Why I'm Not Reading Your Work.
... and probably no one else, either.
Well I may be lying, I do read your work. I frequently read things here on the platform, quite a bit actually. There’s others like me. Silent creepers checking things out that interest them here and there. We click on everything even slightly interesting and get a few paragraphs in, then give up and find something else. I would venture to guess that most of the writers here are the same. What we’re not doing at all… is subscribing, following, or paying you.
I don’t often write about writing. Motivation… yes. Life and experience… yes. But I avoid writing about writing on Substack because the minute I realized the common Substack scam I decided I wanted no part of it. The platform is filled with those who wish to be successful at writing. What lower hanging fruit is there than offering them hope?
And yes… it’s hope. It’s not “Improvement,” or “Helpful advice,” or even “Tips to streamline your writing process.” I’ve seen no actual examples of any of that. Everyone is going to have their own process. It would be the same as picking up golf and attempting to copy Tiger Woods. He is him, you are you. Learn as much as you can, of course… But apply that knowledge to your own growing skills. The most important thing one can learn, as soon as they acquire their first hard earned skill, is that what works for you may not work for others. There is no secret key to your success. I can offer you nothing but what I have learned myself… and it might be crap.
What bothers me the most about writing about writing on substack is that it’s just spam. Trash. Filler. Most often it’s another writer, or an “industry insider”(lol) sending out bait to the masses of hopeful creatives attempting to capitalize on them. Instead of a carrot on a stick its a promise of a better life writing and getting commission after commission. Clickbait-ey titles about gathering zillions of subscribers or how to structure your work. Pages of comments and analysis about… prose.
Pictured: The average Substack feed.
You don’t need those people. They aren’t actually reading your work and likely have zero interest in it. On this platform you are a resource to be farmed. Insiders and critics are my favorite, they dwell inside a cottage industry of creating absolutely nothing. What an existence! What on earth would they know about your writing process?
Most of the members here are at least one thing, however; Assholes with opinions. And unfortunately, we may be assholes, but we are allowed one opinion of your work, free of charge. The decision whether to keep reading… or not. This brings us to the point of this little article.
Why aren’t I reading your work?
It’s not very good, that’s why.
You need to hear that.
You need to fully understand and accept it, and change for the better. Stop doing what you think you should be doing and do what you want. Look at what you create and see why it does what it does. Look at your own work not as you who wrote it, but as any asshole with an opinion. Is it good? Does it make sense? Are you interested in it and want to read more?
…or is it the same slop everyone churns out? Complain-ey, overly emotional, blurry “content” full of topical jargon, about whatever popular words came through the feed that day. Can an AI write better than you? If your worried about that then perhaps your work is so unexceptional that a large language model can spit it out by speed reading all the other schlock on the internet. AI does not “create,” my fellow writers, it only collates and repeats on a very large scale. What you are doing is better than that. You make something from nothing. Whether its lies, truth, fantasy, violence… love.
You just need to do it. Decide to get better. There’s no other magical way. You do it the way you want until the world around you changes to see things your way.
You can write like Foster Wallace as much as you can swing a club like Tiger. Arnold Palmer(another golfer who was maybe kinda good) had some thoughts on that…
“Swing your swing. Not some idea of a swing. Not a swing you saw on TV. Not that swing you wish you had. No, swing your swing. Capable of greatness. Prized only by you. Perfect in it’s imperfection. Swing your swing.”
Case in point: Arnold “Your-swing-coach-can-suck-it” Palmer.
How much of what you’re doing is just what you thought someone wanted? There are no experts in art. There is no bad art, just bad taste. There is only what it makes the viewer feel. Do what you feel is good, do it over and over until you enjoy it, and it will become good.
Maybe then we’ll finish reading it.