I can't see who you're replying to, so either they blocked me or I blocked them, which is very rare and limited to folks who post over-the-top homophobic or racist ideas I don't want to keep bumping against in my feed.

You hit the nail on the head about storytelling, though. There is no hustle, there's only the day-in, day-out hard work of telling compelling stories. It ain't easy! I spend my days thinking about stories and my nights dreaming about them.

Sometimes it pays off and people connect. Other times, like with my latest, I end up grieving because "my baby" doesn't touch people like I thought it would.

I'm invested enough in my writing that it hurts when that happens, not because the algorithm didn't respond, but because people didn't. Then it's back to the drawing board to try again. And again.

And that's the way it goes. Every day. That's the investment.