Agree, it’s too much pressure to have the end result in mind. The Bhagavad Geeta has a great verse on not thinking about the end result but just focusing on the action (below). Truly, thinking about statistics and subs and numbers leads me to inaction and being anti creative;)
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
Karmanye vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi
Literally translated, it means:
Your right is only to work, but never to its fruits
Let the fruit of action be not your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction
I agree with you, Terry, that 'enjoying the writing for its own sake' is enough.
D'you know, for a long time now I've been happy with enough. What would I do with more than I either want or need? I find it increasingly hard to relate to the must-haves, the must-dos, the have-it-alls, the you-need-to-do-thises, the look-at-mes.
To paraphrase a famous line, let me say this: if I write it, they will come.
But if I write it and they don't come, will I mind? No.
Absolutely. Etymology of 'viral': "of the nature of, or caused by, a virus..." I've had enough of those. I'm actively seeking to be viral-free unless except for those healthy viruses which live inside! What's the point? My dearly departed husband was a composer and most of his work unheard by a few friends (and the birds, the cat and the micro-organisms of the air). I recall one of those spiritual gurus saying, 'nothing is wasted'. LOVE THAT and SO encouraging for creatives like us.
WE want you to write about what enthralls you, intrigues you, uplifts you or makes you laugh. If a story isn’t from the heart, it might get likes but just how many of us will feel the urge to comment? I look for areas of commonality between myself and a writer. I look for stories where I think my life experience might help a little (in a comment). I’m chatty, but sometimes the author really isn’t looking for a chat. There’s no golden rule to attract followers because we’re all so different. Anyway… enough of my waffling. I’m supposed to be here as a reader not a writer. But yes, I do like to chat…
This was very insightful. I wasn’t familiar with some of the essays you mentioned, and I’m pretty disgusted that “How To Go Viral” workshops are popping up. Then again, I suppose it was inevitable. But you’re right, how satisfying can going viral be? And for how long? A day, perhaps? A week? And then it’s back to the normal state of things you’ve so longed to escape, when what you should’ve done is make peace with it.
Amen to writing in a consistently engaging way. Agree with everything here.
I hadn't seen the article from Sarah but I certainly agree with you that the idea of deliberately trying to make something go viral is definitely not what I want to be doing.
Marvelous. Thanks Terry. Again you made me feel better on a not so good day! By the way, musicians like me sometimes say things like "Bach couldn't write a bad note." I've never seen you write a bad word (and I don't mean impolite language). One of my favorite things about your writing is your wonderful and elegant comic timing. I don't get to read everything you write because I'm stretched to the max but everything I read of yours is really good.
AND your experience of slaving over a hot keyboard all day (or days) and publishing and feeling nothing comes of it--often mine exactly. But guess what--someone sent me a nice card today of all days (snail mail!) and included in it "Susan keep up the writing!" and I'd never even mentioned to her how often I consider not keeping it up. It's moments like these that we need badly during this often-isolating and difficult work.
Right on,Terry. "I know I have aspirations above my station, but did Borges write articles with titles like that? Did Calvino? Did David Foster Wallace?" I love this statement. It is about dignity. If I were to aspire to be an actress, why would I aim to be a scandalous, viral, air-brained, all-a-twitter, tits out actress? I would aspire to be Meryl Steep! Otherwise, what is the point? (Maybe my example is a little off, but close enough.) By the way, loved the vintage photo.
Legacy is a key reason I started to write on Substack. I value greatly the writings I have from my paternal grandfather and paternal great-grandfather. I'm guessing that they total just a few thousand words.
Your post was a great reminder to me of my desire to create a legacy of writing that I'm proud of and that is an authentic representation of what I was thinking about during these years.
Most importantly, I am not at all surprised that in your youth you let your freak flag fly! Great nostalgic picture.
Could not agree more, Terry. All these things are so focused on quantity and those short term dopmine hits, and not on quality and actual connections with people, which is the only way any of it can ever have any meaning.
Agree, it’s too much pressure to have the end result in mind. The Bhagavad Geeta has a great verse on not thinking about the end result but just focusing on the action (below). Truly, thinking about statistics and subs and numbers leads me to inaction and being anti creative;)
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
Karmanye vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi
Literally translated, it means:
Your right is only to work, but never to its fruits
Let the fruit of action be not your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction
I agree with you. Even sometimes I think writing my stuff is helpfull in some way, for others. My cats strangely enjoy when I read aloud.
