5 Reasons Why People Aren't Reading Your Content

 

Naturally, content isn't just a big deal for writers and bloggers looking to make a living via their words these days. It's something everyone needs to worry about if they're serious about promoting their business, selling their products, or otherwise getting their voice out there. But becoming a decent enough writer to create readable content in the first place isn't typically enough to get people to notice it, click on it, and give it their time. 

Granted, I'm still making up for lost time as far as building my personal brand goes, but I'm getting there. Plus, I've been copywriting and creating web content for my clients for well over a decade at this point, and according to them, I know what I'm doing. That said, other writers I talk to online who are still getting the hang of this whole content creation thing tend to have the same question -- "Why aren't people reading my stuff?"

If you're in that boat, too, the bad news is that the issue probably is something you're doing wrong or could stand to improve on. But the good news is that -- whatever the problem -- it's totally fixable. So here are some excellent examples to think about.

1. Your content has zero personality.

There are hundreds of thousands of other writers out there trying to do exactly what you're doing -- get their writing seen, attract clients, build an audience, and so forth. Lots of them have the writing chops, too, and quite a few of them are going to be a lot better at writing than you are. There's only one thing you have that they don't, absolutely guaranteed -- your unique personality, perspective, and writing voice.

Great content, especially the type you'd post to a personal blog or on a platform like Medium, strikes a good balance between informative and personal. Yes, you should back up your content with facts when appropriate, but you should also be leveraging your personal experience. Tell your audience what you've learned and how you learned it. Speak to them like you would a friend or close relative.

On Falling Back in Love With Parts of Your Writing Identity

Melody of Rain - Michael Cheval (2015)

So, I've been sucking to high heaven at staying on top of my writing goals lately. Kind of, anyway. I still have plenty of time to put together some decent stuff, but I have yet to do more than brainstorm when it comes to my essays for Medium's big August writing contest. It's not like I haven't been plenty busy, though. 

I've had more work to do for clients than I've taken on in a while, but that's actually been strangely refreshing. Like a lot of creative people, I really crave variety in my work, so it's never a bad idea to switch things up once in a while. I've been pouring so much into my blogging and personal work lately that freelancing actually felt like a welcome departure from the norm instead of a grind I desperately need a break from. I talk a good game about leaving copywriting behind forever one day when (and if) I ever experience a big breakthrough with any of the rest of my writing. But I doubt I ever actually will. 

If I'm honest with myself, there are things I do like about it and will probably always like about it. Some part of me enjoys putting myself in the shoes of different audiences, educating others, and finding the right words to make a specific product or service sound inviting. Plus, I know some of the bigger writers in my circle have fallen madly in love with big-ticket private ghostwriting -- something to potentially consider if I ever make it to that level. There's always another level to move up to, it seems.

That said, let this be a reminder to any writer who thinks they've fallen out of love with any style of writing they once loved to produce. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so it's worth taking a little time away from something and coming back to it later regardless of how "done" you think you are with it. (That's how I rekindled my interest in creative writing months ago, as well.) In fact, I'm beginning to think writers never truly outgrow aspects of who they are and what they like to do with their words. 

5 Struggles Even Professional Writers Deal With

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos - Francisco de Goya y Lucientes

When I first started putting myself out there with a mind to earn a full-time living via my words one day, there were so many issues I thought I'd just never have again once that happened. At the very least, I thought I'd reach this glorious place with my work where I always felt validated and never again doubted the quality of what I was doing. 

Yeah, not so much. Don't get me wrong. There's a lot to love about being a full-time writer, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be earning a living doing what I love most and consider myself to be best at. But life as a professional writer isn't actually all that different from life as an amateur who's doing what they do just for shits and giggles. 

No two writers will be exactly alike, but the following are a few of the struggles that are common among pretty much all of us, whether we've managed to go professional with our work yet or not. 

1. The fear of rejection remains a very real thing. 

I don't care what other writers would have you believe. None of us ever becomes totally fine with rejection. Do you eventually reach a place where you've thoroughly accepted that it comes with the territory? Yes. Do you get used to it and learn to stop taking it personally? Also, yes. But there will always be a part of you that hangs on tenterhooks when you've submitted something you're really proud of to a publisher for consideration. You really want that "yes," but you're terrified that you'll get a "no" instead.

And even when you know "no" isn't personal, it still sucks to hear. It still means something you worked hard on didn't quite make the cut for whatever reason, even if it's that it just wasn't what the publisher was looking for at the time. But every one of those experiences makes you better and stronger. Every "no" is a bit easier to bounce back from than the one before. 

On Writing About the Tough Stuff

I seem to have reached a turning point with some of my writing lately that I thought was still a few years down the line -- the point where I'm no longer just thinking about telling my more challenging stories, but actually sitting down and writing them. And then I've been going and posting them in front of actual people instead of just pouring my soul out into my journal and calling it a day. The topics are all over the place, but they include things to do with my upbringing, my complicated relationships with my parents, some of the abuse I experienced while married to my ex, and so forth. 

I've been at it here and there for a few months now, and it's been a strange experience, especially when it comes to things I'm talking about for the first time. I often wind up feeling like I picked at a freshly-formed scab or lanced an infected boil -- sort of gross at first, with a lingering feeling of just having done something I shouldn't have, but then much better afterward when the pain is gone. I think doing this has made some of these things easier to bear and continue healing from.

