once a month I'll put in a video or an image. Just for fun. Just to keep my hand in.
So if get my10-15 comments per article from all of gather, from my very dear and loyal friends, then I'll be happy. I now know about the maelstrom of cross-communication out there and I understand how busy many of you are.
But please be aware of this. I'm not anti-social. I'm just busy and I'm just dedicated.
Should any of you and I ever meet wherever and whenever, I promise you that we'll have a great time. .
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Comments: 27
I agree with you on the friends' issue. Now when I go to anyone's page with whom I was previously connected, it says, "Joe Smith is your friend." I think that is presumptuous and it also sounds rather elementary. Rather like something you would say on a grade school playground!
I didn't have all that whirlwind activity myself. In fact, my Gather experience was more like an inchworm struggling along the ground and occasionally stopping to sleep for a day or so.
I AM glad that you took the time to fly out here to Spokane and leave me one of your books with your thumbprint!
Take care in your 'outside' life and I will look forward to seeing you when you can be here.
Fred, I've always enjoyed your articles and will continue to look for them. As in real life, striving to improve our skills and our morals and our understanding of the world and where we are in it is part of Gather also. It may not always feel good but it is a part of life.
A bit put off by all of these gather upgrades..the only one I hope to see soon is some thing to make this place more secure.
Friendship evolves from a natural curiosity about someone.
Trust ,respect and truth all fall into play with the outcome of devotion and love..there are many one grows to love here based upon reading,assessing,sharing and trusting what we say and share..
I will see you when the time and fate deems that perfect place..until then I wish you only the very best in all of your endeavors..you are quite a remarkable and original person.
If you ever come out my way I promise to cook - or bake - or take you to the museums in Stuttgart - or whatever else you would like to see...
Cristina
I have learned about cultures and places that have added a whole new dimension to my life overall.
Although chat is not what I am here for it is a lovely diversion and adds another level to friendships.
I only regret that there are not more hours in the day. Life keeps interfering with my Gather time. LOL
You and I Gather at different times, though I do attempt to find your articles. I would hope I'm a writer that chats. Sometimes I don't post some of my writing up here (I'm working on a couple of projects) because I really plan to pursue publication and making this into something that I do, rather than something I wish I would do.
You're right... there are all kinds of Gatherers. It's a good thing there are Gatherers like you. :-)
Hahaha I'd chat with you anytime and would enjoy that.
What I noticed was that there was a huge difference between chat comments and positive criticism comments on someone's writing.
I'm a great chatter and if you and I met in a coffee shop we would chat for hours.
I feel that we're all writers at heart...OK not all....but say 60 % of us are in one way or another. If that is so, then the lack of inspiring and guiding comments is a sad thing.
As ar as publishing is concerned, you and I are in the same position and perhaps we can exchange notes one of these days. My path ahead is crystallizing and perhaps because of this, at this moment, I would love some author to author commenting.
I write well...but not well enough. But I know that you understand what I'm saying.
BTW I'll comment on your stuff more regularly. Because you've got thhe style.
This passage caught my eye. My thought is you can have your cake and eat it too unless you are a French woman. My goal is to become a better writer and a good story teller. Too often, when I hear people talk of being a better writer, they are talking about the mechanics of this like grammar, syntax, word choice, transitional sentences, etc. Mechanics are important, but to put 'good' into the equation also includes style, theme development, pacing, and making the story interesting. I am very interested and a student of looking at the various styles of writers on Gather. Your stories are almost always entertaining and I've learned more about character development from your stories than anyone else I can think of on Gather. The greatest gift of your stories, from a writer's perspective, is that you given me a clear model for pacing.
I do not take myself seriously and I just write for fun. I write with almost total abandonment without thinking if the mechanics are good. I look at these things when I edit and my edits often take twice as long as it took me to write the story, or poem. I always think of my audience when I write with the simple questions: Will they like this?; Will they understand this?; Will this cross the line and be offending?
I'm a common man and I write in a venacular that is common to most Americans. I twist words, but usually with metaphors that are easily understood. Except for a few poems, I try to avoid being clever. I'd rather be creative than clever. I sort of look at writing like I do music. There are thousands of songs that use the basic 1-4-5 chord pattern, yet almost each song has its own distinctness and tend to be the most popular. I always go back to the basic pattern and maybe add in a minor or a ninth. Writing is the same way for me. I tend to be popular because I write in a common way, with common themes and experiences most everyone can relate to from their own life. I use a lot of humor, but the humor aspect was a development that surprised me as I found my audience wanted this and I somehow found I could write in this style. Gather helped me discover a talent I had no idea I had that could actually be put in the written word.
All of bells and whistles and carnival stuff you can do on Gather is not my cup of tea. I joined Gather to developing my writing skills. The plus of course is to make so many good friends of really good caring people.
I understand fully your time restraints. I try to answer everyone who comments on my article within a week of their comment. I get roughly 35 comments to each of my articles and I usually write 4 or 5 articles each week. I spend hours reciprocating. There are some articles I wish to comment further on, like those by John Beck or Gerry Waas, but my first priority is to those who comment on my articles. My health sometimes makes commenting a chore and I tend to not comment when I think it's a chore. I want the person to know I did thoroughly read their article. I also have house chores and family matters that are my real life and these things must be my first priority just as your job and family life must be your first priority. It does grind me when some people are impatient for my response. I respond as quickly as I can.
