Confession: I hate creating content
Or, at least the way I used to do it.
This isn’t my first creative endeavor.
It’s probably not even my 10th.
See, I have an issue where I start different creative projects online and, within a short time, burnout and abandon them.
There are a few reasons for that:
Creating content becomes an “appease the algorithm” game. You get pigeonholed into making content people will like, instead of content you want to make.
The pressure to produce constantly. You’re supposed to create content every week, or multiple times a week, on the same day, without fail. But what if you don’t have anything productive to say? Why force yourself to pump out post after post, email after email, of regurgitated crap that has been said a million times before?
The negativity is draining. Dealing with trolls, negative comments, or people who push opinions they’ve put no thought into. I know it shouldn’t bother me, but it does. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but not every opinion is created equal. I don’t want to argue with someone whose opinion was formed based on a 15 second TikTok and skimming headlines.
It becomes a metrics game. You end up chasing followers, views, subscribers, etc. Now on Substack I see people posting “Follow me and I’ll follow back” type posts constantly. I don’t want people to follow me just to get a follow back. I want them to follow me because they like what I have to say.
So what’s different this time?
I’m not chasing algorithms or followers. I’m not trying to speed run 1000 subs, become a famous writer, or anything like that. This time I’m writing for me, and the few people close to me who enjoy what I write, and for my kids who might want to read this when they’re older.
I’ll write when I have something to say. That might be multiple times in a week, every other week, etc. I plan to write consistently because that’s how I am, but if there’s a week where I genuinely have nothing original or interesting to say, I’m not going to push out a crap post just for the sake of not breaking a streak.
Ignoring negative comments. There’s no magic fix here, I’m just going to work on this aspect of myself. Truthfully, I don’t get many negative comments. Most people have been supportive, and I appreciate that.
Conclusion:
So what can you expect here?
I write about books, psychology, philosophy, lessons learned, etc. Not from the perspective of an “expert”, but as someone who loves learning and sharing some of the best ideas they come across.
I might also write about things like my language learning journey, or other personal projects. Eventually I’d even love to share pieces of a book I want to write, which has always been a lifelong goal.
In the meantime thanks for reading, I’ll see you again soon.
– J.