How Not To Go Viral
A Reminder To Myself That Views and Likes Don't Matter
I started my Substack the same day as my really great friend. She writes spicy stuff - smut, if you will - and I write… well I’m still “finding my niche” I guess.
Her account just “hits” and she’s created a community and a place for her to be herself, letting her imagination soar. Her content is raw and unfiltered and everyone loves it. She has thousands of subscribers and followers and gains more and more every day.
I know, I know, “Stop comparing yourself to other people.” I get that and am truly happy for her, but… It’s not necessarily about the success she’s having.
She is the person I always wished I could be. She’s confident, bold, and unapologetic. She has a way with words and the “I don’t care what anyone thinks about me” attitude I long for. She’s had the time and space to turn her writing into what she wants it to be.
While I’m, on the other hand, am awkward and clumsy. I flit from one thing to the next, pouring all that I have into it until I’m distracted by something else. I know a little bit about a lot of things, but haven’t stuck with anything long enough to really feel like I’ve mastered it. (*This is how I feel, not necessarily the “truth.”)
I used to tell my youngest daughter, who always felt inferior to her older sister, that everyone has different talents. “She is really intellectual but you can sing, dance, and act which she can’t do. Just do what you like and be the best at it that you can.”
It’s easier to give that advice than put it into practice.
My life has taken me in a direction I never anticipated and writing, while I love it, tends to take a backseat to everything else a lot of the time.
Sex Sells
The “Genre Du Jour” right now is smut. It’s been YA, and fantasy, SciFi and Horror. The trends keep writers on their toes, and sometimes we feel like we’re chasing them and always falling short.
Sometimes I think I should just start writing spicy stuff and jumping on that bandwagon but, while I enjoy reading it, I feel held back by what my friends and family might think of me.
What if my children want to read my books? My parents?
I’m held back by the fear of rejection and, more importantly, embarrassment.
That’s been the common theme of my life. Even in elementary school, I remember thinking that the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to me was to make a fool of myself in front of everyone.
Now I know that’s just anxiety, but back then I thought I’d never be able to come back from something like that. Somehow that idea has followed me into adulthood. I know it’s silly and probably irrational, but for some reason how other people see me is something I hold onto.
Write For Yourself
“Write what you like and read in your genre,” has been said to me so many times it’s hard to count. But that’s the problem… I read everything. I like everything. The stories that pop up in my imagination are as ADHD as I am.
My first books were YA. Not necessarily because I wanted them to be, but that’s what I was into at the time. I exclusively read YA for years while my kids were growing up. I enjoyed the stories and didn’t mind that there wasn’t a lot of cussing or romance. And if there was, it was tame compared to adult fiction.
For the most part, I think I was living vicariously through the teen characters because I felt so “stuck” at their age. They were all living their lives, doing their best to make it in a world that was rough and unfair.
So, my first go at writing was a good start. It got the story out of my head and gave me some experience with self publishing. But, on a greater scale, it gave me something to do when I needed it. I’d just moved to a new state and was trying to figure myself out. This gave me the opportunity to focus and control something in a time I felt impotent.
My second two YA novels were out of my comfort zone but, again, they were what I needed at the time and then I moved on to other stuff.
Over the last year or two, I’ve really tried to get my “mojo” back. I’m my happiest when I can be writing. That outlet to express myself really keeps my mental health stable - or as stable as it can be - and gives my ADHD brain something to focus on.
When I started doing audiobook narration, books became my whole life just about. I could be reading a book for fun, writing a book for myself, and recording narration for a client.
So, because this was how I spent my time and energy, I decided to start a Substack to keep my creative juices flowing. My idea was to have a spot to do reviews of the books I was reading (mostly Indie authors), practice my craft by doing freewriting exercises, and share whatever WIP I was in the middle of.
That was the goal, anyway.
