Questions for my Readers
I’m having a go-round with myself about making my writing better and more accessible (in all my blogs) to readers. I’m hoping that readers will give me some feedback on some items so I can improve.
Please feel free to give me feedback as comments here, via Skype (nseJDC), email or phone calls. I’m pretty reachable and quite willing to learn.
- Is my writing friendly or unfriendly?
- Do people find my use of faux-HTML (things like <CAVEAT>, etc.) irritating?
- Is my writing just plain difficult to read?
- Is the use of images in my blog posts distracting, helpful, …?
- Are my posts just plain too long?
- Is my writing narcissistic?
- Do I quote myself too much?
- Do I concern myself too much with scientific accuracy in my writing?
- And lastly: Do I need to share more about myself?
I’m genuinely curious, folks, and would appreciate any feedback I can get.
And if there’s something I can do to improve my writing that isn’t listed in the above, please let me know that, too.
Thanks. – Joseph
32 Comments
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Friendly, unassuming, and informal.
Joseph Responds: Howdy, Todd,
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Thank you. I greatly prefer informal and friendly.
“Unassuming”? Could you elaborate?
occasionally. It isn’t a writing practice to which I am accustomed, so I either glaze over it or get untracked.
Joseph Responds: Very good and thank you. Another frequent reader suggested I use the standard HTML markups of H1, H2, H3 and so on. I’ll have to experiment. I tend to use the faux-HTML to alert people to a rambling or ancillary thought. Something to consider.
The jargon can be. Honestly, though, any time you are learning/reading about something new there are going to be areas that present some difficulty. If I wanted grape juice instead of a fine wine, I’d be shopping elsewhere.
Joseph Responds: Okay.
Assuming we’re discussing pictures and not graphs, are they intended to be helpful? If you are mentioning relativity and you put a picture of Einstein next to it, I’m not sure it makes what I’m reading any easier to understand. It can be distracting if the association between figure and text is not immediately obvious.
Joseph Responds: Thank you. Excellent feedback.
If the posts are interesting, they are always too short. Otherwise, they are too long.
Joseph Responds: LOL
It is frequently about you. Does that make it narcissistic? Egocentric? If so, I’m not sure that is a bad thing. I frequently go to your blogs to find out about things you are working on and/or your perspective on the days events. What else are you bringing to the table besides you?
Joseph Responds: Another excellent point. Thank you.
Too much for a formal writing effort, but blogs are informal.
Joseph Responds: Very useful input. Thank you.
Maybe. Maybe, more to the point, you have to ask yourself what your endeavor here really is.
Joseph Responds: Easy one; to learn, to share.
If you expect anyone to look up references cited for your writing, you probably need to produce a more formal product. (e.g., ask yourself “Do I quote myself too much?”). You need to decide just how serious or relaxed the writing is going to be and be consistent in your approach. And you have enough blogs, you could choose to write formally for 2-3 and more relaxed for the other 10.
Joseph Responds: That’s pretty much what I’m attempting in my various blogs, so thanks.
I’m also not sure the frequency of posting required for a blog couches with the formal approach, but you know those time requirements better than I do.
Joseph Responds: I am working at getting all blogs on a regular schedule so those with an interest will know when to go looking for posts should they not have the blog ping them when a new post goes live.
How narcissistic are you looking to get?
Joseph Responds: This is an interesting question. I strongly believe that Socrates’ “An unexamined life is not worth living” and I’ve long been quite open that I experiment on myself long before I’ll do something with others (perhaps an overlay of growing up in the ’60’s?). Still, I wouldn’t want self-inspection to get in the way of sharing (and I do recognize that any sharing must be a sharing of the “self”) and learning, my own and others.
Excellent question, though. Thanks for asking it.
I know you take this introversive analysis very seriously, but I think at the end of the day you know who you are
Joseph Responds: Usually. Sometimes I’m not sure. This comes into Lord John Whorfin’s “Character is what you are in the dark.”
- and what style of writing makes you happy. Write in a way that makes you happy and those that appreciate you will enjoy your product.
Joseph Responds: Excellent point and thank you. – Joseph
Howdy,
I again responded intercommentally.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Joseph
Unassuming – modest, self-depricating. I think you’re confidant in your own opinion, but not so confidant that you are unwilling to consider you have flaws only some of which you are aware of.
