A Constant Visual Feast

I have, for reasons and others, sat on this draft post for genuine, actual, literal months; and this is in part because I too often allow my ADHD to dead-end me when I’m working, and in part because, every time I have clicked on this draft post, I have found myself wanting for words to write. How does a professional writer tell an audience of 7,798 subscribers about the tip jar they’ve added on their blog’s sidebar? How does a professional writer invite that audience to drop some spare change in that jar when none of the material that appears on this very site is original?

If you keep up with the news, and with the segment of society where news is produced, you likely know that a media career is a tough one to hack, especially now that billionaires genuflecting to the billionest of all the billionaires own and, put generously with a dash of contempt, oversee major newspapers in the United States; and especially now that there is a broad understanding, or truthfully a misunderstanding, that writing is easy, a hobby, not a trade, and therefore demands lopsided compensation from the people who profit from it and the people who actually do it. This is a pretty way of saying, being a reporter and a critic right now bears both creative and financial challenges for those among us fool enough to make a go at it.

It’s not that we don’t get paid well – at least, we who write for publications that can afford it. It’s that we get paid slowly, incrementally, and even though we get paid “well,” “well” isn’t well enough for what we should be paid, regarding both the value of the work (it’s worth more than the fees most of us are able to demand) and the state of the nation (because everything is expensive). It’s that as journalism has, slowly at first, then much more rapidly, been actively depreciated by forces that would like to see reporting die out as a career, and diluted by attention-hungry idiots more interested in lifting their own star than in the job itself, the goalposts one must meet to make a living off of it have moved.

So: I’m asking for handouts. Sort of. I’m certainly not expecting anyone to make me a living for me – I don’t need that. What I am asking is this: if you like my work, if you think it’s worth reading and sharing, and if you think journalism like it is worth supporting, please consider that tip jar on the sidebar; every little bit helps, and is appreciated.

This goes doubly for original pieces that I run here – which I’m considering trying out. I don’t get to write every pitch I throw out there. I can live with that, more or less. It’s what it is. But occasionally a pitch gets left in the dust, and I am bummed about it, and those pitches may end up on this site; and if that’s something you find interesting, then tips would absolutely be appreciated. (I’m considering a subscription model, too, which would possibly mean moving all of this over to Ghost, but that’s future plans for future Andy to deal with.) I can’t write for free, even when I’m writing a piece no one’s paying me for. I used to write for free. Not a fan. Can’t go back to it, not gonna do it, you get the idea. Because who I am now is a a person who writes to support themselves, and who I was when I started this blog was someone who just did it for “the love of my craft.”

I still do this for the love of my craft. Making money off of one’s craft does not negate their love for said craft. And if you love, or even like, what I do with my craft – any generosity is kindly received by me, as I continue to make a name and a living for myself as a critic.

Cheers, gang,
~AC