Likes, followers, the more the merrier. But what if you have only one reader?
Numbers may not be lying in front of us but there is more to it than meets the eye.
Back in the day when I was a university student at UNSW, I would spend hours and hours at the library researching relevant materials for an upcoming assignment or a soon-to-be-due essay.
Once I had all the handy resources at my fingertips, it could be several drafts later before I had a final version ready to be handed in. Whether it was a labour of love or a pain in the arse, I sweated blood to get it done on time, the world should see it and admire it. Right? Well, not quite. At the end it would only fall on one person’s desk on the other side – my tutor, he or she would decide its fate – pass or fail, like it or not. Only one reader matters in this instance.
As a writer, when an article of yours only reaches one reader as opposed to one hundred or more. I can imagine why it’s hard to see there’s a silver lining in this situation or convince yourself that it’s all worth it. I get it. But for me, it’s more important to keep improving the quality of my writing than crunching the numbers.
Sure, if your life depends on it and if your income steam has a lot to do with it, it’s a business, you want to grow your audience and boost your site traffic to make it economically viable.
I’ve come a long way to realise that to have something to work for us, not against us, is to use it, and use it to our advantage. In other words, it’s about using a fresh lens to view the same object, at an angle best suited for our needs.
If I ever get sidetracked, one role model I look to is the old myself. Just rewind to the beginning of the time when I first started this writing journey. To revisit and think about what my intention was then. Soon, without fail, it will really speak volumes for me…
Ted Tsai 