Writing and Decision Making; [Making Tough Choices].

in #curie5 years ago

One of the most difficult situations I have put myself in sprang from the decision to become a writer. I love writing because it is a manifestation of my imagination. However, the imagination is boundless.

The expansive nature of writing is what makes it endlessly enjoyable. It gives the writer an opportunity to be creative in areas they love and have honed but also lends itself to new prospects and avenues that were never thought possible. However, eventually you’ve got to choose - comfort or a new struggle?

While I’ve been working on my manuscript, other writing opportunities have redirected my attention, namely short story competitions that I believed would be a useful way to force myself to complete work to a deadline and get it in front of experienced judges. My attitude toward each project was very serious. I spent hours developing ideas whether I was at my computer or sitting outside reading. My mind was constantly on. I wrote endless drafts for each and ruthlessly edited them until I knew that further editing was simply shuffling the cards of a good hand. If you’re a writer you’ll know exactly what I mean when I talk about perfection. It doesn’t exist! Perfectionism will only hold you back from doing more and growing. During this time, I wrote a story for a hotel that required food and drink to be the central theme as well as a pretty big thriller (six thousand words) to an Australian online magazine. Two other entries that I believe were of equal quality filled out my efforts over the last two months or so. I was kept very busy.

The result?

It all took me away from my primary goal! My manuscript has always been the most important target in my scope and upon completion, will be the single largest piece of work that I’ve put together and hopefully will produce the most significant results for me. As I mentioned at the beginning, writing can take you in all directions and it takes more than good writing to complete what you set out to achieve. I do not for an instant regret pouring those months into other work that detracted from my main objective. See, I was torn between relatively fast feedback (basically a successful reply or a rejection) and the potential for professional recognition and prize money and a single project much bigger than myself. I made a choice to side track my manuscript for about a month.

Writing on Steemit.

Making decisions is just as important as sitting down and getting the ideas onto the screen, as these decisions are taking you on a journey. I’ve come across some pretty successful exclusive Steemit content creators that made a choice to dedicate their time to publish online. They’ve worked, developed an audience (or somehow coerced whales and their buddies) and can now produce content that provides them a decent income. To be honest, it isn’t all the best quality. The writing has suffered because the audience has accepted it, granted them upvotes and therefore rewarded poor writing quality. Steemit do not employ editors and clearly these content creators aren't paying for one themselves. The cycle is self-reinforcing so it’s unlikely to change unless the creator seeks reward outside that particular monetary framework. Or takes heed of comments they receive. One of the problems with offering constructive feedback on Steemit is that whales who don’t like it can lampoon your own blog through childish downvotes, effectively stifling growth of the quality of the platform. That’s not to say the content is awful. Clearly, the readers hold value in it, but is it the best they could do? Definitely not.

I’ll admit that Steemit has a dual purpose for me – it offers me a platform to vent new ideas to a small, but established audience that I do not currently have anywhere else and also gives me a chance to add to both reputation and income (while very small, it all adds up). However, I feel that Steemit isn’t going to satisfy an itch I have to gain more meaningful recognition from other professional writers. That itch will likely be scratched on various other platforms in addition to my work on Steemit – let’s face it, the odd post that gets in excess of five hundred upvotes is good for the ego!

Your Decisions.

As a Steemit content creator, do you share your writing exclusively on Steemit or do you reserve a part of your time and creativity for other writing platforms? Do various genres tug at you or have you found a niche that you’ve been working in for a while now? I'd love to hear about your decision making choices in the comments.

To Your Success,

Nick.

All content is original and belongs to @nickmorphew. [7 February 2019]

Disclosure: This article was not a paid promotion and was not self-upvoted. Nor were there any affiliate links.


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Hey there,

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Nick.

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