My Boyfriend Doesn’t Read My Articles
Dating a writer should carry a warning.
Must be willing to invest 3 minutes per day to read something she is REALLY proud of writing.
Forgive me if that makes me high maintenance, but… I put serious effort into writing good content. And I want that to be of interest to the man I am with.
Being in the Medium Partner Program means that I now benefit from people reading and sharing my work. Shouldn’t the number one person in my life be my biggest champion and promoter of what I do — especially as I am seeking to broaden my reach (and make a little extra money for my talents)?
While my boyfriend spends PLENTY of time on his phone, my work isn’t what he is looking at. He doesn’t subscribe to my articles, he doesn’t look at the links I share on social media, and he certainly doesn’t call to say, “Wow — I just read your last article — that was brilliant!”. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t know how to find my writing even if he wanted to.
Even if he hates my ideas and doesn’t want to share them, I would love to have a partner who wants to discuss ideas, identify insights or new angles, find flaws in my arguments, offer feedback or reactions.
And… maybe a little ego-stroking too. I never turn away validation.
He is well aware that I post new articles because I talk about them. I update him on my followers and how much money I am making on Medium. It started with three cents, but now I am feeling pretty proud with my earnings. He’s proud of me too, and has no idea that my biggest money-making article was written about him. So maybe it’s a good thing that he’s not reading my stuff.
Let’s get back to the main point. I know he won’t read this article because he will never mention it.
Part of me says, Yay! Freedom to write whatever I want without having to consider how he would react. And then I wonder whether that will open a door I can never back out of without shame and guilt.
The other side feels sad that he doesn’t find this part of me interesting enough to devote 3 minutes…
