I love how you focus not just on the craft of writing, but on the relationship to the craft. At some point, every artist realizes: the subject is the self!
Thank you Christopher. I learned that the relationship with writing is even more important than writing itself for me as someone who does this full-time. If my relationship with my craft sucks, I'm in for some hurting later on.
I posted a Substack Note this morning that is currently up to 292 likes and is still buzzing and beeping as we speak. The original Note was:
"When I watch the news I think, what a clown show; we’re doomed.
When I read books I think, what a diverse, complex, and beautiful world. I’m so glad to be a part of it.
Read more books."
Then I realized that the third line ("Read more books.") was bullshit. I didn't really mean it; I don't really care what other people do and I certainly don't like TELLING people what to do. So I deleted that line. The first two lines are my truth. I was really feeling those things in my heart this morning. And I know Substack readers love to read so I figured they would appreciate the words. I had no idea the Note would get 300 likes in 11 hours!
So, I hope my take helps... Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience, Tom!
Certainly not. Now, I will do a quick read through before publishing of course, but usually there’s not much to change other than my inevitable typos that I hate catching after publishing.
I wrote a story that went viral on Medium. Without intending to I made a lot of people angry. It was the summer three years ago. I made over a hundred dollars a month on Medium because of that story. It's never happened again. I made a video on YouTube that went viral. It made a lot of money for several months because the algorithm picked it up, but that ended recently. The point is, do the best you can and don't worry about virality. Do good work, the good stuff will come when it's time.
I so agree. The power of the passion in the writers words is what draws the readers. So powerful that it allows the reader to feel that passion too.
I agree that it’s futile and ultimately meaningless to “go viral”, with one exception: it validates that we have conveyed our feelings well. What a rush getting this reflection.
It is a huge validation to go viral for sure. It makes you feel like you belong and that your thoughts and ideas have value. That's really nice, for sure.
One of the problems with chasing virality is that if everyone could go viral, then going viral wouldn't end up meaning much. There's only so much attention out there to be captured. It's better to find more likely and more sustainable ways to do it.
Yeah Bill I think we're seeing that a lot on platforms like X and LinkedIn. It's relatively easy to go viral there if you know what to write about and how to structure it. But now that everyone is going viral writing the same stuff, it's hard to tell anybody apart.
It's kind of funny to chase virality. Like, WHY do we care? It's nothing more than a weird form of validation and it does get us anything but popularity. I dunno. Humans were so much more mentally sane before the internet existed 😂
Kristi I AGREE. I remember what life was like when I was 11-12 before I had a Facebook and it was amazing. My kids are not going to be on social media until they're like 16 or something IDK.
If you are writing for numbers, you are never going to hit them. The more you write for you and what you are passionate about, the more your readers will engage. If you connect with people like you, which I think is more of the goal, they will resonate with how you feel when you share your writing. That's been my experience.
Yes, plus it's more sustainable. Most people could grow on any platform if they just knew what worked and were dedicated to it. But most would end up quitting if they didn't feel connected to what they were creating. It's a losing game.
It's one thing to let off steam and get a response, but quite another to write to a large group and somehow be real all the time. You have to be real to you, or the monster will form you. Still, it's nice to have some company.
The more I stay in this game Pam the more I realize that combining my interests/emotions with what my audience wants to read is absolutely necessary for me to be able to create something both I and the audience loves.
I never knew that in painting they had a similar belief about emotions + higher connection with our emotions resulting in better pieces. But it makes sense that for any creative task it would probably be the same.
I love this. Going viral isn’t something that can be forced. A lot of time it happens by chance. But people are so obsessed with the goal of going viral that they forget to obsess over the action of honing their craft.
Going viral is overrated anyway. If you know your target market, you won’t be trying to please the masses!
I love how you focus not just on the craft of writing, but on the relationship to the craft. At some point, every artist realizes: the subject is the self!
Thank you Christopher. I learned that the relationship with writing is even more important than writing itself for me as someone who does this full-time. If my relationship with my craft sucks, I'm in for some hurting later on.
I posted a Substack Note this morning that is currently up to 292 likes and is still buzzing and beeping as we speak. The original Note was:
"When I watch the news I think, what a clown show; we’re doomed.
