Cover Image by David Mark from Pixabay
A Love Letter to True Fans
The life of a creative person has its ups and downs and it’s easy to forget why we do what we do sometimes. If you’re a writer, I hope I’ll shed some light here. If you’re a reader, thank you so much for reading.
True fans as a writer
Recently, I asked my readers if they enjoyed my content. Here’s a reply I got from one of my readers:
“Please don’t ever stop writing — if it gives you comfort that you are reaching but one person let me be that person lol. Take as many breaks from writing as you like (that was hard for me to type because I love reading your work lol) just don’t ever stop permanently.” — Charlie
This makes me really happy.
Charlie touches on a very important point so many creatives ignore: your fans are not freaking numbers! It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers game with creative pursuits, but behind each of these numbers are real people with real feelings like you and I have.
I asked her: “What articles have had the most impact on your life?”
I loved her answer because (1) it was really detailed and (2) she mentioned articles that actually did not have incredible stats.
These were the ones she mentioned:
and
I’m happy she mentioned low-performing articles because it goes to prove that stats don’t matter. I’d take comments like hers any day over my articles that have hundreds of thousands of views and generated me large sums of money.
Most would think I’m crazy.
Making money beyond my needs doesn’t make me cry. However, comments like Charlie’s that I’ve received as a response to my last newsletter does — and will every single day.
Making money gets old, helping people never does. And by me saying that you might think I’m rich but that’s far from the truth. I need money in my life.
I’m addicted to writing because it allows moments like this to happen.
True fans as a game producer
I’m a Video Game Producer by profession. Many people see that as a dream job, yet the reality is you work incredibly long hours for years on games that have a very low chance of success. You may not know this, but video games have surpassed the music industry regarding how competitive it is to do well in it.
I can’t stress enough how cutthroat of an industry it is, and gamers can be incredibly ungrateful at times.
I mention this because a few years back my life changed forever when I was the producer of a mobile zombie apocalypse survival game. It was called Please Stay Calm. You played in the real world around you, similar to Pokemon Go, but years before. It was very innovative for its time.
Anyway, here’s where it gets interesting:
People could create “safehouses” where they would gather supplies and team up together to better survive. It was a very social feature, and we could never have predicted the impact it would have on people’s lives.
To be honest, the game wasn’t that great, yet 3 million people played it, and a lot of them were coming back every day. They came back for the social aspect of the game.
One day I received a message from one of our players saying he was getting married to a girl he met a few states away. They had met through the game, and now they were getting married!
It was the first time in my life that my work had a true impact on the personal life of a stranger. We held a little ceremony for them and I had my team create a unique wedding gift for them.
And the stories continued:
A woman was at the hospital for a few days waiting for a risky operation. She told us that the only thing keeping her sane during that stressful period of her life was by playing Please Stay Calm and being with her online friends.
Moreover, she was bringing joy to people around her by wearing a t-shirt that said “Please Stay Calm” in an environment where everyone needs a good reminder. That was before the “Keep calm and …” movement.
People got tattoos of things from the game. People even considered naming their kids after my pseudonym (thankfully I convinced them it was a terrible idea. I was called Zhunter).
When we retired the game, the community made us a gift: https://algierspoint.wordpress.com/category/please-stay-calm/
Here’s my own fan-made card:
See Tenda Foot in the chat? He’s the one who got married! I created the NewlyZed title for him!
I have fond memories of working on that game even though it was the hardest thing I’ve done in my life.
We made millions of dollars with that game.
You know how?
Because we cared. Because I replied to our players one by one. I got to know them on a personal level.
I’ve since applied this life philosophy and it has paid off in writing and other things.
Takeaway
Creatives often forget that the goal isn’t to make money. Money is a side effect of doing good work. The goal in writing is to influence people in a positive way. The way to get reminded of that is never through a view or fan count, it’s through messages like Charlie’s. It’s through the impact your work is doing on a personal level.
I had often wondered why I was doing better than a lot of people who are far better writers than I am. I wondered why I was making more money than them even though it was never my goal.
It was the same with the game. It wasn’t even that good gameplay-wise. Yet we made more money than most other independent video game studios out there.
Genuinely caring for other people goes a long way, folks!
I’m not a great writer. But I like to think that I come off as honest and authentic. I couldn’t write any other way. I just really care. Great comments make me cry, and as a Viking-looking dude, I’m not ashamed of saying that.
So, I want to thank you for reading this piece and any other stories I’ve written in the past or will write in the future. You are the reason I’m addicted to writing.
Keep rocking!
PS. I love you.
Thanks for reading! :)