Why are people mean on Notes?

Also, why are people mean, but anyways...

Good morning, good morning.

Yesterday I read a Substack Note that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind.

The original posted as posted Note said:

“I hate to burst bubbles, but there are people who read 100 books a year who cannot put emotion on the page, who write whole novels without any scenery, cannot do imagery to save their lives, and make everything sound like a textbook. Reading is important but numbers do not tell the whole story. And some people cannot read their way out of a lack of talent.”

Just sit with it for a minute. Give me a second to gather my thoughts.

I didn’t put the person’s name in here because I’m being critical of their Note and I don’t think it’s fair for me to be picking on them, specifically. But…

Their Note is mean. I can’t overlook that and I think that’s what caught my attention in the first place. And it seems oddly unjustifiably mean. Like, why are they even saying this? Maybe they’re reading a whole slew of first drafts for a class they’re teaching and they’ve become overwhelmed by the number of texts in need of serious revisions. I don’t know. I didn’t inquire. Benefit of the doubt and all that.

Sure, maybe writing isn’t always an amazing first or third draft, but there is something particularly ungenerous about criticizing or mocking people who try. People who try, who genuinely try, are often willing to keep trying and to keep learning, and to practice. Imagine the effort it took them to do the amount of work that they did, even if it’s missing some important components. Reading is a great way to figure out what you might be missing in your draft(s).

I have read my fair share of less than ideal term papers and I’ve read some less than well done, published(!), academic articles. And as someone who has extensive experience with academic papers, I have never viewed it as my place to tear a learner down when they’re at least trying. My job is to point out ways that they can improve their work generally, if they want to, for the next version or their next paper in my class or another class. I don’t labour over this, but it doesn’t take me any extra effort to think over the structure, content, argument, etc. and just offer a few tips or tricks.

While I do think some people are inherently better at making arguments than others - my child loooooves to argue about everything, for example, so I imagine he should be naturally good at writing the argument portion of reports and papers (Ha!) - there is a lot to the craft of writing that is learned. How do you go about designing a plot or believable characters or descriptions of scenery that flow or etc.? How do you learn how to write an introduction or a discussion or a conclusion? How do you write a poem? An essay? An anything? Maybe you read some craft books or take a class or dedicate yourself to reading that type of writing or style what you write on some articles you’ve read.

I am stuck on the implication in the Note that it takes talent to write. Here I am interpreting talent to mean ‘an inherent gift’ or a ‘know how’ that one is born with because that’s how it comes off to me in the Note. That, following the 16 c conceptualization, crafting a successful novel with all the right bits done well requires a sort of ‘special natural ability or aptitude’.

But that feels weird to me. Which is not to say that many people aren’t excellent writers without degrees and MFAs and editors and friends to be their first readers, but many writers would tell you that they are the writers they are because they write and write and write. Because they develop a skill through practice. Because they get rejections but they don’t quit.

Writers all write in a different way. I’ve read loads and loads of books. I’m one of those 100s of books a year people. I read 110 in 2024. 114 in 2023. I am good at writing some things, and less good at writing others. And some things, like dialogue, come to me more easily than writing in a way that creates emotions in people. And when a couple friends read my novel draft in September (deadline!), they might say to me, “Look, Nat, you can’t put emotion on the page, or you can’t write imagery to save your life, or these sections sound like a textbook” but that doesn’t mean I can’t fix it. Or learn. Or get better. And it’s unlikely that everything is awful. And if it is, maybe it’s because I’m a newbie. A brandie new baby writer. Or maybe I’m writing in my second language. Or maybe I’m fucking delusional. But I find it hard to believe that people can’t build up enough skill with effort. And here is what I know in my soul: It’s mean and unjust to criticize others for trying.

As someone who has read and does read loads of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, I can say, with great certainty, that some people write emotion incredibly well. And some people write environment or scenery really well. And some people are low plot, high vibes. And some are more intellectually engaging. And not every novel features all these things in one place, together, done well. And I’m telling you, that’s okay.

My lived experience of the world doesn’t allow me to experience emotion, colours, taste, sights, sounds, neurodivergence, ways of learning, thinking, doing, etc. the same way every other human experiences their world. And if this is okay in the real world, it should be okay in the written world too.

We’re all at different levels of experience, with life, with skills, with understanding, with language. And I hope the people I meet as I level up in all aspects of my life are gentle with me. As far as I know, this is my first time being a person.

n xx