REFUSING TO HUSTLE: I Will Not Whore Myself Out for Clicks or Views

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As writers, we have to decide what we are and aren't willing to do when we begin the process of putting our work out into the world.

Why?

So that we don't drown in hustle-culture advice telling us the best way to get more clicks / views / reads / follows - whatever.

We have to decide on our model of production so that we stay authentic to our true intent when putting words to paper.

The internet is littered with click-bait articles on how to make more money, get more views, leverage algorithms, and other such "hacks."

I click on them sometimes, and then immediately get uncomfortable because I don't want to do that.

I just want to write.

That's why I'm here; for love of the craft.

But that's not why everyone is here.

I recently read an article by a guy who disliked his job and was asking people to follow him so he could make money and quit.

The beautiful thing about self-publishing is that there are no gate-keepers; you can produce whatever you want and just put it out there.

That also means you have to be your own moderator and decide what you will and won't let in - e.g. self-serving articles where people ask you to provide value to them without having provided value in return.

I do not want to be part of the world in which quality doesn’t matter, where the click-bait 'McLife' rules.

I do not want to use "hacks."

Hack implies a short-cut.

There are not shortcuts to LASTING success.

Those "get-rich quick" posts are written by people who have no value to offer; there's no substance to that writing.

It can be disheartening to see that some of those writers have more followers than I do.

Photo by 傅甬 华 on Unsplash

So I need to remind myself of my own personal modus operandi: to show up consistently with a quality product.

I have to believe that quality matters.

That if you show up consistently enough with a quality product, it has to have an impact.

I have to believe that in order to keep from drowning in hustle-culture dreams and click-bait lies.

On our path to success, because there is no straight and direct path (especially as writers), we have to look to those we're trying to emulate.

Personally, I look to Mark Manson for my modus operandi; he's a three-time New York Times best-selling author, and he succeed through consistency, quality and authenticity.

Manson wrote long, thought-provoking articles for years - for free - before he became a published writer.

He showed up consistently with a quality product.

He gave tremendous value without asking for anything in return.

That's how he built a loyal audience who will read anything he writes.

(Manson wrote Will Smith's autobiography which is the only reason I read it. If Manson wrote an instruction manual on how to program now defunct VCRs, I would read it.)

It wasn't until after he published the crazy-successful The Subtle-Art of Not Giving a F*ck that he finally started charging for subscription to his site, and even then it was only a nominal fee, and two-thirds of his site is still free.

Show up consistently with a quality product.

Asking for value before you have provided value seems like hubris; provide value without asking for anything in return - at least at the outset.

That feels more like big picture, long-term thinking; and that's why I don't currently charge for access to my site or paywall my stories.

But therein lies the question to any author: what is your motivation for showing up? Why do you sit down to write?

Do you do it for the money, honey?

Or do you do it for the love of the craft?

Why are you here? Photo by Ансплэш Степана on Unsplash

Because the only way to show up consistently with no promises of ever succeeding at something is if you truly love doing the thing.

If you're hustlin', time will eliminate you.

My writing - my creativity - it entertains me, it helps me define what I think and feel. I like exploring my thoughts and feelings, explaining my experience of life to myself and whoever is reading.

I will continue to insist on reading every piece a dozen times or more to see if I’ve put the right emphasis in the right places, to see if a certain word or sentence could be better, or is even necessary at all.

I will continue to hone my craft because I am a writer and that’s what writers do.

Michelangelo, when he was sculpting David, said that he simply removed everything that was not David from the block of marble.

I do the same with my writing; everything that is not authentically me, that is not the truest and best way to express a beautiful idea must go.

I insist on quality and if this means I produce less work overall, then so be it, but I will not whore myself out for clicks, views or follows.

I will not lower the quality of my work just to show up more often.

I also won't beat my subject to death - (How I quit my job and you can too! How I left my 9-5!) - just for the sake of producing evermore posts.

If this is a model that works for you and makes you happy, that’s great.

But I personally find that being incessantly redundant is obnoxious at best, and cringey at worst.

My only consistent theme is how can we get better at doing this whole life thing. Getting better at living life is something that I'm seriously obsessed with.

I will not change that just to pander to an audience.

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his own soul?

- Matthew 16:26

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

True success comes from authenticity, always.

If you succeed based on something that is false - that is not you - it will feel hollow and empty. 

I'm here to show up as my most authentic self as a writer; if my work gets seen, and my words get read that is out of my jurisdiction.

I’m just here to do the work.

It’s really difficult to decide to do it this way; the internet in general (and the world?) is very focused on hustling.

It’s so tempting to give in, and instead of writing to explore my curiosity and interests, to write in a way that potentially panders to an audience.

But hustle stresses me out, and I don’t want to do it.

I would rather succeed on my own terms, or not succeed at all.

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For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught

Not to say the things that he truly feels

And not the words of one who kneels

The record shows

I took the blows

And did it my way

- Frank Sinatra: My Way

Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash

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