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Abstract

he acquisition of each follower.OK, fine.Perhaps some of these followers would indeed end up increasing their income. They would diligently mould their titles to SEO searches, adjust the pictures, the listicles, the styles.And we will end up with even more manufactured literature — as come out of the same mould, with the same structure, the same baits, even the same lengths of paragraphs (because see, these are more ‘’readable’’).And then it is no more literature. Literature is art. It is unique. It cannot be moulded. Who taught Faulkner how to write? Tolstoy’s sentences were unintelligible, so his wife had to edit them, to make them readable. Can you put Steinbeck in a mould?(Then, you’d say, who reads these authors any more? — Well, if they don’t, it’s their loss).I know ‘’manufacturing’’ pays.But I don’t read these articles. I follow several writers, of whom I read nearly every article. I follow them for their uniqueness. For the fact that they would make me gasp, as I had never even expected such a view on life. Or I swoon at the beauty of their language, the sexiness with which they play with it.And I like reading the ‘’fresh’’ new writers, who join Medium every day. Not many of them do formulas or moulds. I like the fact that they edit each other’s work. For free.It takes you one hour to write an article???? What quality am I going to be getting, if I decided to read that, then?I am with Shannon Ashley, who takes at least 3 hours. For my ‘’more ambitious’’ pieces I take 6.When I first joined Medium, I went the other way. I was writing about a piece a month — this is how long I needed to contemplate, reflect, observe, let the idea simmer, ferment, rise, bloom. Then I wrote it. Then edited it at least 3 times. Sometimes sleeping over it made me change the whole thing. Sometimes I had to redo the style because there were other rhythms in my head on the next day, which gave a truer beat.Finally, I pressed the ‘’publish’’ button and waited with trepidation. One month. Two months. Barely 10–20 views.Then it ‘’clicked’’.People were just not interested in authentic language or authentic experiences. They didn’t particularly care to read about other countries or things they had not heard of, especially by a writer whose name they found unfamiliar. ‘’Perhaps the sentences or paragraphs were too long’‘— someone ‘’helpfully’’ suggested.Really?My personal friends read my work and said they were ‘’gripped’’; that I was ‘’a born writer’’; that I ‘’had a voice’’. I teach writing, so I can analyse my own — mostly it is OK; some — even more than OK.I simply had not written advice on how to make money. Nor had I inserted listicles of :<ul><li>‘’how to achieve happiness’’ — one-two-three</li><li>‘’how to make money’’ — one-two-three</li><li>‘’how to be your best self’’-one-two-three.</li></ul>I could write a whole novel on ‘’what stops you from making money even if you are talented and hard-working’’, or ‘’317 reasons that stop you from being your best self — and it is not your fault’’, or ‘’why you can never be happy just because past trauma would never leave you alone’’.Then I could write 3 more novels on how many years it takes to overcome these hindrances, to finally become your best self (I don’t know about the money). It takes real grit, courage, nearly-physical pain and perseverance — let alone an at-least-20 years’ journey, to transform yourself into what you want to be when others have tried to mould you into something awful, and failed. It takes nearly 20 years to teach yourself to function ‘’normally’’ after 20 years of abuse (and you still don’t quite get it right).And you can never do this alone. You always have to have support.All I read in these articles is ‘’self’’, ‘’self’’, ‘’self’’ — ‘’self-healing’’, ‘’self-improvement’’, ‘’self-motivation’’</i

