Writing for the drawer is a waste of time

When you invest your money, you want to see more money but you have to wait to see a return on investment. Simple and obvious. Some people obsessively follow their investments, some only check from time to time, or during crises (causing currency fluctuations for obvious reasons). When your money just lies in the drawer, it isn’t put to use. It’s kind of like that with writing for the drawer. It isn’t put to use. It doesn’t circulate. It doesn’t carry your name and message forward.

To write for the drawer (from Russian писать в стол or писать в ящик, in Polish we say pisać do szuflady, which is somewhat similar to Russian, except we use the Latin alphabet with our tails: ą, ę, ć, ó, ł, ś, ż, and so on. Anyway, it’s my understanding there’s a similar saying in Hebrew) means you write and don’t get published anywhere. What’s the point? If your writing isn’t published in a popular newspaper, or some other publishing outlet people actually read, then you’re wasting your time. It isn’t always about money. Why should someone who doesn’t know how you write pay you? You need to show off your skills, or try to, before you’re going to be recognized, or get a chance to be employed in the business. Then again, don’t just keep sending stuff for free all the time. There’s a point where you can tell yourself, ”Yeah, I’ve established myself as a writer and I’ve spread my message around the world.” The message you’ve wanted to share, so instead of explaining what you’re about, people can look you up and read your article. It puts you in a dramatically different light and opens doors. You aren’t just some random anymore and it’s a great feeling.

Your article circulates, your book circulates, gets shared, bought, you never know who’s going to come across it and read it next. Sure, if you stop writing at some point, your articles are going to be buried under the digital pile, but if your articles have that something, are unique, they are going to find their way around the world, regarless of how many articles, or whatever, are out there. ”Things go viral for the weirdest reasons.” Ain’t that the truth.

Something, things can turn comical.

Case in point, I recently got an e-mail with a marriage proposal. Apparently, someone didn’t get the Amelia and the Chinese psychic’s curse joke. Why so serious?

The majority (99.9%) of your readers are never going to contact you. That’s normal. Do you contact every author, every journalist, every editor, after you read their opinion piece?

Of course not.

So, your article, your message, circulates and all it takes is one right person for you to take your life to the next level. Sure, it might never happen, but if you don’t invest your time and effort into sharing whatever it is you want to share in a popular publication, then you’re extremely unlikely to ever be contacted by anyone of relevance who can help you take your career, indeed, your life, to the next level. And then, at some point, you might do it for someone else who is now where you were back then. Or not. That’s the privilege of success. You get to decide if you want to help someone climb the ladder – or not. In some cases, if you choose to be nasty, you can kick the person right in the face and watch them fall. Metaphorically, of course. Not nice, not nice at all, but such is the privilege of success. You can copy an idea of someone unknown, and claim it as your own, and your readers are going to praise your brilliance. The idea of you being a plagiarist just won’t cross their minds. You? The genius writer? Can’t be. Surely, the other one is green with envy and telling lies. Again, the privilege of success. Being believed. Fair? Absolutely not. Welcome to the real world.