The way I write has come up a couple times in the last few weeks so I thought it might be useful for some if I provide a bit more insight and see if there is something in here that is helpful to use. I am definitely not someone to role model, so fair warning.
So I remember what I am working on and don't ramble too much, I will split this into three basic parts;
This is the easy part! Some people seem to struggle with what they are going to write about, but this has never really been a problem for me, though a lot of people don't seem to believe me when I explain why. They say "write what you know" and the reason that most people struggle, is because
They don't know much.
This is not true. They know a lot, but what most people write about are the things that they feel they are good at already or, what they consume. This gives them limited scope as it is generally a narrow pool of skill, as is what they consume. And on the topic of consumption, the people who consume the most tend to be the ones who struggle the most to create.
This isn't because they have no time, it is because what they are consuming has already been done, it has already been created, which means the best they can do, is review the work of others. Not only is this boring, but it is also super lame for the consumer, where everything is essentially a review, rehash or spun version of something else. The people who do this rarely are able to give any insight into it, because other than their consumption of other people's work, they have no direct experience with the topics at hand, making everything they write about it, impersonal and inauthentic. The best they can give is their opinion on "like or dislike".
For me, ideas are everywhere. It is not that I don't consume, it is more that I pick and choose what I consume and I spend a fair bit of time thinking past the consumption. I don't have a problem with the endless scroll, Because I don't do it. I don't spend hours on feeds, I don't stare at a hundred YouTube videos a day -
I see something somewhere, it inspires a thought, I explore that thought, I write about it.
It doesn't matter if I know anything about the topic or not to begin with, because I take myself down the road of creativity to see what it means to me and what the potential implications might be. At this point, I haven't written a word anywhere, I am just in my own head, sometimes searching the internet to follow a vein of thought that I am unable to understand alone. This includes checking the meaning of words and sometimes their etymology (I use these in posts also at times as they are interesting), as understanding the background helps me build a fuller picture.
And as said, ideas are everywhere, but because most of my internet consumption is on Hive, a lot of the ideas come directly from the posts I read and the comments I get. This is useful in many ways, because I write about the things that I am interested in (thought-wise at least), and then I build my understanding through interaction, getting different perspectives and new thought paths to follow. In time, this means that I can build quite a clear structure across the topics I write about.
Ideas are one thing, and thinking another - but the writing is where a lot of people struggle. I am in my mid-forties and have had a pretty colorful life in some respects. I have had a range of jobs in different fields, I have moved halfway around the world from Australia to Finland, I have travelled a bit, I have been in long-term relationships, I have been ill and survived a couple near-death experiences and a whole range of other aspects of life that mean that I have gained experience.
It is experience that makes a writer unique, not the words they use.
A lot of people are trying to seemingly deliver what they think the audience wants to read, but they aren't actually putting themselves into what they present. There is no personality, nothing unique, nothing new, nothing to differentiate their work from the work sitting alongside it. Experience is a massive resource that people should leverage to make work, their work.
Because of my thoughts on this, I freewrite pretty much everything I have ever added to this blockchain, because it affords me the possibility to present the flow of thought that I use when thinking about things. I don't "pure freewrite" as I do correct errors when I notice them, but it really is a brain dump of my thoughts, where I start writing the first line and finish with the last, add a title, tags and click post.
In general, I write about four hours a day, most of which is done early morning, on my lunch break or after my family has gone to bed. I generally write an article in one sitting, but time doesn't always allow for this, so I will get it to a point and then revisit it later, but work on one at a time. A post can take me anywhere between 45 minutes and four or five hours to do, depending on a number of factors, where for example if I have to use a lot of support images or screen grabs and think about where they go and alignments, it takes longer - but the writing itself is rapid-fire, flow of thought.
The main reason I do it this way is because of the personality factor it provides, where the people who edit a lot tend to remove themselves from the work, often because they probably don't feel attached to it, since it is a rehash of other people's ideas, not their own. Everything I write might be inspired from somewhere, but everything I write is a reflection of myself in some ways, there is no spin, no rehash of other people's thoughts. I am not painting a copy of an artwork, I am creating my own landscape.
Be unique - find your voice.
I am a native English speaker, but that doesn't automatically make someone a good writer and is often a hinderance, as people spend their time trying to get the words right, but forget that what actually matters, is the development of their own thoughts. Bad grammar is fine, when the thoughts are interesting enough.
Too many people try to write something that is "good", but due to their experience, end up with what equates to a high school book report. It is uninteresting to read and the one thing (personality) that could have salvaged it, has been removed, probably because people feel like imposters as they are rehashing the work of others anyway, since they are only writing about what they are consuming, not what they are thinking.
People don't like commitment.
