Do you? Sleep on it.
That’s what I do when I’m writing for this blog, so I would
ask the same consideration from you.
Not that there are not occasions where an immediate reply is
needed, but probably not on this blog.
We don’t really deal with the topic of the day or current events. We review art. That doesn’t have to hit the press today. In fact, most of the art we review has been
out for a while anyone, so no one is knocking down my door for this stuff. Even when I address something more currently,
I haven’t come across anything yet that demands that I reply this very instant.
I’m also the sort that writes very strongly in a first
draft, and I tend to mellow in the editing process as I see that I don’t need to
be so harsh or whatever. And I’ve read
comments on the Internet. I’m not the
only one who writes strongly in their first drafts.
So my basic rule here is that I write something, I let it
sit overnight – sometimes multiple nights – and edit it again. That way I am sure that I’ve let my own emotions
settle, that I’ve done my own devotion time, read the Bible, prayed, and come
back to the piece again. I don’t believe
that you necessarily need to say something now,
and I’m firmly believe the world would be a better place if we all took a
moment to decide whether something needs to be said now rather than later,
and opted for later much more often.
Internet comments don’t work that way. And frankly, of the thousands upon thousands
upon thousands I have read, only a handful were actually worthwhile, and most
of them, honestly, came from James White.
Since I doubt he’s reading this blog, I’m relatively comfortable in
turning off comments.
By the way – James White has mentioned before how he doesn’t
like the rush of the comment-craze either.
If you want to say something about what I have written, I
would ask that you sleep on it. If it is
still important tomorrow, then have at it.
Write it down, post it on your own blog or Facebook or wherever you
like, then send me the link. My Twitter
handle is @CalvinistNerd if you want to tweet it at me. Don’t expect an immediate reply. It’ll probably be a few days so I can digest
what you have said, worked to take my own emotions out of it, and reply.
But don’t expect me to make my corner of the internet a
haven for hasty responses and trolls just because you feel that your comment is
critical to get down.
