You don’t owe them

It’s special because it doesn’t happen every day. (April 8, 2024)

Last May, around the time I found out that I was pregnant, I decided to go on a hiatus from this blog.

On a practical level, it was necessary. Though I didn’t yet know that I was carrying twins, I was already incredibly drowsy and hungry. Instead of getting up early, having a snack, and doing some writing for the day, I’d wake up ravenous, eat a full breakfast, and pass out on the couch immediately afterward. My writing time had been superseded by naptime. I had little choice but to accept it.

So much is made of the importance of staying consistent as a content creator. True, your efforts are easier if you build a habit. And your audience will appreciate that they can count on you. However, this message of consistency is so often given in an effort to please an algorithm. As a human being, you shouldn’t have to act like a media company. You’re not a machine, and you may not have a staff doing the work for you. In that case, your audience can handle you taking a sick day once in awhile.

Many creators fret about what their audience expects from them. But in a choice between what my audience wants and what I’ve promised to paying clients, I’ll prioritize the latter every time. I am not obligated to offer fresh, original content daily, and I’m certainly not responsible for providing content on a consistent basis to platforms I do not own. It’s free, and that means it’s a nice-to-have, not a necessity.

Of course, not everyone will approve of your choices if it means that they don’t get what they want. A friend of mine was recently taken to task for being “silent on Palestine.” Never mind that she creates sophisticated satire and absurdist comedy — she’s supposed to switch gears and address the hot-buttonest of hot-button issues. She could bend over backward to please her critics, but there is no pleasing them — probably not individually, and certainly not as a group. Catering to the wishes of the squeaky wheels is an endless and thankless task.

So, as a creator, you can repeat and repost. You can show up whenever you want to, however you want to. You can use your platform however you see fit, withhold whatever information you like, and try things that you aren’t sure are going to work. And if someone wants something more tailored to what they’re looking for, perhaps they can make a purchase.

You don’t owe them your best. It’s nice if you want to give it, but it’s not always practical or necessary. And as a matter of fact, if you want to do your best work in a sustainable way, you might have to be choosy about how much you offer for free, and how often. Holding back could be the most generous thing in the long run.