If the community is a magazine
The Internet has made words famous and become a popular rhythm.
In the past, writing was associated with scholars. Written writing was formal and full of rules. It was a high-level communication medium and a tool dedicated to high-level cultural temperament.
Once upon a time, bringing up a pen was such a ritualistic thing. Nowadays, while there are fewer and fewer readers, there are more and more people writing. Chatting with casual remarks has turned into a circle of friends with casual writing; a discussion circle with red faces and loud voices has formed a tower of words in the community.
It is difficult to make people read a book, but it is much easier to make people pay attention to a public account or blog. If people can interact through text in a community with a sense of belonging, and let their minds and hearts be affected, it will be quietly , "little actions" that happen every day.
▲If people interact with each other through text in a community with a sense of belonging, and their minds and hearts are affected, then it is a "small action" that happens quietly and every day.
From facing away from readers to a text platform for two-way communication
I used to be a person who wrote quietly behind the scenes. At first, I was really not used to having readers around me or right in front of me. I used to be lucky about my writing. I wanted to put my thoughts into words, throw them in front of readers and run away. I didn’t need to see anyone’s expression after reading, let alone accept questioning.
I admit that I am an ostrich. I write articles and books. I have a little bit of fun. I like to bury my head in front of a piece of manuscript paper and a screen, with my back to the reader and say: "La la la la, I can't see it, I can't see it, I can't see it." "To you!" Therefore, I write freely and without too many scruples. I am accustomed to writing passionately and using one-way thinking to communicate with readers who may or may not exist. For many writers, writing is about being true to yourself and there is no need to worry about readers’ reactions.
I believe that since ancient times, many excellent authors have dug springs from the deep wells of their own souls, which can nourish and solve the puzzles of millions of readers who have never met them. Life is intertwined. Faced with the common life, old age, illness, death, love, hatred, love and hatred, it is indeed possible to write words that touch people's hearts without having to face each other face to face. But looking at it, there are really not many authors with such talent.
The greatest charm of communicative writing is that it inspires more people to grasp and use words in the process of communication. For specific groups of people, genders, issues of common concern, or share fragments of your own life, or express your views or feelings on a particularly touching topic, hoping to arouse resonance. If you can interact with readers, you can inject richer and more specific content.
In the era of typeface, limited by the publishing platform, communicative writing could only happen in imagination. A column was written for two or three years but received few responses from readers. Until the Internet opened up this way - no matter how reclusive writers are now, in addition to paper texts, they almost always have another platform for real-time interaction. Even the older generation of Internet alien writers have publishers looking for people to help them set up and manage blogs and Facebook pages.
Some popular millennial writers spend a lot of time running online platforms to interact with readers, allowing their readers to form a community for text dialogue. These writers write articles to guide readers, and let readers' responses guide their own writing. Such creative products belong to the writer and are the joint creation of the entire community.
From the practical considerations of publishing, it makes sense to care about the number of blogs even more than print media. Because the circulation of a book or the readers that a magazine can attract may not be as large as the subscriptions of a blog. Not to mention the difficulty of writing a book. For a novice writer, how long does it take to write it before publishing it? There are also many difficulties in submitting articles or publishing them. Once a book is published, how many people will read the published articles? That's another heart-wrenching speculation.
▲In the past, authors were just writers writing quickly behind the scenes, facing readers with one-way thinking.
Text-based evangelism expanded by social platforms
From printing and publishing, to building nests on the Internet, to social platforms, words have also changed from passively waiting for readers to approach, to being close to readers, and then to living among readers. Nowadays, articles are no longer just spiritual palaces waiting for people to visit, but also Starbucks coffee houses where people can chat and drink.
The expansion of the literary territory symbolizes the broadening of the scope of literary ministry, and the change in the publishing model also symbolizes the updating of the role of literary workers and the updating of publishing platforms.
Recently, Facebook announced a reform, and the new social platform design will be community-centered. Facebook, a public place, has begun to transform into a platform that is mainly a private space for communities. This view is unique and echoes the 2019 predictions for social networks put forward by HootSuite, a well-known company that specializes in managing online brands (Facebook is a client of this company).
At the end of 2018, HootSuite conducted a survey of 3,000 business people and produced a social network trend forecast report looking forward to 2019, including trends in online communities. Some of these analyzes are very concerning: First, people are beginning to get tired of borderless Internet wandering, are suspicious of public reading platforms, and do not know what is true or false. They are more eager to participate in some meaningful communities. They are not observers, but interactors. Secondly, people’s demand for the community will no longer be to collect information, but to expect stories and in-depth sharing.
The classification of communities will become increasingly clear in the future. Social groups where a bunch of people chatted about everything have faded away. When people choose a community, they hope to participate in a sincere communication platform with specific interaction directions, interests, and enthusiasm.
