Gatekeepers Are Gaslighting You

I’ve been in abusive relationships, so I know what they look like. The abuser keeps stringing you along with a bunch of beautiful promises that they know are never going to come true. In fact, abusers often convince themselves that anyone foolish enough to believe their lies deserves to be swindled.“Obviously I was never going to send you any money. You kept falling for my scam because you’re greedy.”This dynamic is in play more often than you realize.I’ve seen a lot of writers fall victim to a similar dynamic. Part of the problem is that we don’t talk about the dangers. Distribution and cash flow isn’t generally a part of the academic approach to literary criticism. The result is that we hand over tremendous power to gatekeepers and we fail to install a mechanism of accountability.Almost every writer I know is chasing a big money contract even though they probably despise everything they have to do in order to get one. They hold themselves to a bunch of unstated expectations. They write about topics that are deemed socially appropriate or potentially profitable.As a result, they disregard their own inspiration.Eventually they turn over manuscripts to gatekeepers. The gatekeepers tear these manuscripts to bits, and then when the novel fails, the writer takes all the blame. Broken, they never try again.This is a system that’s designed to destroy writers, not elevate them.When you come right down to it, the only thing that writers want is enough stability and time to explore ideas that actually mean something. The tragic part is that if you chase the empty promises of gatekeepers, you end up depriving yourself of the opportunity to say whatever it is that compelled you to start writing in the first place.Despite what everyone says, the only path to success begins with being true to yourself.Most writers get caught up working some unfulfilling job. In whatever free time they manage to scrounge for themselves, they try to write to the ever-changing and unclear expectation of some gaslighting gatekeeper.There are many writers with strong voices and a good grasp of the language who have spent years developing their ability to tell a fantastic story. Despite all the obstacles, they stumble into inspiration and they start to write. But the moment they get a couple words on the page, they take it to an agent or a publisher only to have their momentum halted.“This isn’t what I want.”“Well, what do you want?”“I’ll know it when I see it.”The writer becomes despondent. “Can you give me something to go on? Can you give me some direction? What should I do differently?”“I don’t know, but keep trying. Try something new.”But no matter what you give them, it will never be right. Even if they do offer to publish or represent you, they’ll change your manuscript beyond recognition.Some writers go so far as creating manuscripts they know to be garbage. They create things that they’re not proud of in search of validation in an unjust system. Then, when even that gets rejected, they feel like a complete failure.But if you take a step back for a macroscopic view, you see a nefarious power structure that somehow manages to manipulate writers into indulging in the opposite of true creation.The promise of gatekeepers turns us all into sellouts.It doesn’t matter that the evidence clearly shows that it’s next to impossible to break through in our existing system. Writers want to believe in it anyway.Quit it.Can’t you see that this mechanism is toxic to creativity? Gatekeepers trick us into drinking poison. The only consequence that I see is miserable writers and a complete lack of inspired writing.I’ve come to wonder if that might be the actual objective of the modern writing system. Remember that writing is powerful. Writing can rouse the population and change the world. Revolutions began with something as simple as a pamphlet. When inspired people speak, the masses listen.Inspiration is therefore a threat to any system of power. I believe that’s why so much of the work that’s available today is simply awful. What is it about gatekeepers that allows them to hold such power over us?It’s a form of psychological sleight of hand.The first thing a magician learns is that the audience is only fascinated as long as they don’t know the trick. The second the magician tells the trick, the audience loses interest. The magic is gone. The magician is revealed as nothing more than a peddler of deceit. I think the same thing is true of gatekeepers.I don’t believe that gatekeepers have the power they try to trick us into believing they have. I don’t think they have any great insight into the craft of writing. I don’t think they have the connections that will ensure your work gets into the hands of many readers.I believe that all they want to do is string along the writers who chase them. In reality, they seek validation from us, not the other way around. Gatekeepers know that if they reveal the true reality of what they are, writers will no longer be interested, and they will lose their illusion of power.What do you get even if you go through the traditional model? You’ll submit a manuscript that you’re not proud of. It’s not an example of inspiration. Instead, it conforms to the gatekeeper’s understanding of current trends. Then you’ll go through round after round of editing where they’ll completely eliminate whatever remains of your voice. Finally, you’ll get a poorly designed cover, that doesn’t make you happy, and you’ll be told you have to do your own marketing.The oddest part is that smart people fall for this.We all know that even writers who manage to land contracts with major publishers usually have to maintain another job to support themselves. The model of traditional publishing is less likely to make you rich than purchasing a lottery ticket. Still, so many writers believe they will be “the exception.”Many writers end up unconsciously suppressing their own creative spirit in their effort to comply with our unfair system. They don’t even give voice to the injustices in the writing community because they are terrified speaking out will prevent them from landing their dream contract.All writers instinctively know that no publisher is going to be interested in a novel about a corrupt publishing industry that crushes the inspiration out of creative souls for the sake of maintaining a cruel power structure.Stop for a moment to recognize the absence of the stories we don’t have. The literary canon of humanity is like a government document with everything but the prepositions blotted out. We don’t have novels that demonstrate how societies with universal health care and education are blissful utopias. We don’t tell the stories of the marginalized. We don’t tell the stories of the impoverished. At best, we get watered down examples narrated through the lens of the dominant culture.The reason books don’t sell is because we’ve taken our most powerful voices completely out of the game. We allow gatekeepers to have the final say, and gatekeepers don’t know what they’re doing.The benefit of getting old is that it erodes your need for validation. More than anything else, this is something I wish I knew when I was younger. Stop listening to the deceivers. Instead, follow the guidance of your heart. Believe in yourself.Don’t chase a definition of success that belongs to somebody else. Instead, give yourself permission to tell the stories you were put on this world to share.Thank you for listening! This publication is reader sponsored. Your support means the world to me. Thank you for being here, and I look forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow!Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offTwenty dollars a yearMy CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. 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