What Would Hemingway Do?
38August 15, 2012 by Xenogirl
I have been endlessly rummaging around in my cluttered imagination in search of the perfect blog topic… that one elusive blog post that finally gets “Freshly Pressed” and goes wildly viral across the interwebs. This is every blogger’s dream! Notoriety! Fame! Fortune! But after much thought, I have given up. In fact, I have concluded that these hopes should be immediately crushed whenever they surface within my brain. This will surely not be a popular sentiment, but I even suspect that such thinking may be the first sign of a mediocre or possibly failed writing career.
Early into blogging, I discovered the “stats” page of my WordPress account. This is the nifty program that tells me all sorts of revealing information about you, my faithful readers. How many of you are reading? What country do you call home? What pages do you look at? How did you find my blog? I confess… these daily numbers become quite addicting. For example, today I was thrilled to discover that my blog has now been read from six continents and over 20 countries. This news serves as rather pleasant ego stroking, but in the world of blogging, my numbers are puny and pathetic. I do not have thousands of followers. In fact, I only have 36 readers officially “following” my blog. So I am concerned… I mean… these lousy numbers indicate that I am a bad, irrelevant writer.
But wait! There are endless sources of information about how to increase readership and traffic to my blog! Optimizing and tagging and branding… oh my! Please please please “Freshly Press” my post and yes… there’s more! I can download that e-book for $9.99 to learn the secrets of successful blogging and join a mailing list to receive a free gift! It is true… blogging fame and fortune are just mere keystrokes away for the market-savvy writer who avoids the “10 Mistakes of Failed Writers” and religiously follows the “7 Steps to Blogging Nirvana.”
For any confused non-bloggers out there, the highly coveted “Freshly Pressed” status basically means that magical blogging fairies select your post (yes… you!) from among the 517 billion blog posts published that day. These chosen few represent the best of the best and are highlighted on Word Press. This is, really, quite a big deal.
Yes… that strange glow you just saw was my face burning bright green with envy.
Upon such freshly pressing, thousands of hopeful bloggers descend upon your post and generously “like” your literary genius. Readers agree to “follow” your masterful writing. That blue “views” bar on the fancy stats graph all but spikes through the top of the page. This is indeed the blogging jackpot. So new writers like me are left burning incense to the WordPress gods in hopes of that glorious freshly pressed moment. We scheme and refocus our writing in hopes of recognition and readership and eventually, due to our blogging success, maybe even a (gasp) book deal. But here’s the thing… I have come to believe there is a danger lurking in the depths of this blogging fantasy.
As I have shared in a previous blog post, while busy wrestling with the existential demons of my mid-life crisis, I stumbled upon my long-lost love of writing. Hidden in the bottom of my spare closet amidst the dust bunnies, stack of high school yearbooks, and a worn pair of Chuck Taylor high tops circa 1988, I rediscovered my creative self. This girl is pretty amazing. She dreams of writing… maybe even a novel. She recently started blogging. She has unique insights about the world… and she really loves to write.
What she does NOT love, however, are marketing plans and personal branding and image management and manipulative networking and all such related dog and pony shows, even of the literary kind. Now admittedly, this is mostly because I really suck at such things due to what we will nicely call “quirks” in my personality. So when I found myself insecurely obsessing about the details of my blog’s “search engine optimization,” I suddenly wasn’t feeling particularly creative or insightful or amazing. I imagined my inauthentic attempts at such marketing would result in my future career looking a bit like a snake oil salesman attempting to whore out her wordsmithing wares on a seedy corner of cyberspace.
Now… kudos to all of you writers who can happily embrace the capitalist side to modern-day writing and who can do it well; you will undoubtedly be far more successful and happy than I. But the idealistic me is left wondering, when did writing become about increasing blog traffic and building a fan base? Am I naive to think that the writers and artists of the new millennium can earn a living without becoming a slave to the money-making machine? Do I really have to craft and execute the perfect marketing plan to become a successful writer? Or can I just… well… write?
A possible answer came in the midst of my struggle with whether or not to seriously pursue writing as a career. Let me preface this by stating that writing is not for wimps or the risk-averse. Deciding to spend the next year pouring my heart and soul onto a keyboard with zero guarantee of success or salary is extraordinarily foolish. Thus one evening, while yet again detailing my extensive list of excuses and fears as to why I should not pursue my writing dreams, my long-suffering husband stopped me in my existential tracks. He asked, “Do you really think that Ernest Hemingway wrote for career success or to build readership? What about Nathaniel Hawthorne? Sylvia Plath? Soren Kierkegaard? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Consider any of the great authors and thinkers of history. Why did they write? Why do you want to write?”
