Writing doesn't need to chase trends; just follow your own rhythm.
These past few days, I feel like I've taken a trip to space, and I'm feeling incredibly ethereal and unstable, not knowing what I really want to do.
Mainly, I want to do writing well, but I find myself falling back into the old ways. Before, I was like a newborn calf, fearless and charging headfirst, writing whatever came to mind, writing about my daily observations and experiences, which could be considered a mix of sesame seeds and green beans; I wrote because it pleased me, and many readers enjoyed it. People are drawn to the everyday stories of life, and everyone loves them.
As time goes on, I feel like it doesn't matter much, thinking about developing to a higher level – what exactly does 'higher' mean?
It's about writing things that people can gain something from, such as how to get along with others, how to manage money more effectively, or how to educate children to be successful. With my years of experience, I should be able to do this, but I'm always too restless and unfocused, so I haven't started writing.
So, I continued to write stories for a while, and writing stories is relatively easy because plot, character personality, and the protagonist's fate can all be determined by me, written to death or written to life; it's truly unlimited freedom, and the effect is pretty good. But every story takes four or five thousand words to finish, and readers find it too long and don't have patience to read it. I've tried so many things after writing for a while.
I started writing inspirational stories, sharing my experiences and insights in work and life, which could inspire people. The effect was really good, and I received unanimous praise from everyone.
Recently, everyone is talking about the popularity of Toutiao Qingyun, and I'm envious. I feel like Qingyun is right in front of me, within reach. I learned that the most award-winning articles on Qingyun are mainly book reviews and film reviews. As someone who has never written book reviews or film reviews, I adjusted my direction, studying and watching movies for sleepless nights, repeating twice or three times, painstakingly researching examples, stating facts, and explaining viewpoints. I often fell asleep while writing.
But the result is that I didn't get into Qingyun at all, and my reading volume hasn't increased. Yes, except for the Qingyun reviewers reading my book review and film review articles, no one else wants to read them. If I were that person, I wouldn't want to read such articles unless I was interested in a particular work and needed to look up information; I'd only read it then.
What's even more frustrating is that the Qingyun model still needs a framework. If you don't follow this framework, even if you bleed yourself dry, it's useless. You have to envy those who have figured it out, because even if you bite your tongue in frustration, it won't help. It's just that my brain is too slow, and I don't know how to find the right way,
Originally, I planned to complete the book reviews, as this would also be suitable for input and output, with no shortage of material to write.
But after looking at it, they are all the same format, taking some parts of the work and adding other things to make it seem like you're adding value, telling you what not to do, what won't make you happy, and then telling you how to 'open up' and 'restart' your life, so that you suddenly realize, 'Oh! If I do this, I can have a 'perfect' life'. So you get a new sense of hope. This is what we call 'information gain',
In fact, writing book reviews and film reviews only requires pointing out the key points of the work; it doesn't need to be overly complicated with unnecessary rhetoric. If you don't pile up a lot of words, it seems like you're not qualified, but the truly useful parts are only a few sentences.
Thinking about this, I took a deep breath. Writing is mainly through my own observations, thoughts, and feelings, so I don't need to exhaust myself trying to please anyone or wasting energy trying to follow frameworks. It's simple and straightforward, and who wouldn't want that?
A fulfilling life, happy writing, walk your own path, write your own words, don't be afraid to write for the sake of writing, just go with the flow at your own pace!
