One Writer Preaching to the Masses: Five Tips to Avoid Being Hated on B/R

During my time here on Bleacher Report , I have been guilty of every single faux pas that I am going to preach about in this article.

However, I have seen my ways, and I have vowed to give it my best effort to change my criticisms from harsh to constructive, my time spent reading from lazy to devoted, and my opinions from closed to open.

That's just me. I've come to terms with my own thoughts and ideas about certain people, articles, ideas, and philosophies on this site.

While I know where I stand, who I've wronged, and where I've gone wrong over the course of the past year, I can't help but write this article, in hopes that someone else with a short fuse and a wild imagination can take solace in knowing that they aren't alone in their crabby, annoyed state of minds.

There truly is hope.

There is a way through the constant "Article of the Day" blind selections, the awful comments made without the reader even finishing the first paragraph, and certain writers not being allowed a status or title on this site.

It's called acceptance. If you know me as a writer on this site at all, you would have decided by now (correctly) that this article opening was, to put it lightly, a sarcastic, evil lie.

I'm not changing my ways. The kids who are awful writers will know that they are awful writers. The people with bad taste will be informed of their bad taste, and the Denver Bronco fans (and others) that still claim their team is good after three straight losses, well, they'll be rudely informed that they are not a good team.

However, while some may find my approach to writing, critiquing, and B/R in general as interesting, humorous, or fresh (I know I do), there are clearly a large, God-sized handful that don't.

With that said, who better to lay down the law and preach to you what not to do on this site if your main goal is to live in a protective balloon where you get internet high-fives from people who don't really care about you, but merely demand you do the same for them in return? (*cough* I'm talking about me.)

Here are my five tips to not being hated on B/R:

Write the Mushy Stuff

I haven't submerged myself in it, and I won't. I don't write, "just to write," and I'm not writing for anyone else but me or a website. My ideas aren't forced, and I have never written an article with the faintest thought that "gee, this might be worth an article of the day."

This is probably most obvious by the fact that after writing over 400 articles, I have received zero of them. You can assume it's because I'm not a good writer, that I pick the wrong topics and subject matter, or that my writing is abrasive, too fast, or not soft enough.

Any of those could be true, and depending on the comments that this particular piece garners, I'm assuming that I'll be able to come to a conclusion.

But in my personal, ever-so-humble opinion, I simply do not cater to the public. I don't write the mushy stuff unless it's actually close to me, or I am actually moved by it.

I write about what's real and what's happening, and I help people dominate their fantasy football leagues.

Only Leave Comments That Are Lies (Nice)

People always get so uptight when you offer criticism or argue your point. Instead of actually listening to your argument or point of view, they jump all over what you say (almost especially if it's logical), and they immediately regurgitate the same filth that you just read.

If you only leave nice, constructive comments, no writer on here will ever develop a spine. They won't know what's truly good about their writing, and they won't know what horrible, annoying tendencies they have that they absolutely need to stop.

They won't know the difference between writing for a blog and writing for an actual website, magazine, or newspaper.

They need to get slapped in the face every now and then by some harsh comments to wake them up so they know that, even if they definitely are a good writer, than they aren't invincible, and that even they can be wrong, misinformed, or have errors.

However, if you don't want to be hated, just keep allowing them to trail you down the rabbit hole and never truly realize their potential.

At least you'll be liked.

Never Form Your Own Opinion

This applies to reading, writing, and how you respond to articles.

If someone disagrees with you, twist and turn until you can make your original opinion a mirror image of theirs. Agree with everything your haters say and, despite the grand amount of hatred they might have built up for reading one of your terrible pieces, they'll relax and love you for admitting they are a God on B/R.

Opinions only create walls between writers on this site, as no one can forget the first time they were burned on a poorly written article, or a heated online argument (oh, they exist), and those memories and bitter rivalries linger. Boy, do they linger.

While everyone obviously doesn't get overly offended every time you make a point, you do have to be careful, and I'm sure anyone who has actually stretched their neck out under the axe with their own opinion knows what I'm talking about.

Actually Read the Entire Article

This is not meant to be sarcastic, a joke, or any kind of a misleading bullet point. This is just something everyone should do, and it's so annoying when people don't, because you can tell by reading the first sentence in a reply comment.

At least, I can.

I know right away when someone doesn't actually read what I have written, and almost completely bases their argument off of my past articles, comments, or is going solely off of the title.

I'll admit that I have done this in the past, but I have stressed this point to others and myself ever since realizing I was doing it.

If you don't read the article, it shows you don't care, you're lazy, you think you're better/smarter than everyone else, and that you're closed-minded.

Even if you hated me for the first three points of this article, at least you can take solace in the fact that this last point actually holds some substance.

The best part is, I'll probably even be able to tell if you finished reading this article by your comments because really, I love this community.

I thoroughly enjoy reading other people's articles. I have found some really nice content on this site, and have even worked (or still work) with a few writers here.

If you didn't finish reading this article, you didn't pass the test. And the test is that everyone here (including myself) is an amateur writer in one form or another, and isn't better than anyone else.

We're all a part of a growing community that, like it or not, produces breaking news and fantasy assistance in all genres, and if we're going to continue being successful, then we need to start working together.

If you thought I contradicted myself in this article (even though I did it on purpose), that's a solid brownie point for you, as the final tip is...

Don't Contradict Yourself

It just makes you look silly.