I am not talking about your unwillingness to commit to a partner, I am talking about the commitment to an opinion. People don't like to be judged, so they remove the potential by keeping their opinions non-committal and avoiding anything that might be deemed contentious. Conversely, there are people who think that any publicity is good publicity and the way they approach content is to try and create as much drama as possible, because that is the only way they can get any attention.
These people end up on Blurt.
Which segues into earnings nicely. As this is Hive, a Web 3 platform with earning potential, which is why so many of us are here - including me. I came in initially to earn to pay for baby formula, but that idea failed miserably, though if I was back there with what I do today, it would have been okay.
A focus on earnings is common, but people tend not to actually look at what goes into the background to actually earn. I mentioned experience up above, which is a big part of it and you will find that the consistent earners are either adding their experience and personality to the chain or, are getting support from some random whale on crap. I am a content creator, so while I like to earn, I also value what I create enough that I am not going to submit shit to the chain, as regardless of what you the audience think of my work, I value it also.
Consistent earnings come from consistency. If you are struggling to post something interesting and well put together consistently, you are unlikely ever going to be a consistent earner on Hive. This is a direct reflection on you.
Having said that, it is not consistent for a week or month, it is consistent for a year or two, maybe more. You will likely earn a bit along the way, but if you are consistently taking it out, you will also be shooting yourself in the support foot, as most staked users don't want to support people, who re unwilling to support others in the network.
This is a social network - not a job.
You aren't paid a salary here, earnings are reward for value-adding participation and that generally comes through more than adding the odd post to the chain. Being part of the community generally means, interacting with the community and helping others with their various needs. But, who are you going to help? Generally, we help people who we feel are acting in ways that we value and feel are trying to make the community better, not worse.
The people who are constantly complaining, but are unwilling to change their own behavior, even though it is unhelpful, tend not to last very long and those who do, end up getting ignored. Ina world of the attention economy,
Getting ignored is death.
The attention-seekers who look for attention by creating drama and spreading toxicity, tend to be few, but very loud. However, what tends to happen to these types of people is that they get minimized in the community, which on Hive, is through downvotes. It rarely has anything to do with their content and everything to do with the way they act. The Hive community is actually very receptive to contentious content, but it doesn't like people who rehash articles from others.
But, in general, earnings are a reflection of engagement with the community and the ability to provoke meaningful discussion on topics that mean something to people. The topic itself might not even be that interesting, but when relationships are formed between individuals on the chain, all topics become interesting in the same way that I can sit down with my friends for a coffee and talk about absolutely anything and still have fun.
Earnings on Hive aren't generally because of the content piece, it is because of the relationships formed. In my case, because of the way I approach content creation committed as authentically me, people get to trust the content. I have gone through many ups and downs on and off the platform, but I have showed up and showed out every day for over five years now. No matter how hard life might be, Hive becomes a testimony of it.
While I still earn okay, I have gone through many periods of near zero earnings, where my posts were getting zeroed by whales who I either spoke out against or, they just didn't like me for whatever reason. This wasn't one or two posts, it was daily, for weeks and months on end. But each day - still here, doing what I do.
Why and how?
Because, it is about being authentic. This is me, reward or not. At some point, I might stop writing consistently, but I can't imagine giving it up because I am not earning, because there is too much value in developing those thoughts. And I think that this is where I will leave it.
A lot of people seem to separate their activity on Hive from their real life, but they are just different aspects of the same life. What I write here affects my physical world and my ability to create there, and what I do there affects my digital world and ability also - there is no differentiation between the two, which is why it is easy to be authentic. I don't need to lie, I don't need to worry about being caught out, I don't need to fear Hivewatchers, because everything I create is mine, because no one else can create it, as it is created as me.
The number one thing that people should do when creating content for Hive in the hope to earn is,
Be themselves.
This is easier said than done because when the criticism inevitably comes, it is criticism on "who we are", but the thing to remember is, not to take it personally. This is a public social platform, not everyone is going to like you or me, not everyone is going to care about what we create and many might disagree. However, if there is intention to be authentic, not deceive, nor harm, generally, discussions can be had openly and peacefully, no matter the topic.
So to sum up,
Develop experience, put in the effort, and be authentic.
There is no guarantee you will ever earn, but if you are going to be doing it for no reward, make it mean something to you at the very least.
Like others, this was a freewrite, written in one sitting and posted as it was finished. It took around two hours to write and is 2300+ words. There are likely errors in here as my fingers type poorly and my brain puts the wrong words at my fingertips, since the stroke last year. But, like all posts, these are my opinions gathered through experience and who knows, tomorrow upon reflection on new experience, my opinions might change again. You can ask questions on this or anything else in the comments section and I will answer when I can.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
