The Writer’s Curse

Telling Stories in a World That’s Stopped Reading

Writing has never been easy. But writing in the 21st century? That’s just for people who enjoy the pain. It’s like throwing love letters into a black hole. You pour your soul into every word, sculpt sentences with care, bleed onto the page, only to watch people scroll past your work in favor of a 30-second video of some guy deep-frying his iPhone.

And yet, we keep writing. Why?

That’s the question I keep asking myself, and I know I’m not alone.

When Nobody’s Reading, Why Keep Writing?

I was talking to a friend the other day, a fellow writer, let’s call him James. James has been hammering away at his novel for the last three years. He’s got talent, a killer concept, and the kind of relentless drive that should’ve made him successful already. But instead, he’s stuck. Stuck in that all-too-familiar limbo where the words are there, but the audience isn’t.

“Man, I feel like I’m screaming into the void,” he told me, sipping his coffee like it had personally betrayed him.

I laughed, but I knew exactly what he meant.

Because here’s the truth: writing in this era is an uphill battle, and most people don’t have the stamina to reach the top.

Readers are distracted, overwhelmed, drowning in an endless stream of content. Long-form writing? That’s a luxury most people don’t think they have time for. Even people who claim to love reading rarely finish books. Do you know how many people start War and Peace thinking they’ll have a life-changing experience, only to abandon it before page 50? More than we’d like to admit.

So, where does that leave us, the writers?

Some give up. They trade their novels for Twitter threads and their essays for Instagram captions. They shrink their words to fit the modern attention span. 

And I get it.

But for the rest of us, the ones who refuse to compromise? We’re left in this strange, existential crisis where we have to justify our existence as writers in a world that’s rapidly losing interest in reading.

The Myth of the “Dying” Reader

But is reading really dying? Or is that just what the industry wants us to believe?

Let’s break it down.

1. Books still sell. Whenever someone declares “nobody reads anymore,” I remind them that Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and The Song of Ice and Fire series sold millions of copies in the digital age. People still read, just maybe not the things we think they should.

2. Long-form content thrives in niche spaces. You know where people read? Substack. Medium. Niche blogs. If your writing is good enough, and you know where to put it, there is an audience.

3. People binge-watch 10-hour TV series—so attention span isn’t the issue. The argument that “people can’t focus anymore” is lazy. People sit through entire seasons of Breaking Bad in one weekend. They’ll read if the story is compelling enough.

So maybe the problem isn’t that people aren’t reading.

Maybe the problem is that writers haven’t adapted to how modern audiences consume stories.

How Writers Are Fighting Back

If you think about it, today’s most successful writers aren’t just writers. They’re multi-platform storytellers. They write books, sure, but they also engage with their readers in new ways.

Mark Manson built an empire on blogging before he ever wrote The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**.* Chuck Palahniuk connects with his audience through newsletters and exclusive content. Stephen King, despite being a household name, still interacts with his fans on Twitter.

Writers today can’t afford to be invisible.

You can’t just write a book and expect people to find it. You must show up, tell people why your work matters, and market yourself like a product, whether you like it or not.

That’s the ugly truth. As much as we love to romanticize it, writing is now half craft, half strategy.

And the ones who refuse to play the game? They fade into obscurity.

The Painful Reality of Writing for “Exposure”

Now, let’s talk about the real insult:

Writing is one of the only creative fields where people expect you to work for free.

No one asks a musician to compose a song “for exposure.” No one tells a chef to prepare a gourmet meal and then, perhaps, they’ll get paid if people like it.

But writers? Oh, we’re supposed to be grateful for the opportunity.

Publishers offer pennies. Magazines want essays but don’t have a budget. Online platforms rake in ad revenue while paying writers nothing. And self-publishing? That’s a whole different minefield.

It’s brutal.

And yet, even knowing all this, we keep writing.

Because at the end of the day, writing isn’t just something we do. It’s something we are.

The Writers Who Keep Going Anyway

Every writer I know has had their “screw this, I quit” moment. Some follow through. They walk away, convinced it’s not worth the struggle.

But the ones who stay?

They’re the ones who understand that writing isn’t just about being read. It’s about expression. About making sense of the chaos. About putting something into the world that wasn’t there before.

And yeah, sometimes it feels pointless. Sometimes it feels like you’re whispering into a hurricane. But then you get that one message, one email, one comment, one DM, from a reader who tells you your words mattered to them. That your story got them through a tough time. That your article made them rethink something.

And suddenly, it’s all worth it.

Final Thoughts: Why We Keep Writing

I’m not here to sell you a fairy tale. Writing is hard. The industry is brutal. Attention spans are short, and the odds aren’t in our favor.

But here’s the thing: writing has always been for the stubborn ones.

For the ones who refuse to shut up. The ones who see stories everywhere. The ones who can’t not write, no matter how much the world tells them it’s pointless. So if you’re one of us, one of the writers who keep going even when it feels impossible, welcome to the club.

It’s a lonely road. But you’re not walking it alone. And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, the world will start reading again.

But even if it doesn’t? We’ll keep writing anyway.

 

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