UnPhiltered is drawing to a close. We’re pretty much up to date.
I’ll write one more chapter after I’ve had a chance to assess this little experiment.
I started this series with no expectations other than hoping it would be useful to other writers, interesting to those who have followed my career, and cathartic for me.
My only intention was to share a bit more about myself with raw honesty. It felt odd to leave the jokes and self-deprecation aside for a while. But I’m satisfied, even if the concept didn’t fit into any one box. UnPhiltered covered travel, teaching, short stories, books, coaching, communities, ghostwriting, digital businesses, bitcoin, and more. It didn’t really go into details. Maybe that’s another project.
So what’s next for my writing?
A few things.
Content writing and op-eds for clients continues apace. I have some cool projects with bylines coming up with White Noise, Bitcoin Art Magazine, Bitcoin Ireland Conference, and plenty of secret assignments too. In Bitcoin, I’m able to publish in my own name, write what I want, and also reach more people when writing for brands.
If there is one thing Bitcoin (and freedom tech in general) breaks down, it’s your sense of needing to pose and posture. The more honest your work is, the better the conversations and relationships you build are. When you stop running on the fiat hamster wheel, you can downshift and focus on smaller, more valuable communities.
Ultimately, we work to gain time.
When we choose how to spend all of our time, we can be more intentional.
I’d like that for my writing too. For example, in October, I’m taking a very personal trip that will test me mentally and physically. I plan to write about that too.
Re: fiction, I’ve come up with every excuse in the book for why my magical realism novel stalled. Now, I’m writing it again, and in a couple of months, I’ll be at the editing stage. Even though I’m not sure if I’ll publish it, my sights are set on the end.
Someone in my writing group asked me, “If you don’t make any money from fiction and you find it hard, why do you write it?”
“Because I have to do the work,” I said. “If something is easy, it’s boring to me.”
She stared, unable to comprehend, as though I had spoken in invisible ink.
Every day, I see more parallels between writers and those building tools for freedom. It’s never easy, but we focus on our craft. We have to.
That’s what is possible when you work to the beat of a different type of time.
Thanks for sticking with me.
I've really enjoyed this series. There's been a lot to think about in it, and I've looked forward to each addition.
This is something that I've often asked myself. My own writing of fiction has come in waves. Currently, I'm not writing any (although I did have the glimmer of a killer idea a week ago, and I'm still tempted by it). I appreciated your answer, here. Writing a story, creating a new story, is terribly difficult. But it's also a way to reach the frontier. Sometimes it feels like there aren't many frontiers in our modern life. Maybe that's true and maybe it isn't, but attempting to create a story out of whole cloth, where the only limits are your creativity and ability -- this is surely as much of a frontier as any wild unknown into which people have recklessly plunged. I don't know if I'll regret all the hours I've spent wresting with stories nobody reads, but there's a chance I won't...which is something more than can be said of most activities.
Also: I would love to read your magical realism novel. Should you ever be looking for alpha/beta readers, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Only a blockhead ever wrote, except for money
Thanks @Scoresby. I've really been buoyed by the support from SN and Nostr (I'll be writing about this in my epilogue).
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I think writing fiction SHOULD be hard. The time and effort invested is what makes it valuable. Proof of work and all that.
We all need to give things up to build something valuable. I'm reminded of this lovely monologue from Guy Swann:
https://bitcoinaudible.com/2sats-a-bit-about-time-regret/
Finally, The value of reading and writing fiction is much harder to pinpoint than informative texts. All the meaning somehow comes between the words.
Thanks for the time you spent reading my work, and keep going with your own projects.
Sounds like the writing you are commissioned to do helps pay for the writing that just has to come out of you. Good luck on the magical realism novel
Yes, I think that's how it works for 99% of writers. Even internationally renowned authors give talks, teach courses, and have to deliver work for publishers that they don't control 100%.
If you only write for money, that's a very odd choice. And if writing is only a hobby which takes up your time, it rather restricts you to being rich already or retired.
Beautifully put