Writing

How To Cope With Not Being One Of The Best Writers Here

I didn’t get the $500 bonus either.

Yes, we are all very aware that the best 1,000 writers received a $500 bonus on the platform. This article is an attempt to make some emotional damage control for writers that want to quit.

Through an e-mail, a thousand writers received well-deserved recognition for their articles’ performance during April. Currently, those are the most outstanding writers around.

I don’t know how many active members are part of the partner program, but I am possibly a member of the Facebook group formed by the 1,000 writers who received that “stimulus writer’s check.”

The avalanche of messages on the writer’s Facebook groups I follow was unstoppable.

I admitted. Even though I know my last month’s performance wasn’t the best, and I’m still what one would call a “newbie” here, I also refreshed my e-mail, stats, and stripe count several times.

I was looking to verify that, perhaps, a late notification would give me a final pass into that select group of successful content creators that I am so anxious to join.

The chosen ones:

I’m not into one to beat around the bush, so I’m going to tell it as it is: getting a spot in the exclusive 8% of members who make more than $100 a month on this platform is not easy.

If you love to write, you’re most likely feeling like giving up once every two weeks. Facing rejection after rejection, the option of getting what non-writers refer to as “a real job” becomes more and more attractive.

Three hundred reads won’t bring the bacon home, nor will they strengthen your self-esteem as a content creator in a morass of successful young legends that make writing a display of charm, social media strategy, and popularity.

But, if you still haven’t decided to change careers:

If you, like myself, received the news of that bonus as an incentive to improve and hone your writing until finally getting into that top tier, I’m going to give you some hints.

Not getting that bonus can be a powerful motivation when you keep your feet on the ground, no matter how talented you are or how good you consider your results.

1. We are here to learn.

Writing on this platform is not the same as writing in other types of publications. I learned that the hard way.

After more than a decade of professionally writing for fashion magazines, SEO content for blogs, and ghostwriting about the most random topics you can imagine, I started writing here believing I already knew everything there is to know about writing.

The thing is, readers here aren’t looking for data or catchy titles. Anyone can google exactly what they’re looking to know and be presented with millions of sources focusing on the same research, quoted studies, and plagiarize words.

Why would someone pay a subscription for us to tell them in 6 to 7 minutes what they can find in seconds?

2. You wouldn’t pay for it either, would you?

Readers are here for content, yes, but they want content that’s written in a way that can inspire them to reflect by turning on their critical thinking skills.

They don’t want you to dump unlimited data, quotes, tables, and unnecessary information onto their heads. On the contrary, readers are here for an experience.

They want to get involved with your ideas and ultimately connect with you, the person who put all those sentences together inspired by personal experience, research, or both.

We are part of a social network for people who read and write. Readers agree to pay and recognize content creators for their outstanding work. As writers, we need to focus on keeping subscribers/customers engaged.

Get this inside your head: write focusing on your reader. The key is to provide them with actionable takeaways that can make them reflect for a week after reading one of your pieces.

3.Be unique, be bold, be innovative.

I know that’s hard. Remember that I’m writing this article precisely because I’m not in the top 1,000 :-(, but I’m certainly closer than where I was a few months ago when I started here. I’m much closer than when I thought writing about my life was interesting enough to do the trick.

4.Stop feeling sorry for yourself:

A few months ago, I was granted the opportunity to become part of Sinem’s Writer’s Academy. That scholarship made me finally feel like it was time to accept my calling.

However, there’s a Sinem’s phrase that struck me, and that I will paraphrase here for the greater good “stop complaining and keep writing.”

As my mentor says: are your MPP results not the best yet? Then it is time to ask yourself honestly:

Am I doing my best? Or is there still room for me to push myself to deliver better quality content consistently?

5. Step # 14,653,673,874 to succeed here:

Embrace your failures, learn from them, and keep rowing.

This advice is helpful for writing, but also for anything you want to conquer from now on. Trust me, I immigrated twice during the pandemic, and I know making money is goddam essential. I won’t cut down the apex of how necessary a steady income is during times like this.

But, I also know from experience that writing mills are dead ends in which you fail to build a reputation, make a decent living, or even have some respect for your “accomplishments.”

You can call me eccentric, but I prefer a thousand times to write a dissertation on ghosting your relatives to improve your mental health than reviews about cosmetic products that I have never bought, seen, or tried.

I don’t want to write about a topic only because it sells. I want to write about topics that move me. I want to make a difference in the world by helping people recover from trauma, make new meaningful relationships, healthily enjoy their sex lives, and reflect on their mental health.

