Helpful Tips on Not Writing Helpful Tips
Because we’re good, thanks
The drive is on and the number of people determined to mine this and every platform for every possible advantage (aka money) is growing exponentially. To do so they are committed to “providing value”.
Since they’ve clearly figured out this monetizing writing prize ring, they naturally assume that clueing the rest of us silly keyboard-pounders into their tried and true methods of cleaning up will result in them, well, cleaning up. Judging by the prevalence of this type of content, it must be working. Curiously enough, it’s also generating a bit of a backlash niche and I’m proud of my contributions to it.
The Anti-How-To Crew
I’m certainly not alone in having had it up to here with the avalanche of “helpful” how-to articles on Medium and generally online. How To Make Ten Million Bucks In Your Second Month! How To Successfully Improve Your Google Ranking! How To Reuse Old Content and Make it Work For You!
And on and on and on.
I don’t know the actual stats regarding how many Medium subscribers are readers and how many are writers and, frankly, I’m too lazy to go look it up (have at it).
But those who subscribe to Medium because they love reading bright, smart, edgy, articulate stories, fictional and otherwise, don’t give a rat’s you-know-what about how to succeed on Medium. They flip right past all those pieces and run straight to the good stuff. Really powerful, gut-punching work like this from Kay Bolden:
Readers want real. I want real. I’m on the edge of my seat reading about Kay and her son’s anguish and pain. Have we really come no further than this in our “great” country? Surely reading about this is orders of magnitude more fascinating and important than reading about the thirteen tried and true ways to get people to follow you on social media.
Readers also want to laugh. I want to laugh, especially these days. And Robert Locke is the writer to read when I want to laugh. Case in point:
Readers want to learn about things we’ve never really thought about before. I know I can always count on Daniella Mini for lessons in stuff I’ve never considered (she’s also got wonderful stories about her family and her amazing son, Diego, that you won’t want to miss). But today’s lesson:
Readers (often) love reading about dogs. I love reading about dogs. I love it when Tommy Ueland writes about anything, but here he’s writing about his dog, Alvin, and you’ll be glad that you read it.
And readers really really love a deftly written, fully realized piece of fiction that brings characters and place alive. I love reading that almost as much as I love trying to write it! And Ingrid L. Williams is a master of the art. Here’s a taste and I know you’ll want more:
Give the people what they want
You’re not sitting there, day after day, bonding with your keyboard and screen to make money. Sure, that’s absolutely brilliant if you do pick up some bucks for the work, but making money is such an empty enterprise. Great so you make some money. Now what? Oh, I guess make more money. So? Is there any magic happening there? Didn’t think so.
Making people fall in love with reading, reaching across time and space and cultures and beliefs to connect with people you’ll never meet? Now that’s worth every moment of anguish and self-doubt and having to go to the damned day job (bravo if you’ve still got one, btw). That’s the magic.
There’s nothing so amazing as discovering that something you’ve written has become a catalyst for conversation. To find that people are commenting on your piece and then commenting on each others’ comments! Wow. I’ve had a couple of pieces hit that sweet spot and it’s mind-blowing. I wrote these pieces months ago but they’re still being read and still prompting discussion:
Am I tickled that they keep making money? Oh, hell, yes. And between the two I’ve earned nearly as much money as I’d have earned in one day on the job back at the medical college I once upon a time worked at. But no one in that office engaged in spirited discussion back and forth about the work I did there (which is maybe not such a bad thing, really).
Save the tips and hacks
You’re not going to feed your soul or ours with that crap. Ditch it and reach deeper. You have important things to unearth and we’re eager to see it hit our screens. Ready?
You have work to do.
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