The more you write, the bigger the pool of things to read is, the bigger the 20% slice becomes. If you want to help yourself AND help other writers, write a lot and read a lot. If what you write ends up in the 80% that's not as widely read, that means writers you like might be pushed into that 20% category.
I think I'm abusing the exact nature of pareto parity but it makes some kind of sense to me.
Ooh, great post. This is right up may alley! I first encountered Girard years ago during my anthropology studies, but he seems to be having a bit of a renaissance at the moment. You’re right to link mimetic desire to the whole checkmark debacle—that was exactly its intended effect (and why I made such a fuss over it.) But people are responsible for their own behavior, including resisting the lure of mimetic desires. Then again, if some want to blindly follow the herd… ;-)
It’s interesting that you connect this with books and the literary world. I never thought of it in those terms, but it makes perfect sense on so many levels.
Girard said: “Passion is the opposite of vanity. Distinguished by emotional autonomy, spontaneity of desires, indifference to the opinion of others. The passionate person draws strength of his desire from within himself not from others.”
“Where spontaneous desire is invigorating and pure, borrowed envious desire is corrosive and toxic.”
I think that’s probably true, whether we’re talking about books or anything else. Passion may not necessarily lead to success (and vanity often does, unfortunately.) But whether speaking about writing or life generally, I think there’s some consolation in pursuing a passion--something you know to be your own. Some readers may want to read what everyone else is reading, but there are also always those of us looking for something more.
This is an awesome post, Winston! It really demonstrates the power of both word of mouth and reviews and why they are still the best marketing. I'm going to add something to it and say find "connectors" among those who spread the word. These are people that have a vast network. They are not necessarily considered influencers or popular. They simply have a trust network bigger than most, and it's an idea discussed in Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point. Thanks for posting!
Yes. Human nature. That’s true. People do look to others to inform them what their desires ought to be. People also take advantage of that aspect of human nature. All the time. Wouldn’t it be something if a platform [for instance] rejected that path and simply allowed (or forced) people to make up their own mind as much as possible? If they didn’t publish numbers and other signals that say in a subtle way: hey, do what others are doing. Like what others like.
The ideas you listed to keep motivated are spot on. Thanks for those, Winston. For myself, I do need to squeeze in those 15-30 minutes at times. And of course editing (which I actually love!) And promotion. Working on that one still.
Great post. It’s an arghhhhhh issue w me right now - breaking into the 20%. I’m giving myself 6 months to focus and streamline. I’m starting to wonder if substack is holding me back more than helping me....
The more you write, the bigger the pool of things to read is, the bigger the 20% slice becomes. If you want to help yourself AND help other writers, write a lot and read a lot. If what you write ends up in the 80% that's not as widely read, that means writers you like might be pushed into that 20% category.
I think I'm abusing the exact nature of pareto parity but it makes some kind of sense to me.
Ooh, great post. This is right up may alley! I first encountered Girard years ago during my anthropology studies, but he seems to be having a bit of a renaissance at the moment. You’re right to link mimetic desire to the whole checkmark debacle—that was exactly its intended effect (and why I made such a fuss over it.) But people are responsible for their own behavior, including resisting the lure of mimetic desires. Then again, if some want to blindly follow the herd… ;-)
It’s interesting that you connect this with books and the literary world. I never thought of it in those terms, but it makes perfect sense on so many levels.
Girard said: “Passion is the opposite of vanity. Distinguished by emotional autonomy, spontaneity of desires, indifference to the opinion of others. The passionate person draws strength of his desire from within himself not from others.”
“Where spontaneous desire is invigorating and pure, borrowed envious desire is corrosive and toxic.”
I think that’s probably true, whether we’re talking about books or anything else. Passion may not necessarily lead to success (and vanity often does, unfortunately.) But whether speaking about writing or life generally, I think there’s some consolation in pursuing a passion--something you know to be your own. Some readers may want to read what everyone else is reading, but there are also always those of us looking for something more.
This is an awesome post, Winston! It really demonstrates the power of both word of mouth and reviews and why they are still the best marketing. I'm going to add something to it and say find "connectors" among those who spread the word. These are people that have a vast network. They are not necessarily considered influencers or popular. They simply have a trust network bigger than most, and it's an idea discussed in Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point. Thanks for posting!
Yes. Human nature. That’s true. People do look to others to inform them what their desires ought to be. People also take advantage of that aspect of human nature. All the time. Wouldn’t it be something if a platform [for instance] rejected that path and simply allowed (or forced) people to make up their own mind as much as possible? If they didn’t publish numbers and other signals that say in a subtle way: hey, do what others are doing. Like what others like.
The ideas you listed to keep motivated are spot on. Thanks for those, Winston. For myself, I do need to squeeze in those 15-30 minutes at times. And of course editing (which I actually love!) And promotion. Working on that one still.
Great post. It’s an arghhhhhh issue w me right now - breaking into the 20%. I’m giving myself 6 months to focus and streamline. I’m starting to wonder if substack is holding me back more than helping me....
Very interesting and true. Great post!
Oh, sweet Winston ... human nature is quite nefarious 😏😂