(long, silent, uncomfortable, paradigm-shifting pause)
Well, ummm… ok… why DO I want to write?
Will I write because I love the art and craft of writing or will I write to earn a buck? Is it possible to authentically do both? Does it matter? Do I want to tell stories that are slurped up through the bendy-straw of pop culture or do I wish to craft stories that inspire and resonate with thoughtful readers? Do I love my creative self or do I love my search-engine-optimizing self?
Thus in the (quite romanticized) spirit of the great authors, I have come to believe that my desire to write is far more powerful and important than my desire to be published. In wrestling with my fear of failure, I now find myself asking… what would Ernest Hemingway do? Now granted, Hemingway ultimately does not provide us with a model for healthy living, but he does serve as a remarkable example of a gifted and passionate writer. I am pretty sure he would ignore the latest “25 Reasons to BLAH BLAH BLAH” article on publishing success because he was too busy, well, being a brilliant, ground-breaking writer.
Undoubtedly I am foolish and perhaps old-fashioned to think that a mid-western Gen X girl at mid-life can quit her day job, sit down at a keyboard, and just “be” a writer. After all, “starving artist” is hardly a respectable career choice these days. We do not live, as Hemingway did, in the Jazz Age of Paris which overflowed with innovative music and art and literature. Today our culture embraces “50 Shades of Nonsense,” boy bands, and formulaic story lines poorly disguised as prose. Our society and its cultural gatekeepers value and reward art that can be easily monetized and syndicated. The rest of it is considered, at best, irrelevant “indie” art… and at worst, a hobby.
The irony is that of course I want to make a living through the written word, as do all writers. I love my readers and hope for many more… a lot more! And my dream IS to be published someday. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these hopes. Inevitably though, I will have to do some marketing and promotion of my work, or be lost in the throng of would-be writers. I think these goals only grow malignant if they become my primary reasons to write. So I am determined to write for the love of writing. I want to write because I am a writer. Motivations matter. Inspiration has a tendency to seep out into every blog post and chapter written, simply because it is the nature of the craft. Hemingway said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Indeed.
So what would Hemingway do in 2012? I think he would suggest that an author must live to write instead of write to live. Be an amazing writer first, and the money will follow. Hemingway might tell me to throw out all the blogging statistics and models for publishing success and instead focus on that creative girl who loves to write. He would also probably ask me to go big game hunting with him in Kenya… but that, dear readers, is another blog post entirely.
This idealized Hemingway approach may get a little messy, may not earn much of an income, and certainly defies the money-making, ladder-climbing logic of our times. Ultimately though, a passion for writing is what will feed my hungry, creative soul. I would even like to imagine that it is the true path to authentic literary success. So wish me luck and encouragement… and while you are at it… ummm… please don’t forget to “like” my blog post.
[EDIT]
Of course, in the irony of all ironies… the WordPress “blogging fairies” graciously selected my post “A Letter From My Future Self” to be freshly pressed just days after I wrote this post. I am deeply honored and humbled and thankful for the recognition. I promise I won’t let it go to my head!
Keep writing, Amy. Don’t worry about the number of continents or followers or even the content of your blog. Write what’s in your heart and what has meaning for you. I feel like the best songwriters out there do that and more times than not, end up with a hit song or album. Adele anyone? I have thought about writing a blog, but I don’t know how I would find the time. If I did, I would write about what’s important to me, what has meaning for me, all without an ounce of formal writing experience (does Facebook count)? What I’m saying Amy is just go for it, keep writing, do what you love . . . what’s better than that?
You are spot on Mary… you think this would be obvious and easy, but it hasn’t been to me. I am learning how to let go of worry about what others think of me. Difficult but worthwhile!
PS I would LOVE to read a blog written by you Mary!
I have to admit that I also look at the stats page of my blog quite a bit and wonder whether I should be spending time “beautifying”, promoting, tagging, etc… at the end of the day though these concerns are secondary to the process of coming up with, researching and writing about the idea. I “love” writing about and reading my own thoughts (narcissistic I know, but my pitiful ego has to come from somewhere). My dream is that someday these thoughts will help “humanity”, but for now, even if they are just helping one or two people that’s enough for me. BTW, 36 followers is great! I think it can take a good year of writing for a new blog to keep and maintain a good readership base– you are well on your way!
Well in terms of our personality type, I think this feeds my Fe in a mostly unhealthy way. I am trying to figure out how to balance it all and come to a point like you where I am content voicing my perspectives without worrying about negative judgment. This is especially difficult because I challenged myself to write a *personal* blog, which exposes my thoughts to everyone. Scary, since usually I dont share the details of what is going on in my head. I imagine a topical blog would be easier for me, but I really felt like this was the right choice to start.