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. The COVID isolation clearly demonstrated how reliable ‘’self’’ is.I like reading articles by new authors — heartfelt and original. I find barely any ‘’claps’’ on them (sad!). I can see eye-opening views of the world of newcomers with zero to 100 claps. I usually skim through these, to give the author a view, then clap 50 times, to encourage them. I know how encouraging claps can be.And then these great 5-digit writers come and tell me, ‘’Yes, but writing should never be primarily for money’’.Excuse me?I sent one of these authors what I considered my ‘’wow!’’ piece (privately), to have a look and give me an idea of why it is not being read much on Medium. I asked ‘’is it any good?’’ He sent me back one sentence — a very valuable one: ‘’There is no rule; different styles appeal to different people’’.And I completely agree.Then I read an article by the same author, in which he advises new writers on how to achieve the 6-digit sum he himself has earned as a writer. Contradicting his note to me, the piece said: ‘’Your writing has to be good. It has to have quality. Otherwise, you would not be recognised’’.He fails to define ‘’good’’.Because there isn’t a definition.Not that ‘’bad’’ writing doesn't exist. But ‘’good’’ writing is often felt with the heart, not through listicles or formulae.Three things I begrudge these celebrity authors more than their money-making listicles:Very few of them go back to/admit how they came to their celebrity status. The biggest ones on Medium have been on it since the platform began in 2013. There were much fewer writers then, much less competition; it was much easier to be noticed. They became big and they stayed big.When I joined Medium in 2018 I found myself following 6 of them. Then another newcomer shared in an article that he followed nearly the same 6. The algorithm had already figured them out. Only fair — they have been there the longest — and they had waited for their success.2.Very few again tell you how many articles they have written before getting their popularity. The numbers I have heard (accidentally) have been phenomenal — 540 pieces in 2 years, 400 pieces in 3 years. Or thereabouts.(Lately, I have heard of people achieving success with 150-ish articles; but not below that).This is a massive amount of work and a massive amount of patience. Hats off to these authors for persevering, grafting and succeeding. But why don’t they tell you this? They prefer to wave a cheque in your face and say: ‘’join my private course, so that I can teach you how you can get the same income, near-enough immediately’’.Not that skills or experience on Medium cannot be taught. But do you really imagine that EVERY person who joins their courses would have similar success within a period of time shorter than 2–3 years? I bet there are disappointed people. I bet that these blame themselves, too.3.Again one of these ‘’star’’-studded celebrities admitted that they barely ever read other people’s articles on Medium. They even used the phrase ‘’I am being a little selfish’’. Then I imagined all of us becoming only interested in writing to earn for our own success, without reading other people’s work, to help their success. All will be writing and no one will be reading. No one will be earning, because you earn for being read.Then it will be like the principle my demi-God Umair Haque preaches about — if you do not invest and share your resources, to help others without expecting a return, sometimes you yourself will end up with no return.I remember all high earners complaining that their incomes had dropped during November and December. I think I know the reason — many new writers joined, many people diverted from reading ‘’the greats’’, to give others the chance.In my opinion, there nothing wrong with that.</article></body>

A rant

Please Stop Telling Us How Much Money You Have Earned Through Writing…

Or I’m going to scream

Dear high-earning writers,

We (poor earners) are sick and tired of reading (down to the minutest fraction of the cent) how much you have earned from your writing.

Nor are we interested in your obligatory monthly financial report (often in the varied modes of an article, a video, a blog — as if one mode was not enough).

Strangely, this ‘’tactic’’ (or fashion??) does not make me want to follow you more so that I learn how to start earning as much as you. It does not make me read more of your articles or watch more of your videos (to implicitly inflate your income even more).

I am glad you are earning this money.

But I am not you.

For you to flash your 4 or 5 digits in my face unsolicited, is (to be a little blunt), vulgar.

How did this become a fashion?

I came across one (rather cute) high-earning writer’s complaint about how she cringed each time she HAD to disclose her income. She did not want to; it was not in her nature. But — note again — she HAD to. Was she declaring herself a slave? Did she not have a personal choice? Was there a choice at all, if one would have meant a lower income?

Your money (just like your marital status, or your medical history) are personal matters. They are nobody’s business. They are — least of all — my business unless you are my friend and you choose to confide in me.

You do not choose that. You flash your income so that you attract me to give you even more money. You want me to ‘’invest’’ my little hard-earned pennies to add to your already inflated 5–6 digit bank balance, to ‘’learn’’ how to achieve the same success.