6. Value the small victories:

Before I started posting articles here, I didn’t have a single follower. Now I have a little more than 100. At some point in the future, I will reach 1000.

But if I focus on the fact that I don’t have 1,000 yet, I won’t allow myself to enjoy the 137 people who have validated my work with their following.

7. Practice gratitude!

Each clap, each read, each “chosen for further distribution” means that someone is giving a damn over the same stuff that moves you… and that’s pretty awesome.

Want to try going viral on another platform? Publish your articles on Facebook and tell me how that works for you.

Having 2,000 plus Facebook friends has taught me that I can count with the fingers of my hands how many of them are interested in something more than memes and cat videos.

I’m a huge fan of kittens and puppies videos myself, so it’s neither a criticism nor a suggestion to change the reading habits of others, mind you.

Instead, I’m acknowledging that each person who follows you chose to build a relationship with you. That connection is built over the desire to satisfy their curiosity by experiencing a connection with your ideas.

Isn’t that sexy?

8. He who is free from sin cast the first stone:

Do you want to envy those who did receive the bonus? Great! Channel that energy into motivation to do the same work they do.

You won’t get excellent results by occasionally producing an article. Yes, you have to write numerous high-quality articles to achieve something like that.

Especially if you aren’t an experienced writer or if English isn’t your native tongue, this task becomes harder still. But the more articles you write and the more rejections you face, the closer you’ll be to discovering and working on these essential aspects of your writer self:

• Which skills should I sharpen to get better?
• How can I improve my style?
• Am I speaking taking this seriously? Am I copying someone else’s style? Am I too afraid to come up with something new?
• Am I doing the work of building a relationship with my audience?
• How many articles am I writing weekly to improve my chances of actually going viral?
• Am I cultivating a relationship with my editors, even with those who reject me?

Find out which topics aren’t your strong suit, and find those topics that motivate you to keep writing. By doing so, you can discover whether this is what you want to do or not.

9. Finally, one last piece of advice:

Everyone here insists on telling others to write, keep writing, and then write some more. They’ll say that, including me, because that will inevitably make you a better writer.

However, I would also like to add the following: To become a better writer, don’t neglect reading and living your life.

The best ideas for an article typically come in the middle of an exciting conversation. Other humans can give you a type of feedback you will never find in the solitude of your own mind.

It’s in the differences you can find those genuinely juicy details that made a fascinating story. Focus less on your stats and more on enjoying human interactions. They are the key to creating content based not on what you think is cool but what is, in fact, interesting A.F.

You only need to read the biography of any of your favorite authors to find that they were interesting people, to begin with, before ever having had a writing career. Their lives are full of adventures, lessons, and often suffering. They all had something to think about, making them unique.

I’m sure Bukowski would have hated to spend all day in front of a laptop giving two fucks about how many readers or views he received after writing a particularly depressing story.

I’ve been trapped in that vicious cycle for months. It begins with me not knowing what to write or how to start. Then I write about something, get published, get chosen for further distribution, and enjoy a brief period of excitement. Suddenly my stats stagnate, so I start hating what I wrote.

A couple of days later, I make a fascinating finding when reading a psychology paper. Afterward, I can’t resist the urge to tell everyone about what I learned, and the whole cycle starts again.

I recognize that’s one of my weaknesses, and I need to overcome that fear. I need to accept that even though this is my passion, it’s also my work.

If you don’t identify yourself with the perks and downfalls of being a writer, hey, don’t worry. It’s no biggie. You can also be an avid reader! A skillful comments poster! Why not try to work as an editor? Just accept what you do like and go for it. Nobody’s going to stop you.

So, if you want to move on:

Please do it.

There’s no point in promising things will magically improve if you aren’t going to make the necessary changes in your writing habits, style, formatting, and consistency.

If you want to throw in the towel now, you have every right to quit.

But make that decision only if you’re 100% sure you’ve tried everything you could to prove this wasn’t the right path for you.

If you haven’t, then you still have an opportunity to consider. Think about it: if you’re not willing to believe and fight for what you have to say, why should someone else waste their time reading it?

Set realistic expectations, work hard, and cherish your achievements. And whenever you’re wallowing in one of those days shallow pools of self-pity, keep these words someone else told me present always:

You are not a fake. You are working hard. You didn’t come here to be better than others or to compare yourself to anyone. You are here to find your voice.