Writing
You Do Not Need to Write Self-Improvement Articles to Succeed
I will soon be hitting a year on this platform, and my journey has been fun here so far. My writing has improved, and I have connected with many young writers like myself.
You do not have to be on this platform for too long to realise what the general theme of it is. Most people are writing about one of two things:
- Making money on this platform
- Self-improvement (in some form)
Many of us have been sucked into this idea of being marketable as a writer. We have been told that if our articles do not directly add value to our readers, then no one will read us.
The thought of getting no views on our articles is a scary thing. And that is why many of us would rather write things we would not prefer to get views and earn a bunch of money.
I have even heard top writers on this platform discourage those who do not write in this way. They tell you that your audience is what matters, and they do not want to read a story that has no benefit to their life.
However, I would like to suggest that your audience is not that rigid. In fact, I think the self-improvement craze on this platform is driven by top writers who have become successful doing this. But I doubt every writer on this platform only wants to write self-improvement.
Maybe much of the readers here are interested in self-improvement anyways, and that is why those articles get more views. Nevertheless, I do not believe that writers should be concerned with this.
In this article, I suggest that writing self-improvement is not the only way to become successful. But even more importantly, I want to give you a better alternative to writing self-improvement. And that is writing what you love.
Self-Improvement and Its Falling Value
I have recently been coming across several authors complaining about the repetitive nature of the articles here. I am not sure if it is the algorithm or writers all writing similar things. It is probably a bit of both.
Nevertheless, self-improvement is beginning to lose its value on this platform. Yes, they still perform well, but if you wish to build a loyal audience, self-improvement will be a really hard place to start.
The reality is that self-improvement is becoming a very saturated market. If everyone is an expert in giving life advice, then what makes you different?
You may get more views on your self-improvement article, but I thought the goal was to build a community around your writing. And that takes more than views. That takes consistency, quality and funny enough, individuality.
Articles like:
“5 ways to get out of bed?”
“10 ways to boost your productivity”
Jump out at you and tend to get a good number of views. But over my year, I have dabbled in writing articles like this, and the read ratio is poor. Readers are beginning to get fed up with seeing the same thing and clicking on them because of their bait.
I love self-improvement articles, and I still write a few myself, but you can be a successful writer without writing them. Many of the writers I look up to have built communities around topics like blockchain, economics and science.
I have also found that my favourite creators on youtube do not have self-improvement channels. Instead, they have channels on things that interest them and, as a result, have become a voice of authority in that field.
Self-improvement is beginning to lose its value because everyone is doing it. There is no voice of authority. Instead, it is a bunch of noise that I think, you may do better staying away from. That is ofcourse unless you love it.
Write What You Love
Not every writer is born to be a self-improvement guru. Very few of us are good at breaking bad habits and becoming our “best selves”. We are all human, and too much self-improvement may remove you from yourself.
That is why I have tried my best to limit my intake of self-improvement. I found I was becoming less me and more the idea of what every writer had in their head of the perfect person.
As a writer, your best bet is writing what you love. It may be history, sport or music, whatever it be, write it. You already have a passion for it and are more likely to stick with it as it is part of your everyday life.
Just sticking with what you love is not only your best option, but it also gives the best reader experience. A reader can tell lazy and tired writing. They want to read energised content that is full of unique insights. Writing about what you love will raise the quality of your work because it is something you care about.
But then you ask, how does writing about the things I cherish add value to my reader?
You Are Never Alone
The top writers make it seem that you are the fountain of knowledge your readers need. Unfortunately, that makes writing a one-way transaction. That being, you write, and your reader consumes value.
However, there is more to writing than that. Writing can be a community of both writers and readers. And that is what this platform is. In fact, that is how it works.
When we make writing a one-way transaction, we feel alone as writers. We think we have to leave our happiness out of the picture to feed hungry readers.
The reality is if you enjoy something, there are probably millions of people out there who are just like you. If not, the product or service you enjoy would probably not exist.
So, start seeing your writing like this. See yourself as a writer that is part of a bigger community of writers and readers. That way, writing about what you love does become valuable. Not because it directly adds value to every reader in the world, but because it means something to your community.
Write what you love, and you will be surprised how fast your community grows and how much you will mean to them.
So, writing does not just need to be about becoming an authoritative figure in your field. It does not just need to be about the number of views you get. It can be about a community of readers and writers that care just as much as you do about a topic. And if you have that, you will be a successful writer.
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