If effort is now diminished, if it can be hidden, and proof can or soon will be gamed too, if transparency itself can be performed — what’s left?
The only thing left that can’t be gamed is wanting something badly enough that it shows. Desire is the closest thing to proof of authenticity we have left.
But what I began to notice, through all of it, was that something felt increasingly off. Not just in my own experience, but in the culture surrounding it. What once felt full of possibility had started to feel constricted. The language of freedom was still there, but beneath it was a kind of pressure that didn’t feel creative at all.
The path to becoming future proof comes down to shifting from consumer to creator. When you solve your own problems, publish the solutions in the global town square, and help an audience of like-minded people, even if that audience is a "tiny" 1,000 true fans, I find it hard to believe you won't find the power in you to create a good life. At that... See more
I have yet to find a single writer who’s grown a serious following without some kind of niche.
That doesn’t mean boxing yourself in. It means starting with something clear enough for people to get what you’re about, and specific enough for the right readers to find you.
The first six months are for you. Experiment like crazy. Write about anything.... See more