A writing career isn't glamorous

Showing up and putting in the work for a job that has long been romanticized

A recent event I did where NO ONE showed up.

Humans love stories about people succeeding, especially after hard work. We seem to love this most of all when it comes to individualistic endeavors.

In almost any sports movie, there’s some sort of training time-lapse, the team/athlete sweating and putting in the hours, then emerging better-stronger-faster and ready to win. And for stories about artists, the time-lapse features an individual in their studio or at their desk, toiling away, crumpled papers piling up in their waste basket, food and hygiene forgotten—but it doesn’t matter, because they finish the thing. They’ve created Art. (As if the creation alone ends the struggle.¹)

Usually, after this growing/toiling/putting-in-the-hours scene, the artist/athlete goes on to succeed in big ways. Their hard work pays off. Many times, the movie/show ends on this high note.

In real life, however, that hard work time-lapse scene makes up 90% of an individual’s efforts. This is definitely true for a…