No Need For "Key Words"

On the other side of every screen is a person,

some are kind,

some are cruel,

but all have stories of their own in how they came to be who they are.

Sometimes, the unkind people come into our lives to try to make their own edits to our stories. Unsolicited advice in changing the story within a life often comes about from people with no sense of identity themselves; feeding off the individuality that they seem to severely lack.

My response: My writing is MINE. It is the truest version of me that I have and will continue to have. I am able to fully process my thoughts, feelings, and memories through my writing. I do not write for the purpose of analytics. If that were the case, I wouldn't be sharing the raw feelings I have and instead, cater my writing to the demographic I feel most compelled to write for. But that is not what it means to be a creative writer. Not for me anyway.

Is my writing mostly sad? Yes.

Is it dark? Yes.

Is it real? Absolutely without a doubt.

I do not write for other people. I did that when I was younger, and I was miserable. I did a lot for other people, and it turns out the only one who suffers is me. I changed career paths multiple times just to make someone proud of me and when I changed to what I wanted for myself, that's when the true colors of people showed through. I've only recently met people who want me to be happy no matter what career I choose, and that has been the most liberating feeling ever.

I don't need someone coming to tell me that in order for my writing to be good enough, that I need to be willing to do extra formatting changes or change the way I write entirely to cater to my audience. Maybe, one day when I decide to publish, this may be a different conversation. However, this is my creative outlet that I have decided to take on. My words are part of my experience and to tell me to change the words is changing the story. That does not feel authentic to me.

As writers, parts of our heart are revealed in our work. It is a vulnerability that not every person can tap into, and that is entirely okay. How you write is how you write. Criticize my work itself for what it is and not what it could be. I can take the blows that comes from my human error of spelling or in general not being everyone's cup of tea.

I am a passionate writer who got their degree in English. I have come a long way as a writer, and I am proud of every piece that I have produced. Is every piece good? In my opinion, no. I am overly critical of my own works as it is, but it is part of being human to be imperfect, and that in itself is good enough.

To those that have read my work, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I am entirely grateful for your time. Even if only one person ever reads my work, it means so much to me. Making Top Story for a piece that I did not personally think was my best work, it was a true honor. Opening up the comments and seeing so many people have positive feedback and knowing they really enjoyed the piece, it was an amazing experience that I hope everyone can feel at some point themselves.

So no, I did not need "key words" to get a better audience reach. My work as it is, is enough. Thank you for your feedback, though.