HuffPost, My Writing Muse (Booty Call)

Chances are if you are a writer you’ve suffered writer’s block. Hours sitting at the computer praying, begging the universe bequeath on to you the muse of Hemingway or some other departed master of prose. Whether you’re writing a feature article, a short story, or novel, try as you may, sometime the words just won’t come. Well, back in August I found my muse in the guise of The Huffington Post. After writing one heartfelt post, I quickly warmed to this commenting thing. Now I write with regularity for a very selfish reason. When I feel myself getting writers’ block, I jet on over to Huffpost, read until I encounter something I want to comment on and have at it.

Once I’ve suckled on the teats of HP till I’m fat and happy and can suckle no more,(thanks Gladiator), I return to the serious writing. The writing that hopefully gets me to Athens, Greece, the place my greatest inspiration, Socrates, lived and died. Psst…please don’t tell HP. If  they were aware they’re the equivalent of a booty call, I just might get tossed off the site. Seriously, nothing gets my writer’s juices flowing more than commenting on a topic of  interest. On top of that, Huffpost is an ego booster. If someone likes your comment, you’re faved or fanned and sometime both.

(A screen shot please don’t click below image)

Recent badge received. Go on Mary_Catter!

Yes, in this one area of my life, I seek and welcome validation. Arianna Huffington obviously had her finger on the pulse of the human psyche when she came up with the idea to marry news, content aggregation and blogging on one website. Also, a stroke of pure genius was the addition of site moderators, I call them hawk eyes, to keep commentators from straying too far off the reservation. In other words trolls are kept to a limit. Sometime there’s a lively back and forth but nothing totally outrageous like some other news sites I’ve tried.

Speaking of validation the Huffpost also hands out different levels of badges. If you’re considered to be really socially connected with a certain number of fans and friends and all that good stuff, you earn a badge if you opt to partake. If you’re up on your politicking and super sleuthing and can write to boot, there just might be a badge in it for you. Seriously, if you are a writer and find yourself in the doldrums, try commenting. It doesn’t have to be Huffpost. Any old website you happen upon with an article that illicits your two cents worth will do just fine.

I just happen to love HP because I’m impatient and it’s one stop shopping for my need to read and comment. Not to mention all my comments and interaction with others are right there.  You can’t get a better muse than knowing someone likes your little bits and pieces of commentary enough to fave or fan them, sometime both. So you  return to your manuscript, your writer’s engine revved up, knowing not if but when you falter, your writing muse is but a click away.

How Becoming a HuffPost Commenter Boosted This Writer’s Self-Confidence

One commentary coming right up.

Commenting about issues and hoping to make a difference, is truly empowering. Instead of reading trolls ridiculous mudslinging on CNN.com, USAToday.com, and several others, I became a power commenter, thanks to The Huffington Post. The moderators can keep you pending but that’s a small price to pay to avoid crossing the troll bridge.

A lack of confidence kept me from engaging right away. Who, I wondered, would give a damn about what I had to say. Then I had an epiphany.  Maybe they wouldn’t want to hear what I had to say, but maybe they would Mary_Catter.  The name’s a play on Alice Adventures in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter. Then I made Tigger’s looking out the window image my avatar, and thus Mary_Catter stepped through The Looking-Glass.

For a long stretch there wasn’t much I wanted to comment about. Then I read a real infuriating article. It was about Todd Aiken’s interview in which he stated if a woman was legitimately raped her body could shut that whole thing down to avoid getting pregnant. That such a Neanderthal zealot could end up in the senate forced Mary_Catter into a passive-aggressive battle.

I marched a battalion of words across the rectangular box reserved for them. The comment was brief but heartfelt. Even if only one person liked it I would still consider it time well spent. So I sent my message to the cyberverse battlefield and returned to my manuscript. Surprisingly, the words flowed like lava. It seemed the mere act of commenting exploded the writing muse inside of me.

Hours later when I returned to Huffington Post lo and behold several notifications awaited me. I clicked on the word notification. To my relief and surprise, they were favs, one F&F and a reply gushing about how she loved the imagery. Of course I thanked them by fanning them and that dear friends felt really great.

I quickly grew drunk with power and found myself commenting with mad aplomb. I’d encountered like-minded individuals, mostly political junkies like myself and I was thrilled I tell you, absolutely Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch thrilled. Finally I had validation that people, complete strangers, liked what I had to say.

One guy, at least according to the picture, suggested I post more. So I did, mostly comments about political happenings.

Commenting on The Huffington Post news website was just the confidence booster I needed. It’s like toastmasters for those afraid to put their thoughts out there. Along with this blog, Huffpost is now my designated hangout when I’m taking a break from my manuscripts.  If Mary_Catter reads something that elicits a response, she will put her mad paws to the keyboard and bombard you with her words.