Author's Note: in the BDSM world, I was the student of one I called The Master. You can read his story at http://www.old-tom.com/stories/master.html.
On the Newbie Board last week, somebody asked when you're not a newbie any more. Somebody else answered, saying she always considers herself a newbie, because she's always learning something new. I agree. We are at the cutting edge of our craft - the bleeding edge if you're into that - and we do need to keep learning and adapting.
What we do is a craft. We have beginners, we have experts, and we have Masters. How do I know when I'm not a beginner anymore? When I can turn around and teach. Any teacher will tell you that the way you really learn something, is to teach it. If you can teach something to somebody else, and see that they Get It, you have your proof that you Get It too.
Are you familiar with Dune by Frank Herbert; or The Chronicles of Gor by John Norman; or Witch World by Andre Norton? In each case, our hero is taught swordcraft. Bear with me, and I'll explain what this has to do with webmastering.
I'm pretty sure the scene I'm thinking of came from Tarnsman of Gor by John Norman. But you can easily picture the same thing happening during Paul Atreides' training in Dune. Tarl Cabot, the Tarnsman of Gor, gets kidnapped by aliens and transported to the planet Gor. The people there, though contemporary, use swords and spears rather than guns and bombs. Tarl Cabot begins training as a warrior. His mission, naturally, is to save the planet - that's why the good aliens allowed the bad aliens to kidnap him and bring him to Gor.
Tarl's weapons instructor was among the best warriors on the planet - a Master of his craft. The Weapons Master naturally tested Tarl before agreeing to take him on as a student. Tarl survived the test, and began the training.
The day came - and this is my point of telling the story - when Tarl got past the Weapons Master's guard, drew blood, and clearly could have killed him on the spot. The Weapons Master dropped his sword and hugged Tarl, crying tears of pure joy. For the first time, the Student had surpassed The Master. In reproducing his art in another, The Master was fulfilled.
To be sure, not all masters of their craft are teaching masters. Yet all have the mark of the master - there is something which distinguishes them from the merely very good. They have taken the craft to a unique level in some manner; it has gone beyond mere expertise, into becoming an art form. The masters make it look easy.
Over on the Newbie Board, Voltar is the current teaching master. His Text Link of the Day is an art form unto itself. Many others teach the newbies, to be sure, but Voltar is the master. Anyone can wander in and get help, and we encourage people to do just that.
Consider, however, someone who wanders in and announces, "I'm here. Feed me!"
I don't think so.
We will, however, begin telling that person how they can begin feeding himself or herself. If they are interested in doing some work - for their own benefit - fine; we'll have lots to talk about. If not, well, they won't be around long anyway.
But consider this process, from the Master's point of view. Masters need students, who they can train to become experts, and eventually become masters themselves. The Master is interested in the furtherance of his craft. Who, then, become his students? Among the newbies, it will be the ones who put in the work. In other words, they treat this as a business, and realize the need to work together.
Now, then. We finally come to the point of my fanciful little essay. Think about what a new "generation" of students working together, can accomplish to further this craft. I am grateful to Matt for allowing me to write these essays, for that means in effect I have become one of these students. It's almost my turn for a Newbie Project from Voltar - again, I'm granted the privilege of becoming a student. I want to become more profitable, and thus I become a student of the craft.
As a student, I trust the masters to define the direction that furthers this craft. I hear some of the big link sites are changing their rules. Those same sites have done me a whole lot of good thus far, and I remain confident that these changes are good for the craft. I'm also confident that if they are not good, those same masters will fix the problem.
As you can see, being the master carries some responsibility. Chances are those link sites would feel terrible if they disappointed guys like me. Not because I'm important, but because I'm so confident that they won't disappoint me.
Meanwhile, back at the Newbie Board, we have Voltar teaching us how to work with the new rules for playing the game. Through VNWR, we have access to the masters; so long as we're willing to listen, and learn, and work at this, we'll all do very well indeed. For those of us with vision, we have an empire to build - an empire to build together.
As Voltar's Student, I am part of that next generation of webmasters. Perhaps being a newbie isn't so bad after all.