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1985

Abstract

argues it isn’t.Writing is in <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-read-nassim-talebs-entire-incerto-3d1b1e4420e0">Extremistan</a> — a world where the 1% gets 99% of the pie.I’m far from it, despite my best efforts.Additionally, the potential for progression in writing isn’t wide.Unlike activities like cooking, which depend on trial, error, and practice, writing depends on your grasp of the language, self-awareness, creativity, imagination, and empathy.These aren’t as elastic as we’d like them to be.Trial and error offers almost anyone a guaranteed way to succeed because it doesn’t require <a href="https://readmedium.com/why-ben-shapiro-is-rich-and-why-youre-not-76e4d082ca8f">intelligence or energy</a> as much as it requires time to test your hypotheses.But writing doesn’t work this way.Writing depends on:<ul><li>How interesting your life is.</li><li>How intelligent your message is.</li><li>How good you are at communicating it.</li></ul>It’s not a trial-and-error thing. There’s a cap to how good your writing can be just like there’s a cap to how high you can jump.Success in writing is a lot like the Olympics. It’s not so much about how good you are, but a lot about how good others are.I realized it one evening in the hallway of my co-living during the winter of 2022.I was talking to a pretty girl I was about to ask out.Upon seeing I was writing on this very website, she showed me her own profile.She hadn’t written more than ten articles. Curious, I clicked on one of them and began to read.The floor collapsed under my feet.Her writing was great.I mean by that, “her writing was an order of magnitude better than mine”.I had been writing

Options

for two years at the time and thought of myself as a good writer.She only wrote once or twice in a year. Talent is a real thing. Don’t bet against it.I began writing in February 2020 after my brother offered to host a WordPress blog on his server.I learned SEO, content writing, email marketing, product-making, sales funnels, built my blog to 25,000 visits per month, and built this profile. I summarized more than a hundred books and wrote around 800 articles.I also wrote three books and made countless free Google Sheets.My newsletter grew to almost 1000 subscribers, I have more than 150 email subscribers on Medium, 6,500 followers, and 700 leads on Gumroad. More than 100 people took my free writing course.All of this for a miserable $26,000 in earnings over four years.As I am about to turn 30, it’s time to be realistic: I neither have a house, a job, a car, or a relationship.All I have is the skills and experience I’ve acquired over the last ten years of working and building stuff.Time is dangerously running out.I can no longer waste it writing articles or book summaries that won’t even earn$ 5.It’s time to considerably downsize my creative endeavors in favor of something more economically viable.My stint as a creator was fun, but it didn’t lead where I hoped to arrive initially.Writing full-time is a fantasy I can no longer afford.Will I completely stop?Probably not. Writing is built in my psyche at this point, and I’ll go nuts if I stop entirely.But it will no longer be at the top of my priority list.I tried, it didn’t work. Now it’s time to move on.For more articles, head to <a href="https://auresnotes.com/">auresnotes.com</a>.</article></body>

After 4 Years as a Content Creator, It’s Time to Move on

Sad but necessary

I took the entire month of October 2023 off social media (Twitter and Instagram) because I spent too many hours reading my phone screen.

This gave me time to reflect and think.

Unsurprisingly, the month was pretty great. I did a bunch of cool stuff and remained detached from the woes of the world.

I didn’t even know about the Israel-Palestine conflict until a friend asked what I thought about it two weeks after it had begun.

Somewhere in the world, there is a fool by a waterfall who doesn’t know how afraid he should be. Anonymous

Then I came back to Twitter in November and experienced a frozen shower.

My feed was genuinely interesting. What I read was true. What I read was good. What I read was thoughtful.

But above all, what I read was not something I would be able to produce myself.

As a content creator, it hurt to admit.

After four years of writing online, 1,5 million views, and almost twice as many words, it’s time to look at reality as it is: it’s not working.

Being the best in the world is underrated. Seth Godin

Is it worth doing something if you can’t become the best at it?

Godin argues it isn’t.

Writing is in Extremistan — a world where the 1% gets 99% of the pie.

I’m far from it, despite my best efforts.

Additionally, the potential for progression in writing isn’t wide.

Unlike activities like cooking, which depend on trial, error, and practice, writing depends on your grasp of the language, self-awareness, creativity, imagination, and empathy.

These aren’t as elastic as we’d like them to be.

Trial and error offers almost anyone a guaranteed way to succeed because it doesn’t require intelligence or energy as much as it requires time to test your hypotheses.

But writing doesn’t work this way.

Writing depends on:

How interesting your life is.
How intelligent your message is.
How good you are at communicating it.

It’s not a trial-and-error thing. There’s a cap to how good your writing can be just like there’s a cap to how high you can jump.

Success in writing is a lot like the Olympics. It’s not so much about how good you are, but a lot about how good others are.

I realized it one evening in the hallway of my co-living during the winter of 2022.

I was talking to a pretty girl I was about to ask out.

Upon seeing I was writing on this very website, she showed me her own profile.

She hadn’t written more than ten articles. Curious, I clicked on one of them and began to read.

The floor collapsed under my feet.

Her writing was great.

I mean by that, “her writing was an order of magnitude better than mine”.

I had been writing for two years at the time and thought of myself as a good writer.

She only wrote once or twice in a year. Talent is a real thing. Don’t bet against it.

I began writing in February 2020 after my brother offered to host a WordPress blog on his server.

I learned SEO, content writing, email marketing, product-making, sales funnels, built my blog to 25,000 visits per month, and built this profile. I summarized more than a hundred books and wrote around 800 articles.

I also wrote three books and made countless free Google Sheets.

My newsletter grew to almost 1000 subscribers, I have more than 150 email subscribers on Medium, 6,500 followers, and 700 leads on Gumroad. More than 100 people took my free writing course.

All of this for a miserable $26,000 in earnings over four years.

As I am about to turn 30, it’s time to be realistic: I neither have a house, a job, a car, or a relationship.

All I have is the skills and experience I’ve acquired over the last ten years of working and building stuff.

Time is dangerously running out.

I can no longer waste it writing articles or book summaries that won’t even earn $5.

It’s time to considerably downsize my creative endeavors in favor of something more economically viable.

My stint as a creator was fun, but it didn’t lead where I hoped to arrive initially.

Writing full-time is a fantasy I can no longer afford.

Will I completely stop?

Probably not. Writing is built in my psyche at this point, and I’ll go nuts if I stop entirely.

But it will no longer be at the top of my priority list.

I tried, it didn’t work. Now it’s time to move on.

For more articles, head to auresnotes.com.