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inevitably-johnlocked · 5 years

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I'm a bit embarrassed to ask this. Have you ever read a fic that, stylistically, it's beautiful, linguistically it's tight, and it's obvious the author poured their whole self into constructing the plot, crafting the world, and nailing down the characterizations, but... You just don't get it? Like, perhaps there's some insight you're missing, and it's almost there, you think maybe you're close to getting what the author is trying to portray, but you just can't make the connection necessary?

(Embarrassed nonny continued) You even reread to make sure you didn’t skip anything, but it’s like it just seems that something missing? Or that you’re the one missing something vital? So you go to the comments to see if anyone else is confused, but all you see are lovely, supportive compliments about how beautiful the story is (and it is), or how heartwrenching it is (usually so). But you seem to be the only one not getting it?

(Embarrassed nonny cont. again) Is it destructive to let the author know that I think a story is beautiful in it’s telling, but that I don’t quite understand it? I don’t want to offend the author, who has clearly worked very hard, and I appreciate them so much. But, I want to understand the story they’re telling, even if I’m the only one not getting it. If that even makes any sense. P.S.- thanks for always taking time to listen to fandom woes and fielding requests. You’re a champion! ❤

Hi Nonny!

First of all, there’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about! Stories are partly about authorial intent, and partly about reader interpretation; no two people will interpret a story the same, and no author SHOULD expect a reader to interpret their story exactly as the author intended. SHERLOCK is a perfect example of this (the writers SAY they meant it to be one thing and literally the ENTIRE FANDOM is divided on what’s actually being shown on screen), or if you want to be more classical, the works of Shakespeare as well.

In fact, Shakespeare is a perfect example of your problem: I love Shakespeare: it’s beautifully written, it sounds lovely to the ear, and it invokes imagery based on how someone interprets it. But I sure as heck have NO idea what I read until someone explained it to me, or how I SHOULD have interpreted it (which, is oxymoronic to my point, I know…). Only after I hear how someone else interpreted the work, I can then RE-READ a work and begin to understand what was meant by it, and then develop my own interpretations.

I’ve read a few fics by a couple authors in this fandom where I LOVED their writing, but I had NO idea what was happening until I re-read the fics… it’s a reading comprehension thing with me, I’m sure (my brain tends to move a bit quicker than I can read and talk, and in turn it also tends to wander when my eyes aren’t going fast enough, LOL), but a lot of times, if I just read a fic a second time I can then grasp the words my brain omitted the first time and then really enjoy and love the fic. I hate that about me, but that’s how my brain works… Perhaps it may be the same with your brain? If a fic is well written and you enjoyed it but just had some comprehension issues, perhaps a second read-through will help you as it has done with me :)

So, now to answer your question: if after reading a fic, and you don’t understand it, is it okay to ask the authorial intent of the story? Unfortunately, there is no yes-or-no answer to this question, Lovely, as every author is different. Personally – and this is just for me speaking, and what I would do or what I would not mind if I were the author – I think it’s alright, so long as you are respectful to them! Dig around their user pages and you can often find ways to interact with the author outside of their fics, or information about whether or not they want to read criticism etc. on their stories. If an author doesn’t want any interaction, they’ll be very clear about it, but most authors have ways to get in touch with them, so to ME that’s a saying “hey, if you have any questions, here’s how to get a hold of me!”.

If they have a Tumblr with asks turned on, you can even do it like you have done for me here; write exactly what you mentioned, just tweak a few things: Mention how much you love their prose and their storytelling, and you can really feel how much love they put into the story. You found it interesting, though you’re unclear on a few parts. Ask them kindly how they intended for an audience to read it. Many creators appreciate honesty when talking about their works, so just be honest and say that you didn’t understand something and wouldn’t mind a bit of clarification about something. They can’t fault you for not understanding something, and if they do, well… I find that rather ableist, in my opinion: That’s like telling someone with dyslexia to just stop mixing up letters, or someone who’s native language isn’t English to just learn one of the most complex languages in the world with so many structure rules that make no sense half the time…. *shrugs* It’s harsh of me to say, I am sorry about that, writers, but reading comprehension doesn’t come easily for everyone.

