'I Just Write for Myself' - Hi Pinocchio
Why pretending not to care about your readers is the biggest lie writers tell themselves.
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What if we all stopped pretending that the numbers don’t matter?
It’s become fashionable to write notes like, “I didn’t come here to write for subscribers, likes or comments. I came to write for me.”
While this may be true for some, I doubt it’s true for everyone.
Fun fact: the brain has an active mechanism for filtering out irrelevant sensory information, a process called selective inattention.
So if you’re talking about it, you care. No?
Another fact: Every new subscriber, silent reader, like and comment is a form of validation. We have demonised the desire for validation so much that we pretend it doesn’t keep us going, but it does. It builds our confidence and self-trust. Those numbers, no matter how big or small, say, “You are seen. You are accepted. You are good.” It’s just the human way.
I am not a professional therapist, but could it be that your fear of failure is showing up? Convincing yourself that you don’t care about any of it feels better than trying. Or is it in response to feeling defeated because what you thought would work did not? So instead of choosing to learn from the failure, you are shutting down. Questions that need answers, A-Stacker.
Here are the real consequences of that attitude:
You are giving up. Working to attract readers is hard work. It means being intentional about your content and your engagement. You have to show up consistently on other platforms to find your people, too. Instead, you are disguising inaction as nonchalance.
You are also making your current readers feel unimportant. Those statements sound like, “I don’t care that you are here.” Maybe it isn’t about them, but saying it out loud looks bad.
I know it’s cooler not to care, but you do. The writers who are growing are brainstorming strategies and trying again. The ones securing brand deals value their readers and show it.
The market is open, but it will only reward those who show up with the right attitude. So, instead of wasting characters on what you don’t care about, tell us what you do care about. Tell us why you wrote the piece, and who you wrote it for. Show us your work until we get sick of it.
It’s okay to be passionate. It’s okay to want to be seen. It’s okay to plan on monetising it.
Behave like you care, because you do.
And step one is becoming a part of the A-List, a library of African writers on Substack. An African is waiting to read your work; make yourself visible.
Step two is discovering African readers and engaging with their work. Check out the A-List:
Hit the nail on the head!!!!
Very true.