Why Exactly Do I Write?
Writing for one to writing for Medium: My audience shift and the realizations that followed.
“So you think it’s that easy to write now, do you? Yeah, jump on WordPress, create an account, follow a few writers and publications and start typing. The whole world is waiting for your precious insight. The internet is calling for your next piece of hot prose to drop. Keep pattering the keyboard with whatever nonsense creases the thick cavities of your skull and hope that anyone is listening. Yes, it must be that easy. But first, one quick question for you: why exactly do you write?” — Inner dialogue
I finally took the plunge and decided to write for an audience. This year, I have started publishing on Medium. Over the long, weathered course of the last two and a half years, I have written primarily for myself — journaling daily in absolute obscurity. I recently wrote about that journey and explained the process in detail, extrapolating everything learned and discovered from the first million words. But now, after years of positive experiences and progress as a writer, I stand face-to-face against a tall, villainous obstacle — an audience.
The audience has multiplied the level of doubt and dichotomy that exists in my head. I try to assure myself that all writers, at one time or another, face…