ANYWAY, back to my point: An author, so long as you are respectful (and maybe peppering in some compliments and praise never hurts either… a lot of us creative-types have praise kinks) and don’t throw a backhanded compliment (like don’t say: “Your work is so amazing! Though I think you should make it easier for people to understand it, your words are too complex”), they will be more than happy to write out their intent for the story. Let them know it’s YOU who’s not understanding (so, “I have trouble understanding this part” as opposed to “you should make this work easier to read for everyone”… make the onus on YOU). DON’T be demanding (like, don’t say something that can be interpreted as “it’s YOUR responsibility to cater to MY need to understand”), and be patient for a reply.

You can see why this isn’t an easy yes-or-no answer, LOL.

Essentially, kindness begets kindness, and respect begets respect. And – this isn’t an attack on you personally with regards to this ask, because I know my audience are adorably shy beans – it might be a show of good faith and intentions to stay off anon when you ask your question; it shows the author that you aren’t being malicious, just simply a smol bean who loves stories and want to learn more about theirs. BUT, it IS okay to stay on-anon if you are shy / worried about not the author but other people interpreting it the wrong way, just make sure you tailor your question to the author in a respectful way that it comes across as respect. Perhaps something like this:

Hi, [author]! I really love your story, [story title]! It’s well-written and I can really tell how much you love this story and how much soul you put into it. I just had a question for you with regards to [name concern here]. [state question here]. I have trouble sometimes with [reading comprehension, English/language, dyslexia, etc.], and I would love to know what your ideas and thought process was for [character, plot point, situation, etc.]. Understanding what the author intended really helps me enjoy the stories even more than I already did, and your thoughts would be really helpful for when I re-read your story! Thank you so much for your time, and thank you for blessing us with this beautiful story!

Or something like that, LOL. And if you genuinely aren’t a native-language speaker, let them know that it’s not your first language so you’re just honestly not grasping a colloquialism that’s common in English but not in, say, German. It’s more common than you think! I’ve had people ask me in private before about a phrase I’ve written or about how they should interpret a meta of mine; I’ve never taken insult upon it, and in fact I love helping people understand my work so that they can enjoy other peoples’ content in the future.

As an additional thought I just had, I think a good example of fandom-understanding-authors is, actually, the @johnlockficclub; every couple months or so we read new stories, and then at the end of the story, we ask authors our questions about their intent of the stories, and in turn the author gets an interesting (I hope) insight into how various people interpreted their stories. Even during the live-chats leading up to the author q-and-a, we all see how we each interpreted certain sections of the chapters we read that week, and see various viewpoints we never considered. So I think that is a wonderful way to see authorial intent vs. reader interpretation, and as far as I know, all the authors we’ve “interviewed” loved just getting that kind of feedback for their stories. You should join in on at least the author interviews just to see how they go and give you some ideas on how an author will take feedback. It’s so fascinating to me!

Just a fun little anecdote that oftentimes, it is a positive experience for an author because most of them love to talk about their stories – their stories are their children, and they care deeply for them, because it’s a part of them, and it’s an expression of their love. They WANT you to understand and enjoy their work. It’s a cyclical thing: if you understand their children so you can love them too, then they will love their fanbase and will want to continue to write since they received feedback that was validating to them that they produce work that people enjoy and want to know more about.

Finally, I’d love for some authors to weigh in on their thoughts about this; would you be offended if someone loved your story but would want your clarification on some things, or want to know how you intended for the audience to perceive it? Please let us know!

Sorry this answer was so long, but I hope it helps!

