So, what do you think about this?

3 tips from Nia Carnelio on sharing your opinions online

Sharing your opinion online can be scary, but it’s a big part about helping people get to know who you are as a person. In this article, we’re not necessarily talking about how you handle controversial topics, but for many, sharing their thoughts about anything with the internet can feel tricky! If that’s you, read on.

Nia

Carnelio shares her opinion regularly on her Substack ‘Not Controversial’ and does it in a really open and welcoming way, so thought I would invite her to share a few of her tips on my Substack! Now over to Nia…

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

There’s a secret to sharing your opinions online, and no, it isn’t, “Don’t care about what the h8rs have to say!”

Let’s back it up for a sec.

So, you’re an author who wants to talk about things you love, things you hate, and things you kinda feel meh about with the world. You want to share more than just your lovely book with (prospective) readers. Whether that’s born out of a marketing goal or simply a desire to share your thoughts, it can be daunting.

Let’s talk about how to do this effectively without inviting trolls or the aforementioned ‘h8rs’ and making it enjoyable for both you and your reader:

Quickly, what are the pros & cons?

You may avoid sharing your thoughts because you don’t want to accidentally alienate a book buyer/reader. If you like something they hate or vice versa and openly talk about it, you could risk losing a potential reader who’ll suddenly write off your books (and maybe even tell other readers?!) without even giving them a chance.

But, on the flip side, talking about stuff that’s important to you helps you build a strong personal brand, which allows more readers to find and check out your work. It creates a space where you can engage with your readers, contribute to discussions that may not be possible in your book(s), and help you hone your unique voice that you’ll be known for in more than just bookish circles.

Now that we’ve spoken about the elephant in the room (the fear of being perceived, sometimes, wrongly), let’s talk about overcoming it to the best of your ability.

Realise that opinions are not facts

This is the most critical thing to understand for both the writer & the reader. If you were to pen a blog post about why you hate socks, you need to frame it as an opinion, not as a fact (that socks suck). Many of our views are based on our personal experiences, and these (obviously) differ from person to person, even from place to place.

You don’t need to dilute your opinion to please the masses, but it’s certainly helpful to ensure that the reader understands that it’s an opinion — it’s something you feel passionately about. The reader needn’t feel as passionately about whatever it is as you do, but they do need to understand your point of view.

When I wrote about BTS (a wildly popular k-pop group) and their fandom (primarily women) and how women’s interests are criticised from a young age, I was worried it wouldn’t go down well. I wanted to honour my love for them as a fan, my anger as a girl & a woman, constantly dismissed for liking whatever I did and also wanted people to understand why they were different and worth being loved. I had to balance fact & feeling, and that’s a tricky thing, but it’s definitely doable (surprisingly, this ended up being one of my best articles?!).

Share your thought process with the reader

To that end, authenticity and transparency will be your best friends.

We’re all nosy folks (don’t pretend you’re not). We want to know the behind-the-scenes of everything; that’s why writing processes and schedules are so popular. When you share what you consume, how you form your opinions, and how you reach certain conclusions, you bring your reader along with you on the journey. That’s more likely to help them understand your perspective. Readers appreciate honesty and authenticity, even when they disagree with your opinions.

Also, if it’s a mix of opinion and fact, cite your sources when you can and be open to learning more. Your sources don’t need to be in APA format; I’m talking about sharing where, when, or how you formed an opinion — did you see a reel that sparked a debate among your friends? Or perhaps you read an article that made you want to write about XYZ topic and share your views with others? Link to it. Let your readers experience this journey for themselves.

When done thoughtfully and respectfully, expressing opinions online can help your audience relate better to you, making it easier for them to like you (and your work). For example, when I wrote about the difficulty of making friends in adulthood, I drew upon my own experiences moving across the world, battling loneliness, and figuring out how to befriend people in a new country with a language barrier. Lots of people related to it and shared how terribly terrifying it can be and how we need to try anyway.

Make it an open dialogue (when possible)

It goes without saying (and yet I will anyway) that when you share your thoughts online, it’s best to do so confidently and respectfully. Confidence (even if you’re faking it in your head) gives your reader the assumption that you know what you’re talking about and that you’ve thought about it enough to share. Respect — and this has to go both ways — in your work means you give folks the space to share their feelings, thoughts, and reasons (even and especially if they disagree).

In return, your readers need to respect your work and that they’re in your space — your blog, your social media, and your website- and you need to make that clear. Whether you have a post on how you engage (or don’t engage) with trolls/random haters and those who want to debate, learn, and discuss, or you straight-up block/report those who cross the limit, it’s up to you. Take no shit, and do no harm is always a great motto, and it applies here too. Oh, and ignoring some folks works just as well.

For example, when I wrote about the rising need for a four-day workweek, someone wrote in saying that they didn’t believe that an 8-hour workday could easily be 10-12 hours when you include commuting and overworking (which is common in so many countries). I simply ignored it because I knew what I wrote was my personal experience, backed by research, and also sense-checked by several others across the world.

One person’s opinion of your work shouldn’t affect whether or not you create more of it anyway.

A reader may choose your book without knowing who you are, but when they love it, they’ll eventually google you and your other work. If what you’ve written resonates with them, you may become one of those authors whose grocery lists are in high demand because we’ll read anything from you — we’ll champion you, as the chef, the creator, and the author.

Thank you Nia!

Nia is a freelance content marketer & copywriter in publishing, tech, and SaaS. She's written marketing content for authors like Rick Riordan, Robin Stevens, Molly X. Chang, and more and has worked with Penguin Random House UK, BookMachine, Oxford University Press, Google, TikTok, and YouTube, among other brands. She writes a weekly newsletter where she talks about the things we all think about but don't say aloud, like the mental load on women, open money conversations, hustle culture & toxic productivity, etc., at niacarnelio.substack.com.