7Learning To Write For Yourself {Part 1}
This morning I woke up to the realization that the world level of bullshit is now over all our heads. So this is a new series where I will be imparting whatever dubious wisdom I possess in the most bullshit free possible. If this bothers you, well that's your problem. If you like it, share it. If you want to argue with me about it, well, write a damn comment. I'll respond.
I write a lot of stuff here on social media, beBee especially.
Sometimes I hit big because I strike a nerve. Sometimes I hit small because what I’m writing makes people uncomfortable.
That’s life in the world of social media. Up and down like a toilet seat.
But the lesson I have taken away from all of this is that you can’t make everybody happy all the time.
There are a lot of people who complain that they have trouble reaching the number of people they feel their posts should reach. To these people I say, re-read the paragraph above.
But I also say to them that maybe, just maybe, they actually need to get better at writing. Maybe they need to get better at choosing things to write about. And maybe they need to stop writing for what they think their audience wants to read and start writing about what they find interesting themselves.
When I go onto any social media site, I figure I engage with about 10% of everything I see there. And with that 10% I am being generous.
There is a lot of crap out there. A lot. And what I have found, mostly through trial and error and a lot of wasted time reading posts on how to write more effective posts, is that only about 10% is not pure bullshit.
There are very few people who I ‘follow’ and will read just about anything they write.
There should be more. But people don’t get it.
Too many spend their time trying to engineer a post as opposed to just dropping all the fucking pretence and expressing themselves honestly.
Others spend all their time trying to bullshit people into believing stuff that’s just crap.
But there is that small minority who have actually figured it out. Who understand who they are and that the most important person they’re writing for is themselves
I learned this lesson from years and years of writing for other people and businesses. When I sat down late at night to write I didn’t didn’t want to do more of the same stuff I did all day.
I wanted this to be for me. I didn’t really give a shit what happened to it after it got transposed from my head to wherever.
I didn’t really even care what it was. It could have been a poem, a lyric, a short story, an essay (what we now call blogs), an idea for a TV series or movie or just a rant.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that it was for me.
It took me quite a while to learn how to compartmentalize in this way, but like riding a bike, once you learn how to do it, you never really forget.
And that is the advice I have for all of you. Forget the audience. Look in the mirror and write for that person. If you are capable of learning how to do that, then you will see that the people you really want to reach and engage with will be attracted to it.
Because although they may not even be consciously aware of it, that is what they are looking for.
And that quality, despite all the bullshit that’s been generated about it, is called authenticity.
It’s not easy to achieve this. But it’s worth trying, especially if you fall into the 90% out there who is simply trying to write what they think people will read.
I am also a Featured Contributor at Bizcatalyist 360˚
https://www.bizcatalyst360.com/author/jimmurray
You can also follow me on social media:
beBee: https://www.bebee.com/@jim-murray
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-murray-b8a3a4/
Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/y97gxro4
If you liked this post, let me know. If you liked it enough to share it, please feel free.
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Comments
Lisa Vanderburg
7 years ago #20
Randy Keho
7 years ago #19
Paul Walters
7 years ago #18
Jim Murray
7 years ago #17
Thanks @Michael O'Neil ...I'm making notes.
Jim Murray
7 years ago #16
Thanks Franci\ud83d\udc1dEugenia Hoffman...I really appreciate your support and have for quite a while now.
Jim Murray
7 years ago #15
Thanks Wayne Yoshida. I'm looking forward to writing it, whever it turns out to be. Because to tell you the truth most of us are just winging it here. There's no master plan, just people following their noses.
Jim Murray
7 years ago #14
Thanks \ud83d\udc1d Fatima Williams This is exactly why I write these kinds of posts. The beeter everybody become at expressing themselves, the more interesting place the Internet becomes.
Phil Friedman
7 years ago #13
Wow, Franci, that is about the best compliment a writer can receive. Thank you. I believe you are for-Real yourself. Cheers!
don kerr
7 years ago #12
Jerry Fletcher
7 years ago #11
Devesh 🐝 Bhatt
7 years ago #10
bullshit has been generated about every word. It is a process of arriving at something sensible and cleaning up one's own mess that counts. Knowing bullshit without getting a taste of it comes from experience. Few are lucky to learn it from others.
Phil Friedman
7 years ago #9
Well, Fatima, you may believe that but let me tell you about the first thing Jim ever wrote to me... well, maybe I shouldn't, this being polite, mixed company. But I agree that one thing Jim has never been short on is authenticity. Cheers!
Wayne Yoshida
7 years ago #8
🐝 Fatima G. Williams
7 years ago #7
Gert Scholtz
7 years ago #6
Phil Friedman
7 years ago #5
The only writing that's bad writing is inauthentic wring -- i.e. writing composed strictly to please the largest possible audience or to achieve SEO. And yes, that sounds like a lot of writing done by a lot of writers, sometimes including even you and me. Not even great writers turn out good writing all of the time. IME.
Jim Murray
7 years ago #4
ThanksGraham\ud83d\udc1d Edwards. There are all kinds of ways to game the system but the trouble with all of them is that they are insincere and people end up feeling slighted, go away and never come back. A lot of people try to turn something simple into rocket science. The gamers may get more views but the writers get more loyalty.
Graham🐝 Edwards
7 years ago #3
Jim Murray
7 years ago #2
You're already doing that Pascal and the work is impressive. Pascal Derrien.
Pascal Derrien
7 years ago #1