But I don’t want the same success. I want my success.

Your success does not make me motivated. It makes me depressed.

Heard of Facebook depression? Of the FOMO syndrome?

I’m sure we’ll be researching on the Medium depression FOMO syndrome soon.

Your figures make me feel like ‘’Why can’t I earn the same? I am a no worse writer! Life is not fair!’’; or even worse, ‘’I’m not as good a writer! I’ll never be such a good writer!’’ (when in a calmer emotional state I would recognise that this is not true).

I know you are a good writer. You are even a great writer. Somehow, though, I have the sneaky feeling that you are not a greater writer than me. You may be just as a great writer as me.

With one difference.

You are famous.

Humans are the funny flock. They are like sheep. They are attracted to celebrities and money.

It is intriguing how quickly along the grapevine of Medium there wires the news that …so-and-so … has this month earned a 5-figure through their writing.

They become celebrities.

Then these celebrities flash a picture of the said 5-digit figure in their Medium articles (the money), followed by the obligatory listicle of what-to-do steps. And people just flock around them.

Suddenly they are talked about in Facebook groups. On YouTube videos. They are interviewed. They start their own Facebook groups. And they start teaching their followers how to achieve the same success on Medium, simultaneously adding another 3-digit figure to their bank account at the acquisition of each follower.

OK, fine.

Perhaps some of these followers would indeed end up increasing their income. They would diligently mould their titles to SEO searches, adjust the pictures, the listicles, the styles.

And we will end up with even more manufactured literature — as come out of the same mould, with the same structure, the same baits, even the same lengths of paragraphs (because see, these are more ‘’readable’’).

And then it is no more literature. Literature is art. It is unique. It cannot be moulded. Who taught Faulkner how to write? Tolstoy’s sentences were unintelligible, so his wife had to edit them, to make them readable. Can you put Steinbeck in a mould?

(Then, you’d say, who reads these authors any more? — Well, if they don’t, it’s their loss).

I know ‘’manufacturing’’ pays.

But I don’t read these articles. I follow several writers, of whom I read nearly every article. I follow them for their uniqueness. For the fact that they would make me gasp, as I had never even expected such a view on life. Or I swoon at the beauty of their language, the sexiness with which they play with it.

And I like reading the ‘’fresh’’ new writers, who join Medium every day. Not many of them do formulas or moulds. I like the fact that they edit each other’s work. For free.

It takes you one hour to write an article???? What quality am I going to be getting, if I decided to read that, then?

I am with Shannon Ashley, who takes at least 3 hours. For my ‘’more ambitious’’ pieces I take 6.

When I first joined Medium, I went the other way. I was writing about a piece a month — this is how long I needed to contemplate, reflect, observe, let the idea simmer, ferment, rise, bloom. Then I wrote it. Then edited it at least 3 times. Sometimes sleeping over it made me change the whole thing. Sometimes I had to redo the style because there were other rhythms in my head on the next day, which gave a truer beat.

Finally, I pressed the ‘’publish’’ button and waited with trepidation. One month. Two months. Barely 10–20 views.

Then it ‘’clicked’’.

People were just not interested in authentic language or authentic experiences. They didn’t particularly care to read about other countries or things they had not heard of, especially by a writer whose name they found unfamiliar. ‘’Perhaps the sentences or paragraphs were too long’‘— someone ‘’helpfully’’ suggested.

Really?

My personal friends read my work and said they were ‘’gripped’’; that I was ‘’a born writer’’; that I ‘’had a voice’’. I teach writing, so I can analyse my own — mostly it is OK; some — even more than OK.

I simply had not written advice on how to make money. Nor had I inserted listicles of :

‘’how to achieve happiness’’ — one-two-three
‘’how to make money’’ — one-two-three
‘’how to be your best self’’-one-two-three.

