“To reach an audience of millions, create for an audience of one,” Srinivas Rao eloquently says in a popular Medium post.
I shared the post on Facebook last year, echoing his sentiments about authentic creativity, free of external validation. The essay resurfaced in my mind today as I struggled with my recent resolution to publish at least 3 articles a week — a tall order for someone who had gone on Medium hiatus for four months before posting a new piece.
But the world has been dealing with so much uncertainty lately, leading me to confront my lack of fulfillment as a writer. If, for some reason, I die next week, will I have written all the articles and stories I could to make the world a better place? The answer is a horrifying no. Not by a long shot.
Work deadlines, lack of time, and exhaustion have held me back from doing my personal writing. But now that I’m practically in between jobs, and staying home has become the new normal, I have more time than ever to write to my heart’s content. Yet, it’s been 15 days since I made the resolution, and I’ve only managed to come up with one post.
With so much time on my hands, I face new creativity blockers: perfectionism and the need for validation.
Pressured to write a “publish-worthy” piece every time I sit down in front of my laptop, I end up overthinking and stifling my ideas. As a result, none of my words have made its way to an audience.
“Starting with the intention of fame drowns our creativity.”
When we write to please an audience, we lose our authenticity and hold back from exposing the imperfect parts of ourselves, or we pressure ourselves to apply pretty filters on these unpleasant parts.
But the clock is ticking as I write, and I know I’d regret letting more weeks, months, or years pass before I scramble to write down all the words that need to be said.
So today, I’m deciding to get over myself and show up for my writing, imperfect thoughts and all.
Write for an audience of one: yourself. What piques your curiosity? What fears plague your mind? What insight can you pass on to your reader to add value to their life?
When you quiet the distraction of vanity metrics — the desire for likes, comments, and shares — you can start to write unconditionally.
