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A Sobering Anecdote on Writing for Yourself.
I can’t be the only one that gets upset at headlines such as “3 Mistakes Every Beginner Writer Makes,” “This 25 Year Old Made $4,000 A Month Blogging,” or “How to Write 5 Articles Per Day.”
Writing for a living would be grand, and I’m sure the majority of us who write on this platform would love nothing more than to make writing our full time gig. While it would be a dream come true to write full-time, it’s so easy to fall into a trap of capitalizing our writing, and, therefore, capitalizing our thoughts.
Write for others. Write for the algorithm. Write for exposure. Write for views. This is what the self-marketing gurus of Medium tell you to do.
Yet I’m here to offer a sobering reminder.
The quickest way to turn your passion to poison is to be constantly thinking “How can I make money off of this?” Eventually you start spending time reading articles about “marketing” yourself, instead of reading about the topics that once inspired you, and start to channel the voices of others, inside of the one in your head.
As a classically trained musician, I have prior experience in trying to make a career out of my passion. On one hand it was one of the most rewarding endeavors I ever embarked upon. I learned tons, I was motivated every day I woke up, and was extremely privileged to have the experiences I did. On the flip side, it was depressing and agonizing to see something I loved and cherished have capitalist and monetary forces constantly inflicted upon it. Eventually it was too draining, and my love for performing crumbled. It was heartbreaking.
Do not let this happen to your writing! Write what you love, read what you love. Write about topics that get you up in the morning. Write for real people, including yourself! The amount I’ve learned about myself since becoming an effective writer is astonishing. Follow your heart and your drive, and the money and accolades will come in time.
And the reality is this: not all of us can be paid writers. We’re a dying breed, competing for a human attention span that is continually extinguishing. So love writing with all your heart, cause nobody will ever be able to take that away from you.