I feel like I need to cheer up a little bit soon, though. I don't want to develop a reputation for being someone who complains all the time and never seems to have anything positive to say. I'm a much more joyful, grateful person than I let on a lot of the time -- even on days when I'm not feeling my emotional best. But sometimes, I find it valuable and worthwhile to look at some of the more challenging aspects of my existence through my writing. Here are a few insights for those of you who may be trying to do something similar.

Start by journaling in private first.

I'm not sure exactly what I expected when I started keeping a private journal again a little over a year ago. I thought it would be fun -- a throwback to my younger years when I journaled ferociously, and I knew it would be helpful in working through things without having to bother other people for a shoulder all the time. I didn't really expect it to change much about the rest of my writing, but that's exactly what wound up happening. 

4 Things You Learn About Yourself by Putting Your Writing Out There

I've had lots of experiences that have helped me see myself with more clarity over the years but starting to put my writing out there where people can actually read it is definitely toward the top of the list. These days I write many different types of material for lots of different reasons, and each has been educational in its own way. 

But I've probably learned the most from the raw, personal stuff I've written from the heart right before sharing it with the rest of the world on Medium or somewhere similar. Some of those lessons were joys to learn, while others were honestly pretty sobering. All of them were valuable. 

Yours will be, too, if you're an aspiring writer -- especially at the point where your writing goes from vegetating in some obscure corner of the internet to actually being read and shared. Yes, it's what writers think they want, and it can be pretty darned great when it happens, but some unexpected insights come with it, as well. The following are good examples.

1. What Your Readers Actually Want to See from You

If you're lucky, there might be some overlap between that and what you personally enjoy writing, but I wouldn't hold my breath. You also might find that what readers want to see from you isn't the same as what they want to see from Jim Bob or Jane Doe. That means you're probably not going to have much luck copying another writer's exact trajectory from relative obscurity to success. I don't care what they promised you in that expensive course they sold you.

Some niches just plain have a broader appeal than others. Whether they admit it or not, most people want to be richer, better, more talented, or more attractive. They want better relationships, a stronger sense of self, and a more prosperous life, as well, so those will always be good topics to write about if you want to be read. But the image you project will have a lot to do with how well you do.

7 Signs You're Dangerously Close to Being a Serious Writer

 

"Writers write. So, if you write, you're a writer." That's usually what I hear being given as the response when someone very new to writing asks someone who's been doing it a while whether they're a "real" writer yet. And, that's... an OK assessment of what it means to be a writer. But it's also a colossal oversimplification that doesn't really tell the person what they wanted to know. 

When I hear other people wondering out loud whether or not they're real writers, I think they're asking the wrong question because there are better ones out there. Am I a professional writer or an amateur? Do I even want to be a professional writer? And if I do want to be a professional writer, am I a serious writer? There are no wrong answers to questions like these. There aren't any wrong reasons for writing, either. 

But if you do take your writing seriously and hope to make it into more than just a fun way to kill some time someday, there are realizations that will happen along the way to let you know you're turning a corner. Here are some of the ones that clued me in to the fact that I was totally getting warm. 

1. You're willing and able to write when you don't feel like it.

One of the most significant differences I've noticed between "a writer" and "someone who occasionally writes" is writers don't wait for inspiration to strike. They actually get that even the most passionate creators aren't always going to feel like it every single time they sit down with a mind to beast some words. God knows I don't! But I write in some way, shape, or form nearly every day regardless, even if all I write is a private journal entry. 

Regardless of where you are in your personal writing journey, consistency is critical. It's how you get better when you're first starting out, and it's how you stay on task when you're ready to start publishing your things, taking on professional assignments, or both. Serious writers treat their writing like a job, meaning they show up and show out whether or not they're in the mood.

If You Want to Be a Great Writer, Be a Teachable One

Not that long ago, someone posted a screencap of an interaction from Medium's private note function to one of the writing groups I belong to. The screencap showed a polite, very standard rejection note from the editor of one of Medium's bigger pubs. And below it was a horrible, vitriolic response from the writer basically cussing the editor out and telling him to go fuck himself. As a writer who writes and submits many places, Medium included, that shocked the shit out of me -- all that anger triggered by someone saying they'll pass on a piece this time but are looking forward to reading future submissions. 

I am familiar with the publication in question and that editor, so I can certainly say he was the last person who deserved to be spoken to like that. This editor found a self-published Medium piece of mine last summer and encouraged me to let him add it to his publication. The owner of the pub then championed that article and promoted the holy heck out of it. The original editor also continued to leave me kind, encouraging notes when it did well. 

That piece became my highest earner, and I owe that to the team behind that pub. This particular editor is also among the friendliest and most considerate I've ever interacted with on Medium. He's always cool about it when he does decide to reject a submission, and he's a total professional. So the writer who told him off really stepped in it, as Medium editors tend to know one another and talk behind the scenes. If you want to get ahead as a writer -- on Medium or anywhere else -- don't be like that writer. Be gracious, be teachable, and keep points like the following in mind.

Rejections are normal, common, and happen to everyone. 

Listen, I get it. It never feels good to work up the courage to show your work to someone and ask them to publish it only to have them say they're not interested or, worse, to rip it apart. But it comes with the territory when you hope to be published by someone other than yourself. Even writers like Stephen King have stories about the many rejection letters they've gotten over the years, so yes. It really does happen to everyone.