I don’t know…. Being Freshly Pressed WOULD be pretty cool… In fact, I know a blogger who was Freshly Pressed and immediately got a book deal. ;)
While the story of that blogger getting a deal is true, I just want to see you sit at your keyboard and bleed. You have so much inside of you. Do it simply for the relief of releasing all of that stuff. Bleed it out. Then you will see that people will be drawn to your honesty and transparency. You are definitely one of the most brilliant people I have ever met. Your ability is not in question. Your battle is to defeat the side of you that craves the approval of others. That is the monster I have to vanquish as well. The only way to defeat it is by telling the truth. You are awesome! Now shut off that stupid stat tracker! :)
Ooooo hahaha don’t get me wrong… I still would LOVE to be freshly pressed… I just will be ruined if recognition becomes my primary motivation for writing. Thank you for your encouragement Bill! And folks… please check out Bill’s latest genius blog post at: http://heresyofthemonth.typepad.com/blog/2012/08/turning-away-from-the-abyss.html
Here here!!!
I agree, being Freshly Pressed WOULD be pretty cool.
I can relate to Hemingway’s quote about the bleeding–to a certain extent I think it’s true. I also agree that people are drawn to honesty and transparency, perhaps especially in writing. For me, too, there is great and sometimes agonizing “creative tension” between self-confidence and self-doubt. I don’t know why I so badly want other people to “like” me and my writing :P
This is one lesson of writing that I am learning quickly… write from a place of authenticity, even if it hurts or scares me! “Creative tension” is such a good term for it. Very insightful! Thanks fo reading.
Discovered your blog through your Freshly Pressed blog entry, (Letter to My Future Self), and because I was intrigued by your writing style and the skill level of how you can draw word pictures and keep the reader interested, couldn’t help reading a few more blog entries. Now, of course, I have no other option than to subscribe to your blog. Oh, and I did press the LIKE button! :-)
Thank you so much for reading… I am *thrilled* to have new readers. Your words of encouragement mean so much to me. Thank you for taking the time to comment and make my day so special!
Congrats on Freshly Pressed. I was Freshly Pressed about a month ago. I promise, if you don’t capitalize on the traffic, everything will basically go back to normal. Whether that is frightening or comforting is up to you.
Being scrutinized by thousands of eyes was a little scary for me. I’m happy to have faded back to relative obscurity, despite wanting a book deal someday. I write differently and much more openly on a blog than I would anywhere else, so I felt naked in front of a crowd instead of naked at a secluded nude beach when I was Freshly Pressed.
Keep up the good work. Keep bleeding words onto paper. (I love that analogy.)
As you can probably guess, the thought on figuring out how to properly capitalize on blog traffic makes my stomach twist up in knots. I do hope many more people follow my blog; but if not, I am ok with that. After all, this is a personal blog and shall continue to be operated on my terms and with stories that flow from my heart. This blog was launched in part to provide a forum for me to practice the art of writing within the public sphere and serve as a complement to my longer-term writing. It certainly was never intended to be widely read, although I certainly will welcome the readers! Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment. Congratulations on your “Freshly Pressed” status; I will be sure to check out your blog!
You won’t find much at the moment, but hopefully in about a month you can (if you remember) find a bit more.
As someone who works in online marketing for a living and writes to make life really worthwhile, I love this post. I also love your writing style. The numbers do become all-absorbing and it’s so easy to obsess over them. “Must get more followers. Must post more.Must be more relevant. Oh God, why am I not more interesting??” :)
You know what? At the end of the day, I figure that if you love what you write and you do it because you love it, knowing you may never have an audience beyond your immediate family and friends – and still keep writing just because you love it – you’ve made it. We write because we have to write, simple as that.
Yes! I feel like it is so important to keep my focus and motivations authentic or it will taint everything I write. Thank you for your encouraging words and taking the time to comment!
love your voice! hemingway would be proud ;) it’s not always easy to shut off the voices inside that limit us, frighten us, discourage our potential greatness ;) but it is true that if you write what you know and love, the rest will simply follow. whatever ‘the rest’ is meant to be for you. i think you’re doing a wonderful job and i thoroughly enjoy being inside your mind. write on…
Part of the reason I started this blog was to experiment with “finding my voice.” Embracing my literary voice has been FAR easier than shutting off that inner critic. Unfortunately that critical voice has been too loud for too long, but I am determined to shut it out. Thank you for reading!
