Pied Piper
I’d consider most of these posts part of a conversation - a one sided one where you care to listen or turn your head. There’s no offense taken - it’s not rude because I don’t see when you’re bored. The interaction on here is still limited. There’s restacks and likes but no discourse. This is what I’ve seen not just on my own writing but other much more popular and mainstream writers. They are writers, that is their job, book deals, agents, author photos. Why isn’t there many comments or a dialogue between writer and reader which is something that we would have jumped at the chance to ten years ago. I can see how my posts may not be a growing audience and that isn’t what I am writing for. I’m sharing things of interest or curiosity - if I collect readers along the way because they want to read that is what I would consider success. To each of you who have made it this far: thank you .
Online charisma/personality/avatars can be deceiving. You don’t know someone if you haven’t met them in person. You have been in communication. You follow/subscibe. It’s a gift to know you have common interests and beliefs with many others who you may or may not meet. This is my view from a chefs window. The support of chefs (and I imagine this happens in many other careers that have a big impact online) from near and far builds confidence and community but there’s also the dark side- the jealousy, the trolling, the vitriol…also the silence. The effort to not validate or give any sign that you exist. This doesn’t happen as much in reality. If two chefs who follow each other are in the same bar there will at least a nod or a hello but most likely some drinks and small conversation. Posting more or less every day can build a lot of unreal expectations and online it’s not real life it’s based on more - likes, comments, followers, messages.
Since I started this my subscribers have gone up bit by bit, month by month. I’m near 600 and for a blog that is about tripe and soup, cakes, drinking, travel posts and fork breakfast - not exactly what would be defined as ‘it’ or ‘in’ I’m proud of what I’m doing - it’s not all exceptional or entertaining but it’s real, it’s my attempt and putting the words here for others to read and maybe get something from. I don’t, as you you know, put a paywall because I want anyone to be able to read and be able to become a paid subscriber by their own volition. If you like what you read and want to support you can in your way, for a fiver a month or a 70€ for the year, by sharing with likeminded readers or recommending or reading it from start to finish for your entertainment.
Before I wrote this I was about to put a recipe up and I paused to reflect on that. Why not instead of sharing a recipe for something that maybe most of you won’t make don’t I crawl in your head and let these words work their way through. This is personal this is not a clout chasing or fame hungry fair weather friend (reader) Substack which if I open the app and take a peek I almost want to quit - the timeline, I don’t know if it’s called that, is chock a block with the thirsty writers who I don’t subscribe to. Why is this? Is it to push me to stop staring out the window and make it happen? Maybe creep into someone else’s timeline where they read and ask themselves can anyone make a living out of writing what he is writing about.
I read 90% and more open minded about tripe each day, piece by piece.
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