Sidetracked by a perfect paragraph. Doesn’t happen often.
I run into lots of people dying to know how to get famous and sell books. Lots of other people, including me, earn a living by advising said people. The truth: you can’t get famous through a formula. Social media fame comes from writing really engaging stuff in an authentic voice. Words that surprise, ideas that contradict and twist and grab.
Today, killing time before the Broncos game (known to some as the Superbowl), I jumped on Quora to find an answer to a software question. They made me click on categories & read an article to join the club (a hook I found both admirable and annoying). I read this article by James Altucher because it had a cartoon at the top that reminded me of one my son drew for me.
Skimmed it just to fulfill my “I read it” obligation. Woah…put on the brakes at “have sex more than once a year.” Screech!
I thought I was reading an essay on blogging; didn’t expect to find sex there and certainly didn’t expect to find a laugh. I reversed. Read more of the sentence: “…I thought if I got a novel published I would have sex more than once a year.”
Done. Hooked. In love.
And a must share.
One arresting idea, full of revelation and good humor, grabbed me. I want others to know how smart this piece is and how smart I am for finding it. And there you have it–the secret to social media success. Be so good you make other people want to look good by sharing your work.
I keep circling back to read more of this marvelous Altucher essay.
By the way: that one phrase–the one about no sex–isn’t even the best line in the piece.* The essay is well-crafted, rhythmical, compelling, and revealing.
Read the whole thing. You’ll want to share it. I hope you’ll want to emulate it too.
*I lied. It is my favorite line.
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