Would You Still Write If There Were No Money?

Writers’ corner.

Our souls are like a lake. They can only become rivers when writing makes a way for it to flow and gain balance. When you write, you share your ideologies with the world. You nurture your thinking capacity and creativity anytime you write.

For some of us, writing is a passion. It is our channel of enlivening the universe. In this realm, when you see that no one has told a story that resonates with you, the best thing is to write yours. It’s as simple as that.

But I have a question amidst all this passion psyching, "Would you still write if there were no money?" Be honest. We all often shout about passion. But will passion foot your bills?

Remember, a lot of your mates are into Web development, Forex, Digital marketing, and a whole lot of that. They are buoyant and everything. You know they have secured the bag.

At moments like that, would it still make sense for you to write even if there is no money? Would you still want to be consistent at what you do even when only a few know you? Let’s not pretend. Money makes passion sweeter. Please feel free to disagree with me anyway.

But then, if you want to be immortal in this realm, you need to be consistent. Even if writing isn’t giving you enough or no money at all. Keep doing it. It will sharpen your skills. You’ll build more audience.

Your passion isn’t passion if it’s still dependent on money. I’m not saying it’s bad to do paid writings. I’m only saying your initial passion is questionable if you stop writing because paid jobs are not coming that much.

Funny enough, a stage will come with consistency when money, opportunities, and deals will be the ones running after you. This is me telling you to be dogged. There is huge money in writing, and you’ll secure the bag in no distant time. Let nothing discourage you.

Why Am I Saying This?

As y’all know, I’m a Nigerian. And my country is not among the countries covered by Stripe - the payment platform of Medium. So for some days now, it’s been quite tiring. My Stripe account was having a problem which was delaying my pay on Medium.

Of course, it also means by extension that I might have difficulty getting paid for my future Medium earnings. Yes, I’m passionate about writing. But will passion foot my bills? So I was planning that Medium wasn’t worth it after all, and I should just move on.

But that was late already, I’m now obsessed with writing.

I plan to get my website by next year February by God’s grace. So if this Stripe thing isn’t resolved quickly, you’ll still be seeing my face on this app till next year February.

In the meantime, I have started to test some other waters too. And I’ll be showing links to my African short stories soon. Art flows in me. The best language I know to speak is writing(read that again).

Now, let me answer our question:

Nobody: John, would you still write without being able to withdraw your Medium earnings?

John: Yes, I will. Moreso, there are several other ways to make money as a writer. Medium is only a part. Remember, art flows in me.

Several things will want to come against your being consistent. Don’t be discouraged. There’ll always be a way. Keep building your audience. Keep being good at what you do. Remember, you’re branding yourself and building your name in the industry.

I hope my Ted talk helped someone.

PS: I've been resisting the urge to use this emoji—😂😂😂😂😂😂.