P.S. Aww, you’re far too kind, Nonny! me. XD

#steph replies #my advice #fan fiction #authorial intent vs reader interpretation #my thoughts #Anonymous

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samuelpboswell · 5 years

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#CMWorld 2019 Recap: Top Insights & TopRank Marketing’s Favorite Moments

It’s always fascinating when thousands of marketers, many of whom are competitors, can come together for a week to share ideas, innovations, and advice with one another to grow their business and push the boundaries of their industry. Content Marketing World 2019 was no exception to this act of selfless sharing. It was my first time attending and between the thought-provoking content, industry-leading speakers, and generously engaging attendees, I certainly hope it’s not my last. At TopRank Marketing, we made it our mission to ensure our readers would share in the benefit of our attendance. Below are the ideas, people, and moments that we were grateful to experience last week, all of which are summarized for your consuming pleasure below. We hope that similar to our conference experience, you walk away with a notebook chock-full of ideas to grow your content marketing programs. Enjoy!

Big Ideas Beget Big Ideas

At CMWorld 2019, every speakers’ session seemed to build from one another, making for a cohesive and comprehensive learning experience. Common themes included:

Using data to tell stories

Creating content that feels personal

Creatively amplifying your message

Leveraging teams and technology to scale

Our live coverage of several sessions delved into all of these themes.

Using Data to Tell Stories

Lee Odden Shares His Secret to Content Marketing Fitness #CMWorld CEO of TopRank Marketing Lee Odden took the stage on Wednesday afternoon to draw parallels between his physical fitness journey and that of creating an always-on content marketing program. The underlying message throughout his presentation was that you should always be leveraging your data to iterate, optimize and push the boundaries of what you thought was possible. Read the entire blog here. April Henderson on Data-Driven, Empathetic B2B Content #CMWorld Forrester's April Henderson followed up the next day to talk about data-driven, empathetic B2B content. And no - that’s not an oxymoron. She pushed her audience to think past traditional B2B content to build stories that don't stray from statistics but instead, leverage them to resonate with your audience's emotional side. Read the entire post here.

Creating Personal Content

Create a Stellar Audience Experience By Slowing Down with These Tips from Ann Handley #CMWorld MarketingProfs Chief Content Officer Ann Handley provided her audience with a powerful session that urged marketers to slow down and take the time to get to know their audience. She stresses that relationships, especially between buyer and seller, take time to build. Marketers who not only understand this but covet it as their guide to building great content, are going to be leaps and bounds ahead of the rest. Read the entire blog post here. Carlos Abler Details How Content Marketing Can Contribute to the Greater Good #CMWorld 3M's Carlos Abler spoke to an audience of marketers about expanding the idea of personal content to include social value. Although brands have been notoriously known for sticking to objectives that only benefit themselves, Carlos ensures us that by building a strategy that provides our audiences an aspect of social value, we will be helping our bottom-line as well. Read more from his session here.

Creatively Amplifying Content

Get Heroic Results from B2B Influencer Marketing with Advice from Ashley Zeckman #CMWorld Despite an 8 a.m. start time on the last day of CMWorld, the room for Ashley Zeckman’s presentation on B2B Influencer Marketing was packed, a good indication of the thirst for this topic. Using Guardians of the Galaxy to help explain her approach to building successful influencer programs, she laid forward essential do’s and don’ts, wrapping it all up in real-world examples for her audience to take away. Read our entire recap from Ashley's presentation here.

Leveraging Teams and Tech to Scale

Zari Venhaus’s Framework for Gaining Executive Buy-In for Marketing Technology #CMWorld Eaton's Director of Corporate Marketing Communications Zari Venhaus knows better than most that the best content marketing strategies will have an uphill battle gaining traction if the proper tools are not in place to scale efforts. That’s why she gave a thorough presentation on her tried and true framework for getting martech approval from senior executives. Read the full post here. How to Drive Better Content Marketing Results with Integrated Marketing Teams: Top Tips from NewsCred's Shafqat Islam #CMWorld NewsCred Co-Founder and CEO Shafqat Islam hit on a point that many of us marketers already know to be true: consumers demand a consistent, omnichannel experience from brands. However, knowing and doing are two very different things. Shafqat laid out his process for building teams that not only understand this key truth, but can also implement it at scale. Read the entire live blog here.

