"I don't care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as long as he finishes the book."

So I woke up this morning and found out that my previously viral article was going viral once again. Of course, I felt ecstatic by this development. More readers join my subscribers’ list and others drop a comment or two to encourage me to keep writing.

And yet among all these, I’ve gotten my fair share in hateful comments too.

Perhaps our parents are right. If you don’t have nice things to say to someone, it’s better to not say anything at all.

…or at least, try to be diplomatic.

I guess it’s my nature to just be agreeable with people. Not always, but I am just too lazy to start a debate. If I don’t support a statement, I usually just ignore it or politely tell my honest opinion. If it falls on a deaf ear, well, I won’t pursue the matter once again.

Yes, I know, we can’t please everyone. And I know, it’s okay to agree to disagree. I have followed this mantra a hundred times before.

But still, hateful comments hurt. It’s as if you can feel the poison.

Is it because my nature of always wanting to be on the right side?

But then again, we always have that inkling. As humans, we always want people to have the same view as us, to support what we support and to see things the way we do. It’s human nature, right?

And I understand that there are different views. I just hope people who read my writings can either read them with a grain of salt, or agree to disagree when leaving a comment. It’s hard to not feel hurt when they are not attacking the subject or the writing, but you. When they are attacking the person instead.

Roald Dahl once said that it’s okay for someone to hate our stories, as long as he finishes the book. For all it’s worth, I guess that’s the best advice for this circumstance.

You may not be able to please all people. But as a writer, it’s one mission accomplished to get people reading to the very end.

I guess I have to take pride in that when I read more negative comments along the way.