It’s easier than ever before to create and publish content. But this also brings in new demands that creators of the past seldom had to deal with. Take standup comedians. Earlier, they would have to write their sets, revise them, perform, and then revise some more. This was their core skill set. They would work their way up from ‘Open Mics’, to performing at smaller venues, then bigger venues. If they became popular enough, they could standalone shows in auditoriums, go on tours, and do corporate shows.
Then came YouTube. Now, standup comedians can reach millions of people relatively quickly. However, even though they’ll hire a crew, standup comedians need to have enough understanding to answer questions like, ‘3-cam setup or 4-cam?’, ‘Shoot in 4K or HD?’. Once the video is ready, they need to take calls like ‘What thumbnail design will attract user attention?’, ‘What’s the best time to upload the video on YouTube?’, ‘What hashtags will push the views?’.
Digital distribution channels like YouTube and Instagram are also gigantic content machines. You have to constantly feed it and do things that please their almighty algorithm that will get you organic views. You have to know what’s trending in order to ride the what’s-popular wave.
The problem is that in the vast ocean of things-to-do-to-win-on-the-internet, it is very easy to forget what makes for good writing/music/standup set/artwork in the first place.
As a writer, I get better by sitting down each day and put down words on the screen.
I am not saying that understanding technology, knowing the trends, defining your audience, or improving production value is not important. I am simply saying that they are secondary or tertiary to your core skill set. Because nothing will work for me if I don’t produce words worth reading.
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