I am so glad to have stumbled upon your blog. I enjoyed reading your Culture Shock post, and this one especially. I am going through similar struggles at this very moment. Granted, I did not leave my day job (in fact, I just started) but writing is all I can think about. All the best to you,
Yulia
Well I quit my “day job” about a year ago when I had the chance to teach part time at a community college. I took the summer off with the intent to rediscover myself and figure out the second half of life. I never expected that the answer would be “writer”! This blog has been part of this process.
Reblogged this on chryzalynmaeysao and commented:
i wish you so much luck girl! you have truly lived life :)
Wow thank you so much for reblogging my post!!
i like so much!! i am a new follower!! :)
I really enjoy your writing, which I only discovered from “Freshly Pressed”. My wife and I were in Shakespeare & Co a few weeks ago. I will look forward to returning and seeing a book of yours in the window.
Oh gosh… what a wonderful bookstore, no? I really do hope to go back soon, and wouldn’t it be amazing to have a book displayed in the window! I have my work cut out for me… these are big dreams I have painted for myself. Thank you for reading!
I love this What Would Hemingway Do idea! I also struggle with the daily stats column reflecting the relative “success” or “failure” of my ideas. What I also notice in the very brief time that I’ve been doing this is that I can spot the posts where I am “trying too hard” to find the “right” angle, the “right” hook from the posts where my own voice comes through with a bit more clarity – the posts where I have something on my mind and don’t think about how they will be received. Incidentally, the latter are what seem to garner the greatest response. Write to write and the rest will follow. Will do, Hemingway.
And congrats on being Freshly Pressed – that’s how I found your site – and I’m very glad I did.
When I wrote this, I worried it might sound pretentious or picky; however, in the end I was convinced that our motivations to write do matter. I have been on any number of writer’s blogs where I start to feel like a commodity. I certainly understand that everyone needs to make a living, but ultimately I think a more fulfilling success will come when we write from our hearts and not to instantly appease the whims of popularity. Thank you so much for reading and for your thoughtful comment. Best of luck to you!
Very cool that you wrote this piece and then got Pressed shortly after. Like many others, that was how I found your blog.
So many of us bloggers share your thoughts, both pre- and post-Freshly Pressed. I’m currently on the FP page at the moment, enjoying the spike in views, comments, and subscriptions. It’s my second time chosen, and the first time I felt like I was going to ride my fame rocket straight to the top and become known as the next writing phenom. Then, as another commenter mentioned, it all died down soon after and although I was left with new subscribers which I appreciated greatly, it was essentially back to business as usual with my modest handful of loyal readers.
In truth, it’s quite likely that the same thing will happen again this time, and in a few days the majority of the internet will again turn its eyes away from my writing. But that just serves to confirm that it is, and will always be, about the writing itself. Or more specifically, about what the writing evokes in me and my readers. To me that’s what’s real, it’s why writing (or any art) was invented in the first place. All the rest (making money, fame, respect from others) is more of a human dysfunction that got piled on top of it.
I’m certainly honored to be Freshly Pressed, but I feel a much longer-lasting pride whenever I look at a sentence I just typed and feel that it was a success within the context of a story. Or when I can find a way of observing that challenges & elevates my old methods of description. It’s like a classical pianist finding the beauty in the way the keys physically move during a melodic passage, without any thought toward its place in the larger music world. Those are the magical moments still left for an artist to discover and hold close, and they’re the most lasting source of nourishment for us writers. At least that’s my opinion. And anyone who focuses on those kinds of basic truths will end up on Freshly Pressed and beyond, it’s just a matter of time. Thanks for letting me take up so much comment space and congrats on your success!
Corey, your comments really speak to the heart of this post! My description of the freshly pressed process was a bit tongue-in-cheek. I don’t have any delusions that one freshly pressed post will bring success as a writer, although I think many bloggers (myself included) start to consider it an essential step to success. Frankly, I am still quite shocked that my post was selected. I wrote about my *actual* experience in “My Fifteen Minutes of Freshly Pressed Fame” http://xenogirl.com/2012/08/20/my-fifteen-minutes-of-freshly-pressed-fame/. I am very happy that I wrote the article above before my earlier post was freshly pressed, because I am confident that I have sorted out my priorities and motivations as I move forward with my writing. And congratulations on round two on the freshly pressed podium!! I am going to check out your blog now. Thank you so much for writing and taking the time to post such a thoughtful comment. Best of luck to you in your literary endeavors!
Keep writing! I think you are fabulous :) (And congratulations, of course, on being freshly pressed!)
Thank you mono!!
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