What inspiration does the trend of online communities give to writers? If people read less on public platforms, might these closed communities become newly developed writing platforms?
Frankly speaking, I have never thought that the community can be a platform for publishing articles. Although the ministry of the community can also be called "text ministry", because it does use a large amount of text as a medium, but that kind of text, To the author, it is really just a writing tool.
▲"Intentional Life" is an online communication platform where the author shares the learning of family and marriage with members based on the principles of faith.
Accidentally, I created a community
After China's policy changed and publishing was greatly restricted, I raised my head in frustration and suddenly discovered that God's placement of me in the "living with heart" community more than three years ago was actually a plan. When the publishing platform for evangelical texts was surrounded by the Iron Curtain, I suddenly realized that the writing opportunities provided by the online community existed, and there was still a lot of room for development.
When people have more doubts about online information and tend to have communities that are meaningful, interactive, and need to build relationships, this tells us that more people will not necessarily trust the articles they read on blogs or public accounts. , but in the community that participates in high-quality management, because there is a basis for interactive relationships, they open up to communicate, including reading articles provided by the community.
In the first three periods of "Intentional Living", the students' learning materials were book excerpts, discussions and exercises. Starting from the fourth period, in addition to formulating teaching materials, I also wrote articles on community learning topics, which became a must-read resource and I gained the following characteristics of community writing:
1. The reader’s heart is ready. Valuable and meaningful community readers take articles much more seriously than those who generally browse blog public accounts.
2. Writers have developed the skill of "caring about readers". Writing in the community is targeted, not shooting into the air. Authors can use the platform to solidly practice various literary skills of writers.
3. Large readership. Large communities have thousands of readers at a time, and they read the articles inside carefully. This quantity and quality are no less than official accounts and blogs. In the case of "Living with Heart", every article provided has a very high click-through rate.
4. The interaction of the community inspires the author’s ideas and direction in writing. Authors always have blind spots and shortcomings. During the community interaction process, authors can observe, listen, and ask questions. Therefore, it is also a learning and growth process for the author.
5. Microwriting practice platform. For writers who are unable to write a thousand-character essay, or whose writing skills are still rudimentary, interactive writing in the community is a very effective training platform, allowing people to learn microwriting to influence people.
6. Community writing is relationship-led. The author's status as a companion to the text allows him to build a friendship with the reader. The touching style of letters is based on the friendship between the author and the readers. They interact in the community, just like writing letters, and the recipients can respond quickly and interact with each other.
7. Social writing makes non-Christians less defensive. In "Living with Heart", we see that as long as non-Christians identify with a community, they will interact like other participants. Since their reactions can be seen quickly, it is easier to determine the extent of the gospel preparatory text to be written. Whether it’s a full article I post, or a snippet from an interaction, there are many opportunities to engage in gospel text conversation. Compared with the current Chinese publishing or public blog platforms, community writing has a greater degree of faith exchange.
▲Readers’ hearts are ready; thanks to technology, readers can read and respond to the community anytime and anywhere, and two-way communication is no longer limited by time, space and location.
You can write without tapping the top, the ever-changing trend of text service
The scope of literary ministry is very broad. In terms of writing alone, there are authors of different levels. In addition to continuing to expect Chinese Christians to write literary classics and publish good books that are popular and deeply touching, we must also pay practical attention to them. Those who can conquer the top are probably most of the literary people who have been at the foot of the mountain or crawling on the mountainside. Where is their training ground? Where are the writing platforms for possible contributions? Are there other writers whose roles are more suitable for them to devote themselves to writing?
If an online community dominated by text is a possibility, then whether to establish a community is like running a publication. It is not only a group, but also a text platform. Therefore, the price paid for managing this platform It’s actually very worthwhile and part of the ministry of the written word.
We need partners with this vision to develop good communities (text platforms) where text companions can nourish readers with their words. We also need to be more creative and be able to run some high-quality communities so that the power of words can be unleashed in the communities.
In this generation, words can be both domineering and low-key; they can be both mainstream and undercurrent; they can be both traditional and ever-changing.
Words, how many possibilities are there? I pray and ask the infinite God to continue to open our eyes of faith until the sky turns white.
Ma Ruixin, writer, whose articles have been scattered in newspapers and magazines. He was a columnist in "Cosmic Light Magazine" and "True Love Magazine" and is currently the author of "Beijing Foundation Magazine".
At the same time, I have been running an online blog for many years and have a Facebook page. He is the author of the books "The Footsteps of a Wanderer", "Managing the Family and Mind", and "The Wisdom of Discipline". "Private School Madam" blog, "Give me your sincerity" blog, "It's You" blog, and "Grab Happiness" Facebook page.