I don't see any viral posts anywhere. Anything under a million views is non-viral! 😅Back to writing, enough viruses abound as it is!
I agree with you, Terry, that 'enjoying the writing for its own sake' is enough.
D'you know, for a long time now I've been happy with enough. What would I do with more than I either want or need? I find it increasingly hard to relate to the must-haves, the must-dos, the have-it-alls, the you-need-to-do-thises, the look-at-mes.
To paraphrase a famous line, let me say this: if I write it, they will come.
But if I write it and they don't come, will I mind? No.
Will I care? No.
Will I have enjoyed writing it? YES.
Is that enough? Absoflippinglutely.
Such an insightful post, Terry. Thank you.
All good points. I am uninterested in the appearance of Mr Fry on here. Have never rated him.
How to go viral: pretend you know how to go viral😂
Absolutely. Etymology of 'viral': "of the nature of, or caused by, a virus..." I've had enough of those. I'm actively seeking to be viral-free unless except for those healthy viruses which live inside! What's the point? My dearly departed husband was a composer and most of his work unheard by a few friends (and the birds, the cat and the micro-organisms of the air). I recall one of those spiritual gurus saying, 'nothing is wasted'. LOVE THAT and SO encouraging for creatives like us.
WE want you to write about what enthralls you, intrigues you, uplifts you or makes you laugh. If a story isn’t from the heart, it might get likes but just how many of us will feel the urge to comment? I look for areas of commonality between myself and a writer. I look for stories where I think my life experience might help a little (in a comment). I’m chatty, but sometimes the author really isn’t looking for a chat. There’s no golden rule to attract followers because we’re all so different. Anyway… enough of my waffling. I’m supposed to be here as a reader not a writer. But yes, I do like to chat…
Yes Terry Yes!!!!!
This was very insightful. I wasn’t familiar with some of the essays you mentioned, and I’m pretty disgusted that “How To Go Viral” workshops are popping up. Then again, I suppose it was inevitable. But you’re right, how satisfying can going viral be? And for how long? A day, perhaps? A week? And then it’s back to the normal state of things you’ve so longed to escape, when what you should’ve done is make peace with it.
100% Terry. Absolutely.
Amen to writing in a consistently engaging way. Agree with everything here.
I hadn't seen the article from Sarah but I certainly agree with you that the idea of deliberately trying to make something go viral is definitely not what I want to be doing.
(And thanks for linking my post 😊)
Yes! Even on those days where no one comments, I keep writing because I enjoy it.
Marvelous. Thanks Terry. Again you made me feel better on a not so good day! By the way, musicians like me sometimes say things like "Bach couldn't write a bad note." I've never seen you write a bad word (and I don't mean impolite language). One of my favorite things about your writing is your wonderful and elegant comic timing. I don't get to read everything you write because I'm stretched to the max but everything I read of yours is really good.
AND your experience of slaving over a hot keyboard all day (or days) and publishing and feeling nothing comes of it--often mine exactly. But guess what--someone sent me a nice card today of all days (snail mail!) and included in it "Susan keep up the writing!" and I'd never even mentioned to her how often I consider not keeping it up. It's moments like these that we need badly during this often-isolating and difficult work.
Right on,Terry. "I know I have aspirations above my station, but did Borges write articles with titles like that? Did Calvino? Did David Foster Wallace?" I love this statement. It is about dignity. If I were to aspire to be an actress, why would I aim to be a scandalous, viral, air-brained, all-a-twitter, tits out actress? I would aspire to be Meryl Steep! Otherwise, what is the point? (Maybe my example is a little off, but close enough.) By the way, loved the vintage photo.
Legacy is a key reason I started to write on Substack. I value greatly the writings I have from my paternal grandfather and paternal great-grandfather. I'm guessing that they total just a few thousand words.
Your post was a great reminder to me of my desire to create a legacy of writing that I'm proud of and that is an authentic representation of what I was thinking about during these years.
Most importantly, I am not at all surprised that in your youth you let your freak flag fly! Great nostalgic picture.
Could not agree more, Terry. All these things are so focused on quantity and those short term dopmine hits, and not on quality and actual connections with people, which is the only way any of it can ever have any meaning.