Wow. Sure are a lot of people on social media today. Artists and scam artists, winners and wanna-bes, influencers and insignificants. Everybody has the secret, proven way to become rich and famous, and they’ll tell you, for a fee. I rarely hear anyone talk about the most important piece, though: the story.

Last week (#65: The Story, Part I), I explored two of the primary components of a compelling story: emotion and mystery.

This week, let’s take a look at the main ingredient you need to get your work seen (or heard, or both) and remembered by your soon-to-be adoring audience.

Who Cares?

No, it’s not a hefty advertising budget - not that that’s a bad thing in the quest to expand your reach.

And it has little to do with rented Lamborghinis, fake personal jet interiors, muscles or cleavage.

People have to care about what you have to say.

If you are reading this, there is almost a 100-percent chance that you have favorite creators. Musicians, authors, content creators, journalists, painters, podcasters, comedians; maybe all of the above.

But why? Of all the literal millions of people dumping content into the metaverse, what earns a select few a spot in your playlist? What makes you “smash that follow/like/subscribe button”?

Why do you care what these folks have to say?

These successful few are called “personalities” for a reason. Long before there were Internet personalities, mass media had TV personalities and before that, radio personalities.

Radio had Jack Benny and Bob Hope, Edward R Murrow and William Shirer. TV has Jimmy Fallon, Oprah and Greg Gutfeld. Current kings of media include Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, and Alex Cooper, among others.

In each and every case, these people share one crucial factor:

They are instantly recognizable.

You know exactly what to expect from Anderson Cooper’s broadcast. The same is true of Steven Colbert, Jordan Peterson, Dan Bongino, Whoopi and Roseanne. Tulsi Gabbard is quite different from Kamala Harris and Sam Harris. Neil Degrasse Tyson doesn’t have to say a word for you to predict his discipline, delivery, diction and demeanor.

The Real Deal

Others may (and do!) try to emulate these popular talking heads, and for good reason. They are rich, famous and truly influential - whether you agree with their messages or not.

But the imitators and hangers-on are doomed to eventual obscurity, even if they have a bit of early success.

Authenticity is the key to these media giants’ reach. The only way they can gain and sustain the massive audiences they enjoy is to be fiercely, unwaveringly themselves.

The creative battlefield is littered with the rotting corpses of sound-alike broadcasters, poets who try too hard to emulate e. e. cummings, and musicians who “write for the audience.”

You want to stick out in peoples minds? You gotta be you.

Originality

So how do you do that? How can you be original?

You have to leverage the fact that you are, in many ways, unlike anyone else.

Discover who you really are. This is the most difficult part, and is a lifelong quest. What do you believe, in the absence of what you have been enculturated to believe, and minus pressure from the many “authority figures” in your life? What really turns you on in life? What do you want to do, when you have no agenda from anyone else?

The first step in this quest is to develop critical thinking skills and communicate what you truly stand for, whether your views are popular or not. Learn to recognize and consciously avoid the sycophantic tendency to echo the people you admire.

There are a couple of reasons that it’s hard to find out who you really are: first, you are not a simple creature. You are inconceivably complex and built to adapt to change. This means that over time, “who you are” is sure to mutate. (Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, but you can guide the general direction - a topic for a different article.)

Add to this the fact that personal development of this type is the quintessential long and winding road. It takes time and concerted effort to learn to listen only to the “still, small voice” in your own head.

More Than Words

Make no mistake; originality requires more than talking about it or even writing about it. The journey towards authenticity is intensely spiritual (or energetic, or meditative, or introspective - use whichever adjective best suits you). It takes a generous portion of psychological introspection to become who you really are.

You will find that you have been - and are still - more influenced by others’ opinions and proclamations than you want to believe. After you start to admit that much of what you believe is actually what you have heard, you can begin to decide which constructs really resonate with you. And discard the rest.

As I said earlier, the object here is to always be on the path - there is no end point, because you and the world are in a state of flux. The best you can do is spend the time to critically examine what you actually stand for, then communicate that as you create.

Don’t waiver. Don’t chase audience growth or try to “people please.” Your audience can tell when you’re disingenuous.

Realize that you are going to irritate, alienate and generally piss off half the people all the time. You might as well truthfully align with the half who are “your people.” Grow skin thick enough that the “expert' opinions of others do not dissuade you from your goal.

Always be you, no matter the cost.

This is the only way to ensure that your authenticity is obvious, that your voice is your own.

Present your truth with relentless consistency and your audience will start to notice. Be honest when you are wrong and transparent when you make a course correction.

The only person you must please is your authentic self.



I am a creator (musician, writer, live-streamer and podcaster), entrepreneur, educator and counselor.



To learn more about how to use these concepts or to inquire about working with me, you can contact me through my website, the comments section on my Substack or Medium accounts or The Authentic Life Blog page. If you have found value in this article, follow my Instagram account for daily insights, or my X account for occasional tweets. To support this community, you can Buy Me A Coffee or donate through my Patreon account.

Subscribe to my River of Creation podcast - The Podcast for Creators, coming later this year, wherever you download your podcasts, and my associated YouTube channel.

NOTE: The first episodes of the River of Creation are being livestreamed on my Twitch channel and recorded for the podcast now! And the You Tube channel is LIVE! Come on over!



- JWW