Oh No, Have I Created Accidental Clickbait?

a poem, and a moist one, at that

Does accidentally creating clickbait give you the sweats? Make your heart race, and your mouth go dry?

While some rely on clickbait to sell their content why does this concept bring beads of moisture to the brow above my left eye?

If we dig deeper it’s because clickbait is the epitome of overpromoting and underdelivering;

and my imposter syndrome constantly strives for the opposite ratio of underpromoting and overdelivering, JUST in case I’m missing some deeper point and the piece is not as good as I thought it is as I sent out my draft in the world.

Between the clickbait of screaming too loudly in the title and providing little to chew on in the body and a sense of imposter syndrome of muting the title so that no one actually gets to taste the gems of your piece

I hope to find a central balance where I can pique your interest in a piece yet deliver right through and build that passion right until the end, right until the author bio.

Inviting Whatsinanaim | Shreya Badonia | Veronica Georgieva | Penofgold| Olivia Th | Amber Carlson | Tim Varner | K S Fielding | A Fresh Pot of Coffee| Brenda Covarrubias | Dr. Jackie Greenwood | Rochelle Silva | Ntathu Allen | jenine bsharah baines | Zihan | if you’re up to it and anyone else interested to smash that writer’s block, join in on this tiny challenge and write a response, wherever it takes you!

What’s something that gives you “the sweats”, or other physical symptoms of anxiety? What is this anxiety highlighting, and how do you serve this need within you without building into the anxiety?

Submit it to The Brain is a Noodle or be sure to tag me in your response if you publish elsewhere, so I can read it and share it with the world!

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Hi I’m Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) and accidentally creating clickbait gives me the sweats, and not the good kind, like cardio or the meat sweats. It gives me the anxiety of writing something that doesn’t deliver as strongly as that title does, and the core center of that fear is to let anyone reading this piece and spending their precious eyeball time down. You ever feel that? Does it ever paralyze you right before you smash that publish or submit button? I think in meeting other writers and getting to hear about their processes, that anxiety slowly dissipated as I realized that we all commonly feel this, and we’re all taking action to tackle this fear within us. And in that, I’ve grown. In that, I am so grateful. And I hope to send that energy forward for other new writers as we stumble and trip and learn to walk — even run — forwards.

Hop down the rabbit hole? 🐰🕳

^ by Stuart Englander