I could write a whole novel on ‘’what stops you from making money even if you are talented and hard-working’’, or ‘’317 reasons that stop you from being your best self — and it is not your fault’’, or ‘’why you can never be happy just because past trauma would never leave you alone’’.

Then I could write 3 more novels on how many years it takes to overcome these hindrances, to finally become your best self (I don’t know about the money). It takes real grit, courage, nearly-physical pain and perseverance — let alone an at-least-20 years’ journey, to transform yourself into what you want to be when others have tried to mould you into something awful, and failed. It takes nearly 20 years to teach yourself to function ‘’normally’’ after 20 years of abuse (and you still don’t quite get it right).

And you can never do this alone. You always have to have support.

All I read in these articles is ‘’self’’, ‘’self’’, ‘’self’’ — ‘’self-healing’’, ‘’self-improvement’’, ‘’self-motivation’’. The COVID isolation clearly demonstrated how reliable ‘’self’’ is.

I like reading articles by new authors — heartfelt and original. I find barely any ‘’claps’’ on them (sad!). I can see eye-opening views of the world of newcomers with zero to 100 claps. I usually skim through these, to give the author a view, then clap 50 times, to encourage them. I know how encouraging claps can be.

And then these great 5-digit writers come and tell me, ‘’Yes, but writing should never be primarily for money’’.

Excuse me?

I sent one of these authors what I considered my ‘’wow!’’ piece (privately), to have a look and give me an idea of why it is not being read much on Medium. I asked ‘’is it any good?’’ He sent me back one sentence — a very valuable one: ‘’There is no rule; different styles appeal to different people’’.

And I completely agree.

Then I read an article by the same author, in which he advises new writers on how to achieve the 6-digit sum he himself has earned as a writer. Contradicting his note to me, the piece said: ‘’Your writing has to be good. It has to have quality. Otherwise, you would not be recognised’’.

He fails to define ‘’good’’.

Because there isn’t a definition.

Not that ‘’bad’’ writing doesn't exist. But ‘’good’’ writing is often felt with the heart, not through listicles or formulae.

Three things I begrudge these celebrity authors more than their money-making listicles:

Very few of them go back to/admit how they came to their celebrity status. The biggest ones on Medium have been on it since the platform began in 2013. There were much fewer writers then, much less competition; it was much easier to be noticed. They became big and they stayed big.

When I joined Medium in 2018 I found myself following 6 of them. Then another newcomer shared in an article that he followed nearly the same 6. The algorithm had already figured them out. Only fair — they have been there the longest — and they had waited for their success.

Very few again tell you how many articles they have written before getting their popularity. The numbers I have heard (accidentally) have been phenomenal — 540 pieces in 2 years, 400 pieces in 3 years. Or thereabouts.

(Lately, I have heard of people achieving success with 150-ish articles; but not below that).

This is a massive amount of work and a massive amount of patience. Hats off to these authors for persevering, grafting and succeeding. But why don’t they tell you this? They prefer to wave a cheque in your face and say: ‘’join my private course, so that I can teach you how you can get the same income, near-enough immediately’’.

Not that skills or experience on Medium cannot be taught. But do you really imagine that EVERY person who joins their courses would have similar success within a period of time shorter than 2–3 years? I bet there are disappointed people. I bet that these blame themselves, too.

Again one of these ‘’star’’-studded celebrities admitted that they barely ever read other people’s articles on Medium. They even used the phrase ‘’I am being a little selfish’’. Then I imagined all of us becoming only interested in writing to earn for our own success, without reading other people’s work, to help their success. All will be writing and no one will be reading. No one will be earning, because you earn for being read.

Then it will be like the principle my demi-God Umair Haque preaches about — if you do not invest and share your resources, to help others without expecting a return, sometimes you yourself will end up with no return.

I remember all high earners complaining that their incomes had dropped during November and December. I think I know the reason — many new writers joined, many people diverted from reading ‘’the greats’’, to give others the chance.

In my opinion, there nothing wrong with that.