I have a love/hate relationship with e-mail.
I love receiving e-mails from readers who enjoyed my books. Nothing makes my day like an e-mail from a happy reader.
I love e-mail, too, because I can fire off a note to a friend who lives on the other side of the country (or the world, for that matter) and hear back within seconds. Love the instantaneous aspect of it.
On the other hand, I hate e-mail because so often I don’t fire off e-mails, I labor over them, trying to make sure my tone comes across exactly right. Tone is so tricky. Too abrupt and I’ll sound demanding and bossy. Too cutesy and I’ll come off as unprofessional. Composing a perfectly pitched e-mail is an art. Unfortunately, I seem to be lacking in that art form.
There have been days when I’ve spent more time writing a three-line e-mail than I did writing three pages of my book. Surely, there’s something wrong with that picture!
While I love the instant connection it brings, I think e-mail is often a black hole, an endless pit, that sucks up my time and attention. I probably should dash off all my replies and not worry so much about how I come across, but I can’t seem to do that. Today, e-mails are everything from friendly notes to business letters. Maybe that’s why they’re so difficult for me to write.
So, how do you feel about e-mail? Friend or foe?
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Friend. Of REAL emails, of course. Not forwards or newsletters or site updates, though those have their own place too.
But I’m usually one to worry about how I came across AFTER I sent the email. Oops.
by Kaitlin
on February 6th, 2008 at 3:59 am
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Hi Kaitlin. Ah, forwards. The bane of email. If hearing from friends instantly is the upside of email, then forwards are definitely the downside.
by Sara
on February 6th, 2008 at 7:16 am
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Today I hate email. Since yesterday, I’ve received more than 800 copies of the same DorothyL digest, and nothing else. Every time the computer checks for mail, it gives me two of the same DorothyL, then gets hung up and nothing else gets through. There are messages in the queue, I just can’t get them. If you ask me tomorrow, I’ll probably tell you I love email, but not today.
by JennieB
on February 6th, 2008 at 9:22 am
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Necessary Evil.
I would definitely lean on the side of being cautious, especially with business e-mails. And especially if you’re upset in the least. I ALWAYS take a deep breath, relax a bit and reread an e-mail before hitting the send button.
In the business world, old e-mail has a way of resurfacing at the inopportune time.
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I like it. Most days. I also am highly amused by those who can’t differentiate between “reply” and “reply to all”–especially in the workplace.
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I’m happy again. 
My email is fixed and I’m getting messages. I love email. I can stay in touch with people all over the world, a lot more easily than by mail and cheaper than by phone (although sometimes it’s nice to hear people’s voices too.) Email’s wonderful stuff when it works! (Although, yes, I do tend to labor too much over sounding exactly right sometimes.)
by JennieB
on February 6th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
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800, Jennie? That’s terrible. I think my email program would crash with that many. And it’s not like the emails from DorothyL are sporadic to begin with!
by Sara
on February 6th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
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“In the business world, old e-mail has a way of resurfacing at the inopportune time.”
So true, Will. Glad to hear you had a good trip!
by Sara
on February 6th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
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“I also am highly amused by those who can’t differentiate between “reply” and “reply to all”–especially in the workplace.”
I hear you, Judy. Another source of confusion: “Cc:” and “Bcc:”
by Sara
on February 6th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
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I love email. I wish I could reach all my contacts with email, I’d cancel my phone. Ok, maybe not, I’d still want to hear my kid’s voice every once in a while.
I probably look at, answer, delete or save over 100 emails a day including my work related ones. Its like the postman coming every minute.
And I’ve probably ticked at least one person off due to my tone but none that I’ve had to apologize to yet and none that I really intended to. Knock on wood.
by Lynn
on February 6th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
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Its like the postman coming every minute.
As long as he’s not bringing bills…
by Sara
on February 6th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
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And here I thought it was just me!
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