A Few Reasons NOT Publish a "How To Make $$$ Writing" Piece On Vocal (Or Anywhere, Really)

I get it, I do.

Vocal is a platform for writers. This means that it will (inevitably) be read by writers. What better way to get those views/likes and the exposure that comes with them than to write about the very thing that all writers are striving for?

It makes sense, truly it does.

But, if your goal is to do nothing more than maximize your number of views, may I offer a suggestion? Find another way! Perhaps something that does not harm "your people" (writers)?

Please don't misconstrue what I’m saying here. I'm telling you that I know (better than most) that what seems reasonable today can somehow, someway become an ugly, sordid mess as early as tomorrow.

Yet these "How to make money writing" articles that inundate our news feeds, inboxes, and home screens lately are out of control! Oftentimes I question if any other even mildly successful writer out there hasn't published one.

It seems like there are hundreds of articles published every day that hands us out promises such as these.

They vow to teach us, to show us, and to direct us to the land of riches via the written word.

And because most of us are writers that would kill to make a decent living off of our words, we make for easy targets.

We systematically consume, believe, and follow anything that reads like an instructional guide on "how-to-achieve-our-lifelong-dream".

But you can't blame us though, anyone would, really.

Sadly, almost none of these articles are written from the place that they should be - the heart.

No, they are composed of SEO-speak, keyword-say, and analytic-a. The only thing that is 100% accurate in anyone of them that I have read is that we would all like to make more money writing. Sorry, but this is not a big revelation!

Last year brought with it many new challenges and obstacles for the majority of us.

• We were collectively lonely (quarantined all by ourselves), or homicidal (quarantined with our immediate family members).
• We were bulk buying things like toiletries, cleaning products, and hand sanitizer with money that we didn't have. And all while we were unemployed!
• Our collective future was, for the first time in a while, uncertain. We were scared, bored, and listless all simultaneously.

It was a rough year, to say the least.

Amid all that chaos, however, 2020 did offer us a consolation prize, a parting gift if you will.

It gave us a little glimmer of hope. It gifted us with both time and unity. That then gave us some breathing room to connect to like-minded people and exchange thoughts and ideas. It allowed many dreams that were once cast aside to come to the forefront again, reintroducing us to the version of ourselves that still believed in our dream of one day becoming a writer. It brought back the person inside of us all who still uses the phrase “when I grow up, I want to be a…”.

And out of that wonderful gift grew a community of would-be writers that finally had the time on their hands to put the proverbial pen to paper. Or, in this lifetime, the fingers to the keyboard.

Fast forward a year, however, and here we are. We're reading 7 thousand versions of “how to make money writing online”, never once considering the possibility that it is all just BS.

We are writers, remember. We are dreamers by nature, our own worst critiques, and thoughtful to a fault.

And so, in an effort to minimize the damage done by these misleading how-to’s, I have constructed a list. A list of 5 reasons NOT to publish one of these little ditties, so here goes.

1) If you have not fact-checked every one of your “go here to make money writing” leads, you are literally starving a fellow author.

You’re a writer, first and foremost. That to me equals compassion, forethought, and humility. If executed correctly, you could potentially have hundreds of thousands of would-be writers spending their last dollar on 12 different monthly subscriptions that you know damned well aren’t paying a dime.

Bad writer, shame on you!

They have kids to feed and bills to pay! Stop selling dreams to dreamers, it's too easy and it's not you.

2) You KNOW you SEO-ed the hell outta that article.

Between you and yourself, you know what time it really is.

You know that deep down you wrote that thing with 1 thing and 1 thing only in mind: SEO.

And now you’ve potentially misdirected the next Hemmingway! You wasted precious minutes, hours, even days of his life that he could have been writing!

Now you are robbing the world collectively. Stop it!

3) The only way you comprised that list of oh-so-lucrative writing jobs was by crossing each one out yourself, after unmentionable trauma. Don't share that pain!

You know that your singular goal was to have someone read anything that you wrote and that’s all.

But we don't know that!

We allow ourselves to dream that by following your how-to guide we will be quitting our day jobs next spring.

You did not become a writer to ruin lives! On the contrary, you wrote it only to improve your own.

4) If your inaccurate list ends someone’s lifelong dream, that’s some nasty karma headed your way!

What comes around, goes around.

We know this.

It is simply a matter of time before Lady Karma comes knocking on your door, looking for revenge-3-fold! You don’t want to be looking behind you, expecting your whole world to fall at any moment, now do you?

5) You are not THAT person!

You are not Hitler’s great-great grandkid that shares grandpop's ideals, believing he was onto something. Hell, you don't want to hurt another human being for any reason, truth be told.

It's time to Man or Woman up.

Write what you truly know, nothing more, nothing less. If the world is meant to hear your voice they will, I promise. If not, you can't deny that writing still benefitted you and your life so, it is what it is.

To wrap this up

If I were to offer those of you writing these bad directions some advice, it would look something like this:

• Remember why you wanted to be a writer in the first place
• Publish only what you know to be the truth. Never throw another log into an already-blazing fire of lies.
• Allow yourself to dream again. Take a time out for play. Show your kids and the world what your version of happiness looks like, it'll shine through into your words.
• And most importantly, don't BS fellow writers.

It's clearly not worth it!