Well, this article let me get all of my feelings off my chest. Thank you and I look forward to reading more of your delightful stories.
Personally your stories are deserving and needs much attention and peaceful time as they are long.
I know I go to most of the articles and according to my comfort...I have a lot of serious connections like you, William, John F, John Beck, Jan, Kathy,Spencer, Umar , minnie and so so many...Manytimes due to lack of appropriate words I come back and think what should I write for such beautiful articles... and this is true..believe it or not...
Take care
Luckily I've only been publicly attacked once and privately twice. It wasn't pleasant.
Special hello sheila. I agree with what you say. Especially when you say that friendship is a growth thing. In the digital world there's no such thing as eye contact, hand holding or a spontaneous laugh. It requires time for a freindship to develop here.
Thank you for your wonderful wishes and I bring you an inner joy in my thoughts.
I know how busy you are. You have such an important and meaningful work. We're all proud of you.
Hahaha...an inch worm. No no I can't see that. But it is a funny picture.
It was a pleasure meeting you and rest assured I'll make Spoane my favourite stop over spot. They treated my camel very well there at the Spokane Camel Centre.
It's true that Gather does make one do some soul searching. One must remember every now and then why one joined Gather.
Was it to read? Was it for stories? Poems? Images? News of others?
In my case it was all of that but I desparately wanted to learn how to write. Don't forget that I'm an engineer and my only strength is that I saw so much because of my engineering activities.
I'll always be part of Gather and you'll always hear from me at Gather but not as a prolific chatter. Sadly, I just don't have the time.
That was such a wonderful note from you. I'd love to meet you in Stuttgart. I've workrd in Aachen, Nurnberg and Berlin. It was a superbly great experience.
When we meet.I'll take you out and we'll visit many places...but especially a coffee shop where I can absorb the inspiring spirit of the old fashioned kafee-stube.
I'm not despondent. I wrote what I did because I discovered to my amazement that much of the Gather activity has nothing to do with writing nor artwork. I had te wrong mindset...but I've adjusted myself to what I saw.
Thank you Marge for what you wrote there.
You said what I wanted to say far more eloquently.
I agree with you fully. I have my group of friends (you, of course, included) and I've learned so much from you all.
I've learned to care about and be cared about by people that I've never met.
Sheila !!! You always comment. I know that you'll comment and I know that I'll get some wonderful inspiration from you. Hahaha you're part of my main support base.
Thank you Holly. Good to see your avator on my page.
Why shouldn't you chat? Why shouldn'y you exchange thughts with your friends? I know that it's hell without a car.
It seems that you and I are going through the same about-to-publish phase. Perhaps deep down in your heart, you agree with me that there should be a bit more author-to-author commentary?
If I'm doing something that could be improved, then shouldn't somebody tell me that ...or vice versa?
on'teven think of changing by ne iota. You are you. You're an institution here. You are erudite, you're provocative, you're funny and you're the glue that holds us all together.
I agree fully with you. Rather creative than clever. Rather tell us something than demonstrate your great cerebral knowledge. I right there with youon that one.
One thing that I admire about you is your faithfulness in commenting and responding to comments. Bravo Bill.
Bill, we must something about your health. Should I send you some witch doctor medicines? They'll cure any ailment that you may have.
I have 415 connections and am also interested in photography, images and art. I've posted a slideshow with music and an audio of a story reading. So I can understand what you mean when you say you're busy.
I do my best to comment to all those that come to my page but I too fail due to lack of time, to my great regret. Now this is my point. I don't fail because I'm chatting. I fail for other reasons. It's all about how much time there is in a day, as you so well know.
At the begining of my article, I began to make an important point but I don't think I made it properly. So I'll try again. I think that on Gather there are actually more categories of people than recognised by Gather. There are unconnected people, connections, friends and *friends*.
The last named are those special people who've gone out of their way to help. Those that came when the need arose. Those that went out of their way. Those that brought laughter. Those that went to special trouble to encourage, guide, teach and share. Those are the *friends*. Some friends do a lot but *friends* do much much more.
I somehow feel that such *friends* are gifts from God.....hopefully that doesn't sound too delusional but that's the way I see it.
I will give more time to my *friends* because they are so precious. Tomorrow, I'll post an article to illustrate how much I appreciate such a *friend* and then you'll hopefully see what I mean. But these my ideas only.
These are the rules I live by. But I don't make rules for others. To each his own.
PS I hope that your driving test went OK.
I agree with you Fred, and you know I really love your writing. Now I wonder, when I joined gather, I never pretended to be a writer, but a zillion people were commenting my articles. I didn't "know" you at that time, I stood and wondered why so many people came into my page. I still don't know. And now, that I posted nothing good but it's excellent compared to the beastly English I used when I joined gather, I don't get what's going on. Anyway, I can't access more than once in a while due to glitches I still don't get either. But since I don't expect anything out of gather, I come in when they let me.
I loved that great and perfect description, Fred:
I thought about this a lot and came, after much cerebral but not much soul level contemplation, that there are two basic life forms on Gather and that they are as follows.
Chatters-who-write and writers-who-chat.
Daniela