Off-Stage Insights

To make this conference experience extra special, the TopRank Marketing team sat down with some of the brightest minds in B2B, interviewing them one-on-one to get their unique perspective on the state of our industry. We sat down with the majority of these experts moments after they exited the stage, speaking on their respective topics of expertise. We will be releasing the full interviews from these industry leaders in the weeks to follow. But here are a few profound snippets to hold you over:

Amanda Todorovich

Senior Director of Health Content, Cleveland Clinic [bctt tweet="Health is so personal and so sacred that building that trust is so important. - Amanda Todorovich @amandatodo" username="toprank"]

Amisha Gandhi

Vice President of Influencer Marketing & Communications, SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass [bctt tweet="Focus on creating engaging content, not lead gen content, to align with the expectations of today’s B2B buyer. - Amisha Gandhi @AmishaGandhi" username="toprank"]

Brody Dorland

Co-Founder, DivvyHQ [bctt tweet="I feel strongly that companies need to get out of the campaign mentality and leverage their channels for ongoing content that is going to serve their audience. - Brody Dorland @brodydorland" username="toprank"]

Clare Carr

Vice President of Marketing, Parse.ly [bctt tweet="Remember that your B2B audience is human and treat them that way. - Clare Carr @clareondrey" username="toprank"]

Jeff Pugel

Founder & Chief Growth Officer, Ignition [bctt tweet="Figure out who you are, as a business, and everything else will start to figure itself out. - Jeff Pugel @jeffpugel" username="toprank"]

John Joyce

Global Marketing Director, Brennan Industries [bctt tweet="That’s why we do content marketing - to start communicating and providing value to our audience. - John Joyce @mrjohnjoyce" username="toprank"]

Maliha Aqeel

Assistant Director of Brand, Marketing & Communications, Ernst and Young [bctt tweet="By and large society is forcing companies to change. They are saying it is no longer acceptable to operate the way you’ve always operated - you’ve got to put society first. - Maliha Aqeel @MalihaQ" username="toprank"]

Margaret Magnarelli

Executive Director for Growth Marketing & Audience Acquisition, Morgan Stanley [bctt tweet="The more you can get to know your customer and develop a care and empathy for them, the more you are going to do what is right for that person - not just because it is a marketing trend you can follow. - Margaret Magnarelli @mmagnarelli" username="toprank"]

Stephanie Stahl

General Manager, Content Marketing Institute [bctt tweet="We keep the conversation and the community going 365 days a year. - Stephanie Stahl of @CMIContent" username="toprank"]

Zari Venhaus

Director of Corporate Marketing Communications, Eaton [bctt tweet="Marketers need to take a step back and think about the larger ecosystem in which they operate. - Zari Venhaus @zvenhaus" username="toprank"]

Connecting with the Content Community

Oftentimes conferences give us the opportunity to check in with friends in our industry, grab a bite together and share a laugh. The team at TopRank Marketing used our spare moments to do just that, connecting with old friends as well as new. We captured a few of our favorite moments with these folks below. [caption id="attachment_27087" align="alignnone" width="600"] TopRank Marketing team members Josh Nite, Ashley Zeckman, and Lee Odden with Robert Rose.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_27084" align="alignnone" width="600"] An annual tradition, TopRank Marketing had a lovely dinner with old and new friends.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_27116" align="alignnone" width="512"] TopRank Marketing President Susan Misukanis interview Amanda Todorovich of Cleveland Clinic, while TopRank Marketing's Director of Demand Gen Kelly Hogan runs the camera.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_27119" align="alignnone" width="600"] Lee Odden with two amazing friends and marketers Ann Handley and Joe Pulizzi.[/caption]

Wrapping it Up

To summarize our experience: we came, we saw, we conquered, all in hopes of bringing back the thought-leadership that transpired to our clients and our communities. As much as we enjoy being at the event, we enjoy, even more so, sharing those learnings with you. There is a balance in our community of giving and receiving, and we like to err on the side of giving. Did you attend Content Marketing World 2019? What were some of your top takeaways or favorite moments? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

The post #CMWorld 2019 Recap: Top Insights & TopRank Marketing’s Favorite Moments appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

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ralphlayton · 5 years