Nobody Cares About What You Are Doing
Your journey is always yours alone.
I have been writing for close to five years now. In all those conversations where I had to answer the question: “so, what are you doing for work?”, I have never had anybody who became interested by the fact that I am a writer.
(I guess this also tells us something about how ‘interesting’ the writing profession is for other people).
Hardly anybody has ever asked me…
… what I am writing about.
… why I chose to be a writer.
… to see my work.
The only question that I constantly get is this:
“Oh, can you actually make money from that?”
As an answer to this, I mumble something along the lines of: “Well, it’s definitely possible. But I personally… well, it’s not exactly going that well at the moment”.
Most of the time, that’s the end of the conversation.
That’s when the conversation turns to one of the common topics. Whether it is politics, business, or living in foreign countries (this is the one topic that my conversations with strangers mostly turn out to be).
You might think that conversations with close friends are different.
But when it comes to my work, they are really not. I get the occasional person asking me to see my work. They read one or two my articles, follow me or subscribe to my e-mail list, and then that’s the end of it.
Your friends are not your audience.
I don’t think that there is much point in trying to convince people that what you are doing is of any interest to them. In most cases, you are simply wasting your time.
It makes much more sense to see people you meet for what they are — people to connect with and enjoy your time with.
They are not potential consumers of your work.
They are not the people who are going to be your real fans, who support everything you do. And probably, that’s a good thing. Because once that happens, that would probably change your relationship forever.
The people who will become the greatest supporters of your work, are the people who stumble upon you randomly. They find your work in some corner of the internet, or through a friend who sent them a link to your work.
From the first moment, they love you for the work you do.
Of course, these people also want to connect with you as a human (after all, that’s what humans do…). But they want to connect with you on the basis of your work first.
They are grateful for you to provide something meaningful for them. So they want to know more about you. They want to know who is the person behind this work that has inspired them.
Now, a gazillion things could develop out of such a relationship.
But the point is, these are the people who are going to be the true supporters of your work. Not your acquaintances, friends and family.
To find supporters, build great work.
Your work has to speak for itself. If your work is mediocre, nobody will care. It is only when people see that you provide them with real value, that people will start paying attention to what you are doing.
There is just too much mediocre stuff out there.
We are overloaded by marketers trying to sell us average stuff.
While this makes it difficult for people just starting out to attract attention, there is also an important benefit to this. It allows all of us to focus on the process of creation.
If the best way to attract people’s attention is to create great work, then we should spend at least 90% of our time on the process of production.
Of course, we should put what we have produced somewhere, where it’s discover-able. But that’s all the marketing, which is necessary.
Someone will find it eventually.
They will share it with their friends. Who will share it with their friends and so on and so forth. The best marketing you can do is to make your work share-able and share-worthy.
Being a creator is a lonely process
Of course, it is true that true creativity often happens in teams. The most successful creators of today, spend a lot of time collaborating with others, in order to produce better work and reach a larger audience.
But here’s the truth:
Even when they are reaching that point, the majority of their time is still spent being locked up somewhere, trying to create new stuff. After all, they need to be in a state of deep focus, in order to create truly original work.
But even more important than this, is the journey of becoming successful. Until somebody has already achieved a certain degree of success, it is very rare for them to come across opportunities for collaboration.
It does happen. But very rarely.
For example, I have been interviewed for a podcast one time:
I also occasionally talk with other creators via Skype just to share experiences. Or, I have a short call with readers, who want to ask me some questions about my work.
But for the most part, it is me and my laptop.
Well, and my partner. She is often the first reader of my work. The one who gives me feedback about whether what I am saying makes any sense at all (thanks, darling).
The point I am trying to make is this:
You need to ask yourself, whether or not you are willing to spent years (mostly) locked up in a room, trying to come up with new stuff.
Do you love your craft enough, to make the necessary sacrifices to survive the journey on the way towards success?
I’m talking about years of…
… loneliness.
… poverty.
… anxiety.
Conclusion:
There are no solutions to the struggle all early stage creators have to face. Struggle is always a massive part of the journey.
One can only stand the struggle, not rid himself off the struggle.
There are some things, which can make it easier. For example, I was working from a co-working space for a while. This meant that I would have more contact with like-minded people on a daily basis.
But sometimes, this is just not an option. When you can hardly scrap by financially, sometimes you simply can’t afford to do something like that. In those situations, you are happy when you actually manage to pay your rent.
I’m not trying to discourage you from choosing this lifestyle.
I am certainly happier in this way, then I ever would be, if I had chosen to go the route of a traditional job. Because this is just who I am and what I love doing.
To me, the sacrifices are worth it.
The question is just — are they worth it for you? Is working full-time on your craft, worth the many years of loneliness, poverty, anxiety?
Can you stand not having anybody around you who gets what you are doing any why you are doing it? Can you stand not having any supporters for quite a long time? Can you stand all the pain it involves?
Are you willing to sacrifice many things on the short term, in order to build the future, you have always imagined?
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