Nicolas Cole argues that writers mistake effort for entitlement. People pay attention only when they get value back. Creators need to earn engagement by delivering something useful, not assume the world owes them attention because they worked hard.
Have you ever woken up a single day in your life and the first thing that you thought was, I can't wait to give my time, energy, attention, and hard-earned money to someone else for writing or creating something that they were really passionate about? Of course not. You only want to give away those resources if you get something in return. That's the trade. If you're going to give a minute of your life, you want some sort of value in return. If you're going to give $10 or $100 or $1,000 to someone else, you want something in return, and there's nothing wrong with that. And as consumers, that is very obvious. I think we all agree if you're going to give away time or money, you want something in return. But yet, through the lens of being a creator or a writer, it's as if people completely forget what it's like to be the person on the other side of the table. They think, "I really love writing about this thing, so the world owes me their attention and money." "I worked really hard writing this thing, so the world owes me their attention and money." And that is not true.
Your Writing Isn't Working Until This Happens #writingadvice #creativeprocess
