One in a Million vs. One of Millions

This post is for bloggers, writers and hopefuls.

Are you writing to serve “the public”?

Or are you writing to serve your craft?  Your ideas?  Your ideals?

If you know anything about publishing these days, you know that our job, as writers, is to bring readers to publishers.  Publishers no longer bring readers to writers.

This creates an interesting paradox.

To win readers, we must write what readers want to read.  Which typically means writing what’s popular now.  And in styles and formats that are “proven”.

However, by writing what’s popular, we become a grain of sand on a beach – one of millions, rather than one in a million.

Some of you are just starting out as writers and bloggers.

Others of you have been at this many years and have experienced minor to moderate success.

So are you writing to serve your ideas?  Or are you writing to serve strangers?

The easy, cop-out answer is both.  So I won’t let you go there.

Because if you try to serve both, you will serve neither very well.

You must either write out of your quest or obsession with something.  Or you must write to please others.

And I think the only option for serious writers is to write to serve our craft, ideas and ideals.

My friend, Michael Perkins, writes one of my favorite blogs.

He handwrites each post.  And juxtaposes it with a verse in the Bible.

He’s doing something very rare in the blogging world, which makes him one in a million, rather than one of millions.

I hope you will check out what Michael is doing.  Not for religious reasons, but because Michael is a great model for how to break the rules of blogging (and writing) to serve your idea, rather than a consumer.

Believe it or not, Michael abandoned a “successful” blog to serve his ideas and ideals.  And it’s working out for him really well.

Michael's main blog link is here.  Look around to see what he's doing.

If you're interested, sign up for his blog and read his new eBook on starting over as a blogger.  Click here to learn more about that.

Keitharsis is a blog for writers and artists, written by a writer and artist.  New essays are published each Tuesday and Thursday.

Comments

[Michael Perkins]

Keith, thank you. First, your post is terrific. And secondly, I'm completely humbled by the words you wrote. Thank you my friend.

[JoAnne Potter]

You are right! Michael is great!

[Keith Jennings]

JoAnne,

It's fantastic you are familiar with Michael and his work!

[Keith Jennings]

Michael,

You know you are doing something important when you are simultaneously excited and terrified.

Thank you for taking a creative risk! I LOVE having a model to point people to.

[Jason Vana]

I'm going to give you the cop-out answer and say that I serve both, even when I don't want to. I strive to serve the idea and ideals behind why I write, but I have found myself bending to the pressure of what is popular. It's why I struggled at first to take a break from writing. What if I lost my readers? What if comments go down? I think this break was needed to help me get over the numbers and just write what I feel led to write.

As for Michael's blog - it's one of my favorite (up there with Gary Molander, Steve Fogg, Jake Lee and you) and an inspiration to think outside the box and do something amazing.

[Keith Jennings]

Ha Jason! Love it - break the rules!

You're right. We do fluctuate between both. And we experience the consequences. But that's how we learn. That's how we hone our craft. And that's how we build a community around our ideas and ideals. Right?

Appreciate your comment! And great to hear that you're loving Michael's work.

[Eileen]

Been following Michael's blog for awhile now. I love the change he made. All the fluff is stripped away. I admire that.

Lately, I've had to remind myself as to why I write. I get distracted by all these other things and I end up spinning my wheels and not making progress. And then, of course, I have to take time to sufficiently beat myself up about all the time I've wasted. haha :) Sigh. It's a marathon not a sprint!

[Keith Jennings]

I know what you mean, Eileen!

What if we didn't look at our creative work as a linear path (like a sprint or a marathon)? What if we saw it as a nonlinear portfolio of projects, paths and platforms?

Through the portfolio lens, time is never wasted, because our job is to be constantly testing and experimenting in an effort to learn and adapt.

So don't beat yourself up. Just learn from what's working and what's not, make adjustments and keep moving! (And don't trust that critic in your head - it's not looking out for your development.)

[I Putu suandra]

Thanks your information Keitharsis
iam interest with your program

[LarryTheDeuce]

I love The Handwritten. Read it everyday.

[Steve Ellison]

I heard it said that if I am one in a million, there are 1,338 exactly like me in the Republic of China. Heck, I'd have four or five dopplegangers in Atlanta alone. Love your blog. I hope you have time to check out mine: Jack's Guide: http://jacksguide.typepad.com/jacks-guide-the-renaiss

Like yours, it has much to do with productivity and creativity. I admire your concept of the "portfolio life".

I haven't been able to produce any income from writing, but I love it. And I love reading well-written stuff! Like yours. Keep it up!

[Keith Jennings]

Thanks for your comments, Putu and Larry!

[Keith Jennings]

Steve,

Great to hear from you! Thanks for reaching out.

We shouldn't expect to make money FROM our writing. But, if we work hard, we can certainly make money BECAUSE OF our writing: paid speaking, consulting, job offers, etc. It's worked for me.

Google the "because effect" and read up on what Doc Searls wrote about years ago.

[Live The Dream - David Trees]

Keith,

I am kind of with you in one sense and I get what you're meaning to say. I also think from another point of view, that no electrician would work for what "might" be a return on their skilled work. I know I wouldn't. I also get that we need to stand out a bit too expressing our message with a unique style as your friend Michael Perkins surely does, I like the way he presents his blog as much as the content.

I also agree that we dull our ideals and therefore our writing should it be done solely to the dictates and the whims of the FICKLE crowd...

In the gospels "the crowd" one day did one thing to celebrate Jesus and then one week later turned on Jesus... I quote from the Bible as you seem to understand it's essence and purpose.

So what do we do? Do we write with an expectation of receiving nothing for our good, skilled, work, which will happen if we expect it and let it.

Or do we write with the expectation that our work will be read and received by those who need it at the time? Is a worker not worthy of some kind of reward? Especially if it adds value to some ones life.

I am not a blog or writing expert by any means, just an Aussie pastor, living in the UK, who is coming out of working solely in a church context with a highly practical message for a global market...

So I do value your comments, ideas and ideals and the excellent way you compose and express them... Thanks so much Sir.

[Keith Jennings]

Hi David,

I really appreciate you taking time to share your thinking! Hope you'll stick around!

I write this blog for creative writers, poets, artists, musicians and others who are working to practice an artistic craft and somehow share it with others. For some, they expect to get something in return beyond love for their work. For others, they do it out of a pure love for their craft.

Underneath this post is the question, "What master do you serve?" And there is no right or wrong answer. I'm trying to help readers make a choice between serving their craft or audience or "success" or _____. We can't serve them all.

Once this choice is made, our time, energy and expectations can align around this root focus. An electrician's focus is making money, so he aligns everything he does around this core focus. If a writer wants to make money, then she needs align her life to write what sells. And if a writer wants to serve their art (whatever that means to them), then she shouldn't get distracted by a lack of an audience. She should serve her art.

I see a lot of Creatives trying to serve their craft AND success. And many burn out. Or remain invisible.