Writing for the Soul or Systems? (The Price Creators Pay for Clicks)
Box Cutter Co. Free Issue No. 82
I recently read an honest post from a well-known Creator.
A successful creator—with a big audience and high revenue—sharing that they are in an identity crisis.
They felt they had done everything right.
Built for scaling
Optimized for growth
Followed the formulas
Yet something was off.
Discontent. A gnawing sense somewhere along the way, they had lost themselves in the work, in the system.
Maybe they aren’t building in line with their soul.
Maybe they were building in line with what could make the most money right now.
Maybe they were building something profitable but not entirely meaningful.
And that is always the trade-off. Maybe even the trap.
Because the soul does not scale.
The Hunger Beneath the Hustle
The modern world trains us to think in numbers.
Revenue, impressions, likes, funnels, engagement, conversions.
But… it does not train us to listen.
To hear whispers beneath the noise, racket, and growth gurus.
To sit with our questions.
But in the rush to make something of ourselves, we risk losing what makes us… well… us.
Ourselves.
The Dance Between Audience and Authenticity
If you write online, you want to be noticed. That’s the game.
But at what cost?
Do you want to be read? Or do you want to resonate?
Do you want to grow? Or do you want to last?
Here’s where I observe many people struggle.
“Growth” is easy to measure when it’s metrics.
Numbers are easy to track.
But self-knowledge and personal meaning?
That’s a slower, messier process. But it’s also the most important one.
What Do We Mean When We Say “Authentic”?
There is a lot of talk of “being authentic” in digital environments.
“Authentic” was the Merriam-Webster word of the year in 2023.
But the moment authenticity becomes a strategy, it ceases to be authentic.
This is the paradox.
To write what is true, you must first stop writing for results.
Which can be terrifying
(but also the reality of anyone starting).
In many ways, we live in an era where visibility is currency, and worth is measured in reach, impressions, likes, and the number of followers.
But the soul doesn’t measure — it doesn’t care.
It whispers and plays in symbols. In quiet revelations. In dreams.
In the slow unfolding of something deeper.
To create from that place is not efficient.
But for meaning and self-growth… It’s necessary.
(And business-wise, likes don’t equal cash.)
AI Can’t Clone Souls
AI can write. But it cannot author.
It does not have agency.
Everywhere you look, creators are scrambling.
Medium changed its algorithms. Writers panic.
Twitter became X. Many fled.
Substack is the new promised land—until the next social media island is built.
And then there’s AI.
An endless flood of machine-written words.
Filling feeds. Churning content. Stripping writing of its human fingerprints.
The temptation is strong: automate, optimize, repeat.
But if your writing sounds like everyone else’s in the sea of sameness, it won’t matter how many people see it.
Because they won’t remember it. (Let alone stop the scroll to read it.)
But the answer isn’t to retreat. It’s to write in a way AI never can.
To create work that builds and supports, not just posts that perform.
To play, not just produce.
Play, Don’t Just Produce
Writing for (and from) the soul is essential. But so is keeping the lights on and bills paid.
If you’re building something online—a creative enterprise, a body of work, a business—your writing still needs to enter the world of exchange.
Exchange of ideas. Of trust. And, of, yes, money.
Because meaning alone doesn’t pay the bills.
And while “writing for yourself” is noble, if you want to make a living from it, someone else also has to see value in your words.
The key? Balancing resonance with reach.
Writing that moves people is different from writing that merely accumulates them.
3 Modes of Writing (and Why You Need All of Them)
Exploratory Writing – Writing to figure out what you think. Private, messy, not meant for clicks or conversions. Essential for depth. (And still posted)
Signal Writing – Writing to connect and maybe resonate with others. Personal insights, ideas, and perspectives attracting the right readers. This is where trust is built. Relationships formed. Collaboration ensues.
System and Synthesis Writing—Writing that turns knowledge into something lasting, such as books, courses, guides, and paid offers. This work compounds, becoming an asset rather than fleeting posts. It is the writing that makes everything else work together.
Most people get stuck in Signal Writing.
Chasing engagement. Feeding algorithms. Trying to build “followers.”
The ones who last?
They move between all three.
They play before they produce.
They explore before they package.
They write before they sell.
I play in all three areas. My digital writing alone does not independently support my creative business. It’s part of a larger creative ecosystem.
I Ghostwrite for others. I do educational and strategy consulting for specific organizations. I am part-time faculty for online Communications courses.
And… I post online almost daily.
What Are You Building?
A following? Or a foundation?
A fleeting audience? Or a lasting body of work?
A presence? Or a practice?
Writing online doesn’t have to be about choosing between art and commerce.
It can be about learning and unlearning, as well as learning when to play, produce, and step back long enough to ensure you’re still building something that matters (to you), has meaning, and is soul-aligned.
The best work sustains.
It sustains you. It feeds the soul. It lands with the people who need it.
And when done right, it outlasts the platforms, the trends, and the endless chase for clicks.
I love this, David! I really like the idea of the 3 types of writing and that we need all three. I totally agree that different forms of writing are needed for different stages and phases of the creative journey. I still use all 3 but it's taken me a while to figure out what I really want to say and focus on. Through exploratory writing and trying different things targeted for different audiences, I've been able to narrow my focus enough to start moving into the 3rd type of writing and creating and niche down to a topic that resonates and aligns with me deeply and in a more embodied way. It takes a while to get there but it's all part of the growing pains of becoming more of myself through the creative process. Thanks for sharing this model. It speaks to my experience:)