Quality in Writing

People get in to writing for love of the written word. You can create a new universe with words, or shine a new light on the one you're already in. That's why people start. But after you're done studying and honing your talents, after you hit the ground running and try to BE a writer, you find that's not necessarily how you put bread on the table. 

Writing is not what it’s all about. If you want to make it, you need a sparkling website. Intriguing tweets. A well-erected virtual presence for the world to see and marvel. Like's and Share's. A red carpet shining underneath your feet at all times, even right now at this very instant.

Which qualities make a strong online presence nowadays? A picture of a fertile young female or a kitten gross more page-views than an award winning article about the environment. A video of a guy committing suicide immediately goes viral. So much for quality.

Yet, there’s a market for each voice. Did you know for example, that classical music today is 80% sponsored by donations? Some people consider classical music to be the top of the art-form. Still, only a tiny portion of profits come from ticket sales and CD's.  

 

Blogs are often a sellout as well. Give them what they want. Get more followers. This blog is a bit different. Here, I tell my story without consideration of public opinion. I was actually quite shocked to find out that hundreds of people read it each month. So… hey. Shalom.

With a little luck or with enough practice, artists usually find cracks of freedom to make something meaningful, while still paying for the kids’ school. Not that I have any kids, but probably someday.

Investing vast proportions of time in building an online presence is inevitable, especially at the beginning of your career. Some of us are lucky enough to love what we do. For me, writing helps to illuminate the dirty bricks on the sidewalks, and to make way for new roads to come.

There’s not necessarily much in common between how good a writer is and how well his career goes. What kicks a career off is how good of a networker the person is. Obviously, that’s a whole different set of skills. 

In next week's article I'll bring the story of the past couple of months in my rocky writing career in this beautiful land of Israel. One year after returning from 6 years in North America.

What I write in my own time has never yet been published in vast proportions. Putting written work out there is a job of its own; an alien avocation for most of us word-wallowers. Just like everything else, the first steps are always the hardest. Either you make it public, or you don’t.