Starving writers
Why Bother Writing Any More, so they say, when No One Reads Any More.
But who are ‘they’ and what’s going on here?
We can’t not read if we live in a modern society. We are confronted by writing screaming to be read at every turn. And where would advertising be if no one read? And recipes? And higher education? And instructions on how to make and fix things?
On a downward spiral is where they would be.
So what is really meant by ‘no one reads anymore’?
Here’s my definition: ‘ No one reads anymore’ is an expression of frustration or irritation from an unread writer or a person who tries to sell books .
What they really mean IMHO is ‘no one reads my kind of books — or articles — anymore’. That covers a lot of ground.
There are three types of writers — Each group has its overlapping subsections as human behavior is seldom clearly defined.
- Writers who must write — the Literati. For them writing is breathing. Writing is life. No matter how bad things may get, they keep on and never give up. Writing defines them. They are the literary version of ‘starving artist in garret, too obsessed to complain that ‘nobody reads any more’.
2. The Romantics. Writers who love to write. They want/need to make money from their writing, but it’s not the main reason they write. This is the biggest group, and it feels the most pain. Their audience is shrinking, their competition reaches plague proportions. Their once decent earnings have all but evaporated. It gets harder to make sales or get online views and reads. They work like demons to put the work out there.
3. The Triumphs. This group likes the idea of being a writer, maybe becoming famous. They are not interested in working their butts off for years without substantial payoff. They go to any lengths to make the money roll in. They don’t complain that ‘no one reads any more’ because they aren’t aware of a time when people actually read. If the money never rolls in, they move on.
Now let’s back to ‘no one reads any more’.
Where are the readers the writers need? What do they want? If the readers could, as a group, speak to the writers, what might they have to say?
They might say something like this : Technology has shortened our attention spans. We want everything now and we don’t want to have to think about it.
As for reading, just make it as quick and painless as possible if you expect us to read it. We don’t have time for long articles. We only have time to glance at the title and the subtitle and maybe check out the end of a story.
We decide whether to clap, click or not. If it’s a yes we duly clap or click. And that’s it. Sorry but we just don’t have time to read your long, lovely stories, but in a few seconds we can decide the fate of an article we are not even going to read!
Is it any wonder many writers feel it is just not worth trying any more?
What’s the point of writing a beautifully crafted story with a beginning, a middle and an end, if no one reads the middle — the heart of your story. Why bother?
It’s like making a soup and a dessert but leaving out the main dinner course because it’s too much trouble. You might as well write a title and a conclusion and be damned with meat and salad.
So what’s a starving writer to do?
I am not going to be a jolly polyanna and pretend there are quick fixes. There aren’t.
You could try writing quick little short form pieces aimed at readers with a short attention span — short form is becoming popular.
Will writing short form solve anything? It might make you feel better temporarily but it won’t make readers read more. And it won’t satisfy you as a writer.
We live in a time of great change and upheaval on all fronts. Those who adapt will survive. Writers are no exception. Writers need somehow to find out what it is that their readers want, and give it to them. There is no convenient ‘never fail’ granny’s recipe. They must find their own.
We’re all stuck in this crazy, frenetic world, like it or not. Embrace the changes and grab the opportunities it offers.
Readers will always read.