One of the common flaws that anyone who follows whatever his passion is – is to assume that everyone else has an equal interest in it. That is not always true. In fact, it is mostly untrue.
If I have a passion for writing, it does not mean that my readers would be interested in what I write, even though they may actually find the fact that I write interesting.
At the start of my stint as a writer, I used to post my writing very often on Facebook and even had an Instagram account (both of which I have deleted now). I used to have a mailing list for people to receive my writing. I was told these were good practices – which they might be. But understanding for what they are good practices is important. They are good as a discipline. Don’t expect that because you post something that you find interesting, everyone who sees it will be interested. That was a mistake I made early on, and let the responses either excite me too much or disappoint me a lot.
I always thought that when someone liked something I posted, or commented on one of my blog posts, they shared an equal passion for my writing, or that they actually liked my writing. But in most cases (except a few), they found the fact that I am writing interesting. Most of them weren’t really interested in my writing per se. Most of them just liked the fact that I wrote. Similarly if a particular post doesn’t get response, it doesn’t necessarily mean the writing isn’t interesting.
Finding me interesting or not interesting is not the same as being interested in my writing. Most readers have discovered me due to their own interest and due to whatever reason, they found an interest in my writing during that particular part of their journey.
So that is really the point. Each of us have an interest, our own areas that excite us, our own priorities on what is important and what plays a role in our life. And these keep changing as we traverse through life. It is only when that interest matched the output of my passion whenever you came across it will you be interested in my writing. Irrespective of whether you find the fact that I write interesting.
Most creatives mistake the first for the second. It is in our interest to understand what in our writing interests those who read us, and serve the people who are interested in what we produce, not just the ones who find us interesting.
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