Thank you. This brought me to tears. I'm also a writer, not a content creator. It's taken me a few years to realize this, and to understand what that means for the call of writing on my life. I write marketing copy daily (and get paid for it, thank you, God) for businesses that need my creative services. But my own writing, on my blog, isn't and never will be "content." I don't have much of a platform, audience engagement, or a brand. Honestly, as a writer (and maybe this is showing my age, I don't know), those words make me recoil. What it means to not pursue those things, though, is that I'm writing pretty much for free. I live with the tension of needing to write and also wondering why on earth I do this to myself. But in the end, I just pray and trust that others will benefit from it and that it brings glory to God. (And that's exactly what this post has done for me today - thank you, Samuel.)
You are "speaking my language" (like Tom put it)...not content creating it, just writing it :),
I have come to terms with what I experienced as a pastor preaching for over 30 years to small congregations. I always appreciated a week of Holy Spirit's whispers and my writing, more than the 20 minutes of my proclamation and the not so certain affirmation of the congregation.
If it is any consolation, you are not my dopamine fixer. The pleasure of reading is to hear (learn?) how you have been thinking, that is, to meet you. And that meeting is the writer's work. Indeed in a digitally thick age, being parsimonious is an assertion of the human over the Machine and the flattening of the affections which algorithms necessarily bring. So think. Ponder. Explore. (Get the work done too, mind you!) and when you can: write.
Great post! I've been thinking about the same thing recently. In our hyper-speed world, content creators must put out new material every day or risk being forgotten; but the types of things I like to read and want to write cannot be thought about or written at that speed. They require a significant input of reading and thinking, and they take time to form into something useful. Blessings on your continued writing!
I've been wrestling with this exact same thing for the better part of the past five years. Everything in me screams to write but the underlying assumption that it's pointless to write because unless you are a "content creator" you'll never get eyes on your words - has kept me completely frozen. I have been slowly coaching myself to write just to write, hitting publish even though I know for a fact that barely anyone will read it. It's weird to write to no one and no matter how many people say "your audience will find you", in our overly algorithmic world, I am honestly not sure I really believe them. So thank you for this post...thank you for saying what a lot of us our feeling. I'm still feeling frozen but starting to thaw and hoping that there will be a time again when people value slower more thoughtful content.
"I think in paragraphs. Without the right word I’m mute. This isn’t a virtue. It just is. For me, writing is an outflow. I read, I converse, I think, and the writing perfects and completes that process." This describes me to a T. Press on, brother.
I am definitely a writer not a content creator! Pray for the synopsis I am currently writing for a secular publisher via an interesting literary agent!
That really hits home 🪹 Even if you write for content, there are always places where you’ll do it just for yourself - like a personal diary. That’s exactly what our project is about -subscribe.
Feeling seen 👀:)
Thank you. This brought me to tears. I'm also a writer, not a content creator. It's taken me a few years to realize this, and to understand what that means for the call of writing on my life. I write marketing copy daily (and get paid for it, thank you, God) for businesses that need my creative services. But my own writing, on my blog, isn't and never will be "content." I don't have much of a platform, audience engagement, or a brand. Honestly, as a writer (and maybe this is showing my age, I don't know), those words make me recoil. What it means to not pursue those things, though, is that I'm writing pretty much for free. I live with the tension of needing to write and also wondering why on earth I do this to myself. But in the end, I just pray and trust that others will benefit from it and that it brings glory to God. (And that's exactly what this post has done for me today - thank you, Samuel.)
You are "speaking my language" (like Tom put it)...not content creating it, just writing it :),
I have come to terms with what I experienced as a pastor preaching for over 30 years to small congregations. I always appreciated a week of Holy Spirit's whispers and my writing, more than the 20 minutes of my proclamation and the not so certain affirmation of the congregation.
Man, you're speaking my language! I see you!
If it is any consolation, you are not my dopamine fixer. The pleasure of reading is to hear (learn?) how you have been thinking, that is, to meet you. And that meeting is the writer's work. Indeed in a digitally thick age, being parsimonious is an assertion of the human over the Machine and the flattening of the affections which algorithms necessarily bring. So think. Ponder. Explore. (Get the work done too, mind you!) and when you can: write.
Great post! I've been thinking about the same thing recently. In our hyper-speed world, content creators must put out new material every day or risk being forgotten; but the types of things I like to read and want to write cannot be thought about or written at that speed. They require a significant input of reading and thinking, and they take time to form into something useful. Blessings on your continued writing!
I've been wrestling with this exact same thing for the better part of the past five years. Everything in me screams to write but the underlying assumption that it's pointless to write because unless you are a "content creator" you'll never get eyes on your words - has kept me completely frozen. I have been slowly coaching myself to write just to write, hitting publish even though I know for a fact that barely anyone will read it. It's weird to write to no one and no matter how many people say "your audience will find you", in our overly algorithmic world, I am honestly not sure I really believe them. So thank you for this post...thank you for saying what a lot of us our feeling. I'm still feeling frozen but starting to thaw and hoping that there will be a time again when people value slower more thoughtful content.
"I think in paragraphs. Without the right word I’m mute. This isn’t a virtue. It just is. For me, writing is an outflow. I read, I converse, I think, and the writing perfects and completes that process." This describes me to a T. Press on, brother.
I very much resonate with this. I'm not a content creator.
Well spoken Sir. thank you.
I am definitely a writer not a content creator! Pray for the synopsis I am currently writing for a secular publisher via an interesting literary agent!
"I think in paragraphs." Yes. I resonated with this entire article and especially loved that line. Thanks for sharing!
Samuel, I join the crowd that is building here in your comments section, saying, Yes. Exactly. Couldn't have said it better. Keep at it. It matters.
That really hits home 🪹 Even if you write for content, there are always places where you’ll do it just for yourself - like a personal diary. That’s exactly what our project is about -subscribe.
Someone once summarized my writing career to me this way: “You’d do it for free, and you’ll always do it.”
Feel this whole post! People who like content creation great for them. But it's completely opposite of what draws me to writing.
Spot on 🤛