Get Paid to Write! (Not Really, but I hope this title tricks you into paying me…)

This website has allowed me to express parts of myself and explore a voice I didn’t know I had. Honestly, that alone feels like cheating. Like I found a loophole where oversharing counts as “content.” I was really intrigued by the notion of writers supporting writers.

Besides, I love to read and I love to write, so the idea that I can get paid to write my own stories while potentially getting someone else paid just by reading theirs seems like a dream come true. It’s like a creative Ponzi scheme, except no one goes to prison and we all get to feel clever.

But there is a cancer permeating this website, and that is what 90% of the articles I see are about: quick-fix guides and “the secret to your writing career!”

“How to become a millionaire from writing in these 7 easy steps!”

“Why you should follow these steps to become a well-paid writer, and if it doesn’t work it’s probably your fault, and definitely has nothing to do with the fact that I don’t actually have the answers, I just need you to click on this article so I get paid…”

It’s this endless echo chamber where everyone’s shouting advice at each other, hoping one of us will stumble into the magic formula, like if we yell loud enough, the algorithm will get confused and drop a paycheck on the floor.

The truth is, no one has the answer. You might find a formula that nudges you a little closer to where you want to be, but the magic bullet? It’s not here. It’s not in the next article either. Or the ten after that.

Don’t get me wrong, I really do love this site. But what wears me down is the constant barrage of writers all saying the same thing in slightly different fonts. It can’t possibly be working for all of them, can it?

Sometimes I wonder if they’re all in a secret group chat, pinging each other every time they post yet another “definitive guide” that’s less advice and more bait for desperate clicks. Like an underground network of writers all nodding knowingly, saying, “Okay, it’s your turn to tell them the seven steps.”

I came here hoping to find more passion. More of that spark that sometimes fizzles out in me. More of the dream, and less of the endless chase for the next dollar.

If you clicked on this article looking for the quick-fix answer, then I’m sorry. (But not really. Did you not read the full title?)

What you will find here is the same dream, the same passion, and the same bone-deep exhaustion from a world constantly telling you that the thing you love to do isn’t worth doing unless it’s monetized.

It doesn’t have to be.

Keep writing. Keep reading. Keep chasing the stories that make you stay up too late and forget what day it is.

Keep doing it even if no one clicks, even if no one claps, even if the algorithm buries your words six feet deep. Because if you love it, that’s the reward. The rest is just a tip jar the universe occasionally remembers to pass around.

And if you do figure out how to make millions from it? Please, for the love of all of us, write that article. We’ll even click on it.