Stop Writing Like You Are Panning for Gold

The get-rich-quick schemes will only break your writer’s heart.

Are you writing to strike it rich?

When I started writing this year, it was like being reborn. It helped me cope with the uncertainty that surrounds the year 2020.

I have yet to make big money from writing, and whenever I think about it, I have to remind myself why I am writing, that words are all that will be left of me when I am gone.

When I was doing photography, it started as a hobby, and one day I found myself earning from it. I won second place in a photography contest. Soon after, to my surprise, I traveled around the world as a cruise photographer.

I’m curious where writing will take me.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. ” — Steve Jobs

My journey as a writer is only beginning. I sometimes fall into the trap of asking myself questions like, “Is writing worth it?”, ‘Will it bring food on the table?” or “Will I get to earn as much as the top writers I follow?”

Whenever I think of the future, it only stifles me. The only way to be good at writing is to keep on writing and publishing my words, thoughts, and ideas until it leads me to where I need to be.

There is no rush, no gold rush to be a part of, it is enough that I find joy in what I do. Whenever I get published, I am grateful.

Today, The Startup accepted my story, it was part of my writer’s bucket list.

During the California gold rush of 1849, many have tried and failed. Some have lost their lives and some left the mines defeated. Only a few made big money. Most of them didn't get their hands dirty, as they weren't miners but merchants.

In the writer’s world, there are merchants and miners. Like during the gold rush, these merchants will make the most money, but here comes the big difference, while the miners who left without the gold felt defeated, writers will be the ones who hold on to the dream.

Failure comes when we value our success in gold. Writing offers us more. The words we write are gifts from God, they have the power to influence and inspire, and that alone is our writer’s success.