Joseph Response: Acknowledged.
I tend to just stick my tangent thoughts in parentheticals (resulting in my overuse of parentheticals) (more a comparison than a suggestion). Not that you’ve read his work, but Bill Simmons has authored two books in which he sticks all of his ramblings, tangents, and asides in footnotes. I think the purpose is, if you want to read through the topic, you can, and if you are comfortable getting untracked by the tangents, you can skip down to the footnotes (the books actually leave the footnotes in the margins, resulting in very little white in the margins).
Joseph Response: Ohh…this I like. Very much. Thanks.
The difficulty of sharing more about yourself becomes context. As a sports fan, I follow the tweets of some sports journalists, some of whom will tweet off-topic about music, restaurants, etc. They are sharing who they are and what is important to them in the decisions they make about what to tweet. With the volume you write (talking # of blogs, # of posts and not length), you share plenty of yourself. Those who regularly read your work know you. A conscious effort to share more about yourself … well, I don’t know how that turns out.
Joseph Response: Acknowledged, and thanks. – Joseph
Hello again,
Intercommentally again.
Good suggestions all, especially the use of footnotes. I like that very much.
Thanks,
Joseph
You’ve been busy – somehow I am a couple posts behind on JosephWatch!
Joseph Responds: Oh, god…a “JosephWatch”…
Here goes:
I think friendly, although I am struggling to understand “unfriendly writing”.
Joseph Responds: The term “unfriendly writing” is from an email comment I received re The Unfulfilled Promise of Online Analytics, Part 1. I’m still not sure what the commenter meant and was throwing it out in hopes of elucidation.
Your writing certainly doesn’t strike me as antagonistic. Do you mean friendly in the sense of “user-friendly”? Hmm. I expect so, but I know in my experience it took awhile for me to get “into” your writing.
Joseph Responds: No prob. It takes me a while to get into my writing, too.
So I think reading your posts can sometimes require context. I think that’s okay though. I don’t think this particular blog is targeted toward a general audience. Although I guess if it is – whoa!
Joseph Responds: As I don’t naturally seek the limelight, me thinks people need to come looking for me to find my blogs, and if they come a’lookin’…
I don’t know what people think, but as a geek faux-HTML makes me feel right at home. It reaffirms me. “Jen, you are in the right place.” However, I imagine it goes back to the audience thing. Faux-HTML could potentially turn off people who are non-geeky.
Joseph Responds: I think people who are non-geeky may just accept such things as another Josephism. I do like Todd’s suggestion of using footnotes, something I easily do in research papers and books and find a bit more work to do in web pages.
I do not find your writing difficult to read. I sometimes find I have to print if a post is particularly long or if it’s a subject that will require me to reread and rethink. I think this is a GOOD thing. I am happy to be made to think.
Joseph Responds: As am I…I think…
I find that what I struggle with most with the images is that I occasionally cannot read them. For instance, on graphs I often cannot read the labels. I think sometimes you post them as links to larger versions, and that’s good. I particularly liked the images on the ice cream trip, but I think that’s my whole “yay mundane things” hangup.
Joseph Responds: I’ll be more attentive in the future. Thanks.
Too long? No, I don’t think so. I think Todd said this extremely well. There have been plenty of times when I wanted more and/or had a million questions mostly that start with “Yeah, but what about..” I don’t recall thinking that something was too long unless I was uncomfortable or extremely confused. In those cases I race through and then reread more carefully.
Yes, your writing is narcissistic. You didn’t ask whether that was bad, but this IS a blog, right? If I am reading a blog I expect maximum narcissism. Time and place! Right time, right place.
Joseph Responds: Hmm…
Quote yourself too much? This one confuses me, as I have never particularly noticed you quoting yourself. I guess you must not do it too much for me. Also, since your blog has a point, I think I expect it to be internally consistent and cross referenced, so linking to previous things makes good sense. It can be particularly helpful to people coming in to a thread new, or if a post had been missed. I have often used those types of links.
Joseph Responds: Okay.
I consider scientific accuracy part of your “style” and therefore a non-issue.
