Do You Hate the HYPOCRISY of Being Told what to Write About?
Every writer must choose for themselves
When it comes to the topic of what to write about on the Medium website, personally, I believe that every writer must choose for themselves.
Let’s face it guys, ‘players gonna play, haters gonna hate,’ and writers are gonna write…period!
So why do we continue to try and tell one another what to write about?
Do you worry about what you choose to write about?
Some new writers have expressed how they find it hard to know what to write about. I believe it’s mostly overthinking things, but I understand the feeling. That’s why I offer my advice, in the form of sharing what my own motivations are, when I write about Medium.
Another form of writing I can truly relate to are the many personal experiences that are shared on the platform.
It’s a crying shame, when I read snarky comments, or hear about writers being criticized for “oversharing” details about themselves and their lives.
There are so many people who have never been affected by trauma and hard times, that they can’t sincerely relate to the idea of healing through writing.
Sad to say, those individuals don’t fully understand the benefits that other writers receive, from writing about their hard knocks lives or experiences.
But just because some writers don’t get it, shouldn’t give them a license to belittle, or berate those who use writing as an this effective mechanism, to try and fix themselves.
Writers should be able to be their authentic selves, and share their stories anyway they please (aside from Medium rules and protocols).
That’s how we end up with creative and talented writers, with their own individual styles.
You know the ones, like: Sherry McGuinn and Michael Burg, MD (AKA Medium Michael Burg) (definitely two unique species of writer).
It’s okay if you’re a reader who doesn’t appreciate deep or emotional stories about personal experiences. You don’t have to like odd or colorful humor. You have your choice of thousands — maybe millions — of stories.
If you don’t enjoy reading a certain topic or type of story, simply stop reading them. Don’t gripe about it. Just set your home page to generate the stories and titles you actually enjoy.
Do if for you, and do it for your fellow writers.
I don’t mean to be hypocritical but I’m getting it out of my system!
Another topic that seems to bring out the “mean girl” in many writers, is the issue of “writing about Medium”.
Among the many stories I wrote about Medium this year, is my second highest earning story ever. It’s the one about the toxic environment I felt permeating the Medium community at the time I wrote it.
In that story, I shared what I thought was a positive message about learning to speak our minds in a less hostile way. Ironically, a few of the responses to that comment accused me of being part of the problem.
Certain comments that followed actually led to me making a decision to not even continue reading any comments at all, after that; not on any of my stories. I chose that option, instead of a more nuclear one.
I was pissed, hurt, intimidated, and ready to resort to verbal battle.
I really hate the idea of being considered part of the negative undertones that exist in the atmosphere. I was almost tempted not to even write about the topic I’m currently discussing.
Then I reminded myself that you can never please all the people all the time, so I put on my big girl panties, and pounded out what you’re reading.
Fear of being mislabeled or misjudged is not going to keep me from getting these observations off my mind and out of my system. I need to do this before 2021 is over, as part of my mental year end cleanup.
So this is what I really want to emphasize:
- Yes, we should all be allowed to write whatever we want to write about — even if that means writing solely about Medium — and no one has the right to judge or demean someone’s choice.
- Yes, even the writers who want to complain about some aspect of writing on Medium, or they want to write about a less than positive topic, they should be able to do so (as long as they do it in a respectful way, that is in harmony with Medium rules and code of conduct).
Final Thoughts
I’ve come to fully appreciate that haters really and truly are going to hate on certain topics, but they actually have the right to do so.
I don’t need to tell them to stop hating, or expect them to do so; no more than they need to tell me and other writers to stop writing about Medium, and expect us to comply.
The conclusion I’ve reached is that: When we try to take the high ground and put other writers in check, it only serves to make us equally guilty of hypocrisy.
For more on this topic, be sure to read:
DEAR READER: The advice and opinions I share are not always taken from a book or based on professional statements. I merely share accounts I’ve experienced -personally and I tell you how I handled a situation when this happened to me, OR my suggestions, if it were to ever happen.
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