When I read books I think, what a diverse, complex, and beautiful world. I’m so glad to be a part of it.
Read more books."
Then I realized that the third line ("Read more books.") was bullshit. I didn't really mean it; I don't really care what other people do and I certainly don't like TELLING people what to do. So I deleted that line. The first two lines are my truth. I was really feeling those things in my heart this morning. And I know Substack readers love to read so I figured they would appreciate the words. I had no idea the Note would get 300 likes in 11 hours!
So, I hope my take helps... Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience, Tom!
Don I agree with the reading more books part, though! :) Thanks for sharing your experience. Thanks for reading, too. Cheers
Some of my best (and longest) articles also come in the dead of night 😂 I’m glad I’m not the only one and appreciated this read!
Haha glad to know I'm not alone here Preston
Certainly not. Now, I will do a quick read through before publishing of course, but usually there’s not much to change other than my inevitable typos that I hate catching after publishing.
Please do link to that viral article on HuffPost :)
It's this one! https://www.huffpost.com/entry/11-things-you-need-to-kno_b_11492578
I wrote a story that went viral on Medium. Without intending to I made a lot of people angry. It was the summer three years ago. I made over a hundred dollars a month on Medium because of that story. It's never happened again. I made a video on YouTube that went viral. It made a lot of money for several months because the algorithm picked it up, but that ended recently. The point is, do the best you can and don't worry about virality. Do good work, the good stuff will come when it's time.
Tom, you nailed it. I’m honored to have discovered your work.
Christoph you didn't have to go making my day with a comment but here you are. Thank you.🥹
I so agree. The power of the passion in the writers words is what draws the readers. So powerful that it allows the reader to feel that passion too.
I agree that it’s futile and ultimately meaningless to “go viral”, with one exception: it validates that we have conveyed our feelings well. What a rush getting this reflection.
It is a huge validation to go viral for sure. It makes you feel like you belong and that your thoughts and ideas have value. That's really nice, for sure.
One of the problems with chasing virality is that if everyone could go viral, then going viral wouldn't end up meaning much. There's only so much attention out there to be captured. It's better to find more likely and more sustainable ways to do it.
Yeah Bill I think we're seeing that a lot on platforms like X and LinkedIn. It's relatively easy to go viral there if you know what to write about and how to structure it. But now that everyone is going viral writing the same stuff, it's hard to tell anybody apart.
It's kind of funny to chase virality. Like, WHY do we care? It's nothing more than a weird form of validation and it does get us anything but popularity. I dunno. Humans were so much more mentally sane before the internet existed 😂
Kristi I AGREE. I remember what life was like when I was 11-12 before I had a Facebook and it was amazing. My kids are not going to be on social media until they're like 16 or something IDK.
LOL you better hire someone to police that 😂
If you are writing for numbers, you are never going to hit them. The more you write for you and what you are passionate about, the more your readers will engage. If you connect with people like you, which I think is more of the goal, they will resonate with how you feel when you share your writing. That's been my experience.
Yes, plus it's more sustainable. Most people could grow on any platform if they just knew what worked and were dedicated to it. But most would end up quitting if they didn't feel connected to what they were creating. It's a losing game.
It's one thing to let off steam and get a response, but quite another to write to a large group and somehow be real all the time. You have to be real to you, or the monster will form you. Still, it's nice to have some company.
The more I stay in this game Pam the more I realize that combining my interests/emotions with what my audience wants to read is absolutely necessary for me to be able to create something both I and the audience loves.
A good point about not caring about the virility of a post. 😎
Mad truth here! Thank you for the reminder!!
It is like when I paint a canvas, if I’m not in the paint/feels I’m not on the canvas.
I never knew that in painting they had a similar belief about emotions + higher connection with our emotions resulting in better pieces. But it makes sense that for any creative task it would probably be the same.
Excellent article, I find myself falling into the trap of seeking likes when I should be telling a good story.
I love this. Going viral isn’t something that can be forced. A lot of time it happens by chance. But people are so obsessed with the goal of going viral that they forget to obsess over the action of honing their craft.
Going viral is overrated anyway. If you know your target market, you won’t be trying to please the masses!