Education- Reading articles can go a long way towards improving your knowledge about writing and making money. At the same time, the comments going on below can give you a more in depth perspective on the subject matter at hand. People will offer their insight, provide counter-arguments, and ask the questions you've been wondering about and may not have had the guts to ask.

Participating in these comment threads is important because it's your way of advancing these same goals. Ask questions. Get answers. Provide encouragement to fellow writers. Express yourself. You'll learn more, and so will your co-workers.

Defending Yourself- No, I'm not encouraging you to pick fights or stoop to the level of petty fools throwing insults. However, in forums and comment threads, there will be people who feel the need to pass judgment on the decisions some writers make. Stand up for yourself! Provide warranted, reasoned responses about why you think certain choices are beneficial or disadvantageous.

Why does this matter? There are a couple of reasons. First, this provides a balanced perspective to people who come to the blogs, articles and forums for advice. Second, it helps to protect your reputation. Bad news tends to travel a lot faster than good news, and complainers are always the loudest. If someone is slamming the platform you work for and love, provide specific reasons as to why their complaints are ill-founded. If you don't, that platform will continue to have a bad reputation, and because you publish your work there, sadly, by proxy, you'll be tainted by the reputation as well.

Support- Writing is scary stuff. Writing is literally stripping naked, standing in front of a crowd, and telling them to hit you with their best shot... which they do. Frequently. However, writing is a truly valuable pursuit, and unfortunately, far too many potentially talented writers become disheartened by these early knocks.

This is why your participation in the community is so important. Think about those first few pieces of positive feedback you received, and how instrumental they were in building your identity as a writer. It's your turn now. Let your fellow writers know how valuable their input is.