other people and their filters

I came across something today that I wanted to share... this will be a brief post, as its 1255 in the morning time, and I'm tired and want to sleep...


...but I had to toss this out there.  Jon Acuff writes two different blogs... God love him, I can barely keep up with one, but there's his main sight, Stuff Christians Like... then there is his more personal site, Jon Acuff, which he puts little truths, tidbits and life lessons.


Today, it was titled "1 Thing Writer's Shouldn't Forget", and it was about a main point that we, as writers and bloggers, often fail to consider when writing.


See, I think I can speak a little for fellow bloggers like Jamie Harper, or Jason Sprague, or Chris Holmes, or Kim Fortenberry, (some of these names are completely foreign to some of you... and that's okay.  If you are thinking "oh, he's just linking those sites in case I might click on them and give them some traffic..." well... you might be right.) or any other number of pages I check on a weekly to semi-weekly basis... we have a habit of trying to please, maybe a little too much.


I think this is important to a point... I don't want to just come out and do three days of movie listings and... well... okay... that's kinda my thing so I'll have it on record what I watched in 2013, but you get my drift.  We do have to play to an audience somewhat.


But Acuff, in his post, spelled out two things that I can't forget... the first is this:

You don’t get to control what people read, you get to control what you write. And those things are very different

I can't make anyone read what I write.  I can't control the posts they search for, and subsequently, I cannot control what people may or may not stumble across if its publish on a blog.  If I wrote something in March of 2008 that I'm not really proud of, if its still up there, I can't stop people from finding it.  I can only control the content.  I can only make sure what is written is respectable, acceptable, above reproach and at least have an attempt made at being somewhat decent.


And the other thing?  This one hit me hard as it dawned on me... its common sense, but it still caught me off guard:

Often because people don’t read what you write with their eyes, they read what you write with their filter.

Whoa.


Everyone has a filter.  And they aren't just using that filter to read what I write... they are using it to hear what I say.  To watch what I do.  And to read, hear and watch what you do as well.  Everyone has a filter... myself include. 


If I'm being completely honest with myself, I would say its seldom that I don't have at least a teeny tiny preconceived notion of something when I go through any kind of new experience, be it seeing a movie for the first time, reading a book, reading a blog, visiting a restaurant, or meeting someone new.  Or hearing someone I've know for a while tell me a story.  I use my filter. 


I guess this was weighing on me today as I finished a book, then watched the movie adaption, all in one day--and I want to talk about it.  But to do so, I'm going to have to be opinionated.  Probably very opinionated.  I've already lost a few Twitter followers because I carry with me strong opinions on certain topics that, while I don't spout off endlessly and recklessly, I don't hesitate to comment on a story or a news headline.


And I mustn't be afraid to write what I want to write... if that loses my readers, then... well, then that's what I'll have to face.  I don't control what filters people use when they read what I write, I can only control what I write, and how I write it. 


So that's it.  I do have some American Idol thoughts coming soon enough, I do want to review the book/movie just completed, and I still have my favorite books and movies from 2013 to fill you guys in on.  And so much more, too. 


G'night.  Crap its late. But I'm glad I wrote.


Cause I'm a writer, and I can't not write.


FYI... I picked "March 2008" randomly when I wrote that above... not only does it have one of my favorite posts from the mission field... not only does it have a post about leaving our old apartment and moving into The Cabana... it also has a post declaring what I believe, which I know led to some people not reading my blog at all... and I'm okay with it.


(13,188 words in #500Words Challenge... 6812 words to go in #20KWordsInJanuary)