Watching the Analytics
As a late diagnosed ADHDer, I’m still figuring out a lot of what that means. Many of the things I thought were normal, aren’t, I’m finding. The idea that not everyone runs scenarios in their head, weighing every angle of a conversation before (and after, really) they have it, confounded me.
What I thought was multitasking has probably always been distraction and switching between tasks rather than truly doing them simultaneously. But, I’m a pro, especially in an office environment. That’s when I can truly focus. Checking off my to do list and putting fires out.
It’s when I’m at home I struggle. When I have to look around and determine what’s important; which things are priorities.
See, here I go again getting off track.
My point is, I like feeling like I’ve accomplished something. It’s that type of validation that I chase. I can give it to myself when I check that task off my list. I can get it when the thing I’ve been working so hard on goes out into the world - like an audiobook narration, self-published book, or event I’d been planning is finally over.
But, like most of us in this digital age, when we see those likes, comments, shares, and saves, those endorphins start pumping and it’s a real dopamine hit. That “reward” is addicting, and nearly instantaneous.
It’s an easy way to fill that need, but always seeking that feeling and validation from strangers on the internet isn’t healthy.
Does that stop us from opening our social media apps to look for that little red indicator? Do we make sure our notifications are set to show us on our lock screen and keep checking to see if we have a new one?
We all know the answer to those questions.
The Bottom Line
We all know of those creators that were just minding their own business and one day they have a post go viral, catapulting them into internet fame - sometimes not in a good way.
It’s the modern day version of waitressing and being “discovered” by an agent and becoming a movie star or super model.
The reality is, that rarely happens. Most “famous” content creators work there asses off checking trends, watching their analytics, and spending a lot of time and energy (and sometimes money) putting out what they think the public wants.
But, because of the nature of this digital society, everyone and their brother can be putting out content this saturated market means we have to sift through the lip synch-ers that don’t actually know the lyrics/words so their mouth is always off, the terrible dancers thinking they’ve got the stuff, and the rando’s who just spout off gibberish.
I’m reminded of the Doctor Who episode called “Dot and Bubble” (S14 e5) but that’s neither here nor there.
Substack, in my opinion, is the same, but different. This is a place where we can either use it as another social media app, treat is as a blog, push out newsletters, or all of the above. It becomes what you make of it.
“Going Viral” on Substack looks different and that’s not why most people are here. Sure, most of us wouldn’t turn down an opportunity for our work to be seen on a larger scale, but it’s completely different here.
The one thing this app does really well is the reporting of engagement. You can look at each post and note to see its reach, engagement and growth, you can isolate subscribers and track their interests, there are graphs that illustrate the traffic of each individual day spanning from your first word. Recommendations, likes, free subs, paid subs, percentages, referrals, audience locations, unsubscribes, the list goes on.
I don’t know of another app that offers such detailed analytic info, but if you do, let me know.
With all that data at your fingertips, it’s easy to sucked into hitting refresh every few minutes to watch - and get your dose of dopamine.
Ok, so the title of this article is a bit of a stretch, but if you’ve gotten this far I must be doing something right.
My Substack isn’t succeeding because of the reasons I’ll list below. On one level - the super competitive level - it bothers me. Watching my friend have success and building confidence because of it makes me want that, too. I get a little flutter of excitement when that little orange circle pops up above the notification bell.
On the other hand, I’m glad to have not gone viral. I’m still working and learning and building my “niche” for lack of a better word. I don’t know what the hell I want and when I figure it out I’ll shout it from the rooftops, but for now, I’ll hop on, write a little, scroll a lot, and not put pressure on myself to do more.
So, here’s what you’ve all been waiting for… the list of things you can do to NOT go viral.
Avoid topics your care deeply about
Force yourself to write even when you aren’t in the mood
Filter yourself out of fear, self-consciousness, and potential embarrassment
Only write about things everyone else is writing about
Care more about your likes than pouring yourself out on the page
Overanalyze every article, sentence, and word you create
Take it from me, if you follow those tips, you’re sure to not go viral.
You’re welcome.