Writing For Love (And Coffee)

Since I began publicising my writing, I've had much to learn! Aside from the basic practicalities of brushing up on punctuation and grammar, and getting to grips with the sanity-defying challenges of internet technology, I began writing for a company called Textbroker.
Although, from what I've read, and what I've experienced, textbroker is no longer the bottomless pool of freelance work that it must once have been. It provided a great advantage to me.
Firstly, it gave a boost to my confidence; I received an excellent author rating for my sample work and within days, I was writing and getting paid for it, result! 
Although, 8 hours of fastidious research, cross referencing, writing, reading, cutting and editing for the meagre price of £5 may not seem like much of a result, my efforts were richly rewarded in experience gained and lessons learned. The tedious 400 words on novelty toy imports,  attained little more than £3, but the painfully acquired wisdom never to take on a subject that held absolutely no interest for me, was fucking priceless!

"There’s no money in poetry, but then there’s no poetry in money either". – Robert Graves

Encouraged by the fact that  people were actually willing to pay for my writing, I began to explore other avenues. I set up a basic blog and began to assemble my ramblings there.
There seemed to be no end of advice for successful writing techniques, much of it written by seemingly successful writers.

"When in doubt tell the truth". Mark Twain

So I read stuff and wrote stuff, tried to apply all the helpful tips which would make my writing readable... catchy headlines, popular topics etc. I began sharing my articles on Medium where I got to see stats breaking down views and reads, giving me a useful percentage to analyse. I noticed that the clickbait title had the most views but the lowest read ratio, having a successful title which attracts the wrong audience seems pretty pointless! Stats aside, I received one heart-warming personal response for the same piece and it was worth more than a thousand views!

"Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace". - Buddha

So as I sifted through the endless rules of successful writing,  one began to stand out to me... screw the rules!
Why am I even writing? Is my determination to succeed stifling my creative flow?  Undoubtedly! Money is a practical necessity and earning it by doing something we love is the ultimate goal, but when money becomes the motive for art, something is lost, the creative flow is compromised, somehow.
I always have, and always will write, it's a compulsion from deep inside of me, that demands to be released, and it couldn't care less if it's read or not!

"Writing is its own reward". – Henry Miller

So forget about clicks and claps and likes and hits, in the world of online text, success is abound in misleading titles, insanely irrelevant but alluring images, patronising how to's, and no end of irreverent, high-earning, trite, I would rather choose authenticity, even if nobody reads it.

So in the absence of superficial attraction, how will I call forth the support of my less than enthusiastic readers?
Simple. If it interests you, read it. If it moves you, share it. If you want more, follow it. And if you want to, you can  buy me a coffee.