Joseph Responds: Thankee. I admit I do prefer being able to document my statements with our own and others’ research rather than just putting an opinion out there. I hope that when I do offer “opinion” it’s obviously so (most likely by the use of faux-HTML).
And, back to my penchant for mundane. Of course you should share more! Of course, use of the word “should” seems odd here. There is nothing you “should” in my opinion. It’s your space – seems like you should be primarily beholden to you. Oh, and Susan, of course ;) I am sure your readers are grateful that you care, but in the end, there is no should. There is only do, or do not. (poor Yoda, I constantly mangle and abuse his quote)
Joseph Responds: My favorite Yodaism is from a sweatshirt, “What would Yoda do? Your Butt, Kick It, He Would!”
Other things. I love Todd’s footnote idea – that’s what I would call annotated writing. I love reading books and columns that are annotated, and I really believe it gives the author more freedom. You can write the post itself through with any references or jargon that you think articulates your point, and then people who want more information can follow the annotation. It allows for easier cross-reference, and potentially broadens your audience. All these things are supposed to be the promise of hypertext, after all, right?
Joseph Responds: Oh! Oh! The Unfulfilled Promise of HyperText! Oh! Oh!
I can’t really think of any other-other things, but I tend not to be shy on the internet. I’ll surely tell you if something occurs to me!
Joseph Responds: Thankee and please do!
-Jen
Howdy,
As always, thanks for reading and commenting.
I responded intercommentally.
Joseph
This is the first time I’ve seen somebody ask their readers how to make their blog better. I’m impressed. Are you going to collect everybody’s thoughts and publish them so the rest of us will know how to do it?
Good. I meant to write that your writing is good.
Ms. Moscow,
Thanks for reading and commenting, and for coming back to let me know you think my writing is good.
I hadn’t planned on collecting everyone’s thoughts and publishing it. Let me take a while to learn if the suggestions work well for my readers or just flatter me.
Thanks,
Joseph
It’s amazing how many keywords your blogs show up under. I did searches on gender marketing and social media and you came up all times. Keep writing, people will find you.
Thank you.
People are always sending me links indicating where I or our work is showing up. It’s always flattering.
Glad you found me and I hope it’s valuable to you. Please let me know if there’s more or other I can offer you.
Joseph
Really nice site. Hope to visit it again soon
Thank you and glad you enjoyed.
Please let me know if there’s more or other I can offer you.
I very much liked the given material. I will come here often
Thank you, Alasail.
I’m incorporating the suggestions gave me (in response to this post) in my next Analytics Ecology post (The Unfulfilled Promise of Online Analytics, Part 3 – Determining the Human Cost).
Glad you find the material herein worthy.
Joseph
Thank you, I regularly read your blog, I have some questions for you, let me know if you want to contact me by e-mail
Hello and thanks. Please feel free to contact me via email.
can i translate in Russian and post on my blog? )
Hello,
Yes, please do. Also please provide a link back when you do. I’d love to know what this looks like in Russian.
Joseph
Hi! I found you in yahoo!
Hello Baitaawasia,
Thank goodness for Yahoo, yes?
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Joseph
I can not participate now in discussion – I have not read many your blogs. But I will return – I will necessarily write.
More should ask as you do so their blogs are better. I congratulate, it is simply magnificent idea.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Multinb. I’ll await your comments after you’ve read more of my blogs.
Joseph
Sometimes I think that you are exaggerating and want to give the people a false impression.
Hello and thanks for reading and commenting.
Could you indicate what you think is an exxageration? I tend to document everything and usually publish our results in either conference proceedings or journals of one kind or another, so please let me know what, exactly, you believe is an exxageration so that I can provide documentation otherwise.
Joseph
Inner beauty is a difference between an educated person, quiet and adequate. Your writing is proof. Thank you.
Thanks for reading and commenting, TTSTAR.
Joseph
Good article. You must be a journalist?
Thanks, Shwonder. I think journalists get paid for their writing, though.
Joseph
I would like to express my appreciation for your post. That’s really great to know that there are such people like you who do their job very well and with such enthusiasm.
My thanks and happy to do my job to the best of my abilities. Enthusiasm comes from doing so, me thinks.
Joseph
I’ve seen this post of this blog posted by one of my friends on facebook and I will be sharing it with my other friends Thanks