How do you write what people actually want to read?
View all responses
I’m gonna let you in on a little secret: I really don’t have any idea what people actually want to read.
This may disappoint a few of my readers, but when I started this blog, I didn’t set out to write it in the pursuit of likes, follows, and subscriptions. Early in my college career , a fellow classmate in a creative writing class said something that has resonated with me for three decades: “I write so I can breathe.”
From day one, this was about getting my thoughts down on paper. I wanted to chronicle my divorce experience, create some sort of unspoken support group for other men going through it, and make sense of the wreckage. Let’s face it—even then, I didn’t have my finger on the pulse of popular culture. I couldn’t tell you what was trending on Twitter then, and I sure as hell don’t know (or care) now. While a lot of bloggers pick one niche and stick to it, this digital diary became whatever was on my mind or in my heart: movies, baseball, science fiction, and the grit of everyday life.
Don’t get me wrong: I think I could become an influencer. I could sit here and chase trending topics and probably pull in a lot more numbers than any content I’ve produced over the last 13 years.
But that’s not what this blog is about. It never has been. If anything has changed over the years, it’s that I’ve become far more candid, open, and revealing than I ever thought I’d be. Over these last 1,100-plus days, this blog has genuinely become my therapy couch. I sit down, start writing, and sometimes I don’t even know how I feel about what happened to me until the words hit the page and I start processing it. It’s become a part of my soul.
Over the years, readers have told me they like the style—that it feels like sitting down for a conversation, that they enjoy the humor, or that a TV review made them want to check out a show. Way back in the early days, another guy blogging about post-divorce dating linked to my site and wrote, “This guy is a way better writer than I am.” That kind of connection sticks with you.
If people want to read and see what I’m up to, they’re welcome along for the ride. It’s about the way I perceive the world. It’s about men’s mental health, picking up the pieces after a divorce, finding love again, and trying to raise two extraordinary boys to grow into the men I know they can become.
Rebuilding a life takes grit, consistency, and a lot of ‘Option C’ thinking. Having crossed the 1,000-day milestone, I’m now charting the territory beyond. The mission remains the same: No glitz. Just the work. New to the blog? Start your journey here to see the blueprint and the ‘Tricorder’ perspective behind the rebuild.
Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like 👍, comment and subscribe below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media and check out my recent posts
- When Everything Is “Woke”
- Rob’s Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 4 Rankings
- New Ground, hard lessons
- Rob Reviews Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 4.10 Tomorrow’s Enterprise
- Karma is a statistic
AI art created by Google Gemini
The article “Why I Write: On Trends, Therapy, and 1,100 Days of Not Caring What You Think” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob
Leave a Reply