Where I am Today — A Terrible Blog Post #8
I’m just stuck. I’m not stuck like sticky stuck or stuck like stuck in a hole. I’m stuck like in a loop, like stuck in a shopping mall. Like when I have to walk out of the mall with a purchase or else. When the knees ache, the mind is getting more and more spaced out. When I look at the shops and don’t see them. I wander from store to store with a growing sense of never being able to escape from this trap. Fie! Damn shopping mall, why do you torture me so? Give me ye treasure and release me, or let me die now!
I have done more writing in the last couple of days than I ever have done. I have at least three different article-story-things that are started in my notebook but haven’t drawn themselves to a conclusion. I even have a list of interesting topics that I want to explore like “On Guinea Pigs and Uniforms” I mean, really interesting stuff. Interesting to me anyway.
What about that then? Should I write in my blog about things that other people think are interesting? I guess it depends on my purpose. I want to ‘just say no’ to that right out of the gate. How on earth will I have any kind of interesting writing if I don’t find the thing I’m writing about to be interesting? One the other hand, there are a ton of people who do market research and figure out what people are itching to hear about and then they write about that. Not only to they write about that, they turn that sweet writing into cash.
I find something contemptible in where that ends up going. Just look at the list of top medium articles…

There’s a formula to all the titles to make you more likely to click on them. They say something shocking, they start with “How to” or “Why”. They have a number in the name, or special punctuation. Oh look, number ten starts with a shocking word… I have a growing malaise and distrust of writing on the internet and much of it starts right here with this list of carefully crafted ‘click me’ titles. Of course they all rise to the top, they’re designed to do so.
I have to admit at the same time that these articles wouldn’t rise to the top if they didn’t fulfill the promise that they made to the person who clicked on the titles that there was something interesting, informative or inspirational to be found on the other side. Clearly they only rose to the top because people clapped for them after reading. There is something a little disturbing though when you start following some of these writers who are at the top. It seems like their articles follow a formula. Over time I started to develop this strange feeling that I’ve read this article before. It has the same rhythm. It has the same structure. It seems like maybe they’re using machine learning to develop the perfect story structure to maximize profitability and interest on the internet and just replicating.
Ahh the inevitability of it though! It’s all driven by the economy of eyeballs. We must grab your attention! Then we must hold your attention! Then we must find some way for you to share your interest in what you just experienced! After all, if people want to get paid for doing their writing, they need to monetize it somehow.
I need to find a quick exit. I need to get off the attention train. My attention is mine and I’m going to do with it what I want. Hey, Dear Reader, you too my friend! Stop subjecting yourself to all this input and stimulation. All it’s doing is driving you bonkers and making you vulnerable to spending your money on things you don’t need. How else would they extract the money from you so that they can pay the content creators?
How about this: stop consuming and start creating. Just create something. Get busy making things and it will give purpose to your reading and scouring the internet for information. You’ll probably notice that you stop reading random crap and you read things intentionally because you really want to know things so that you can be a better creator. I guess when it comes down to it, that’s what I’m doing right now. I really really wanted to get off the attention train and take the wheel of my own mind. I want to create. I want to create inspiring stuff. I want to create stupid stuff. I want to create funny stuff. Heck I love to create things that make me laugh and laugh and no one else gets it at all.
Oh! Hey that inspires me to publish my first ever terrible comic. Maybe I’ll explain it someday.


Onward Dear Reader! And no, shut up. You don’t actually want a T-Rex.
