Tip Your Writer
Earlier today, while in the process of writing something for which I was on deadline, I did what every writer does under such circumstances — something else.
But first — the backstory!
Some indeterminate time ago, Twitter soft-launched a tip jar that could be added to individual profiles, and ever since, I’ve occasionally checked to see if it had made it to my neck of the Twitter woods — because while I often use Twitter to issue such bon mots as “I feel like maybe people need to be reminded that Mason jars don’t naturally come with handles,” I also pretty often use it to really write. Or advocate. Or inform. Or help. Or, you know: Really write. Here are a few examples of Twitter threads I’ve spent a significant amount of time on, threads I know readers have genuinely appreciated, because they’ve told me so.
Which is so lovely, you have no idea! I didn’t start Really Writing on twitter dot com as a money-making endeavor, and I’m genuinely thrilled that no matter how they find them, there are folks who really like my words.
And at the same time (because two things can be true simultaneously), I also like the idea of being paid for my labor! It took me a while to get here — I am from the Midwest, after all — but after years of writing for free and forbearing to attach any sort of tipping mechanism to my endeavors (and I do mean years — ask me how well blogging every day for four and a half years paid my bills! As but one example!), last year I finally added Paypal and Kofi links at the end of the posts I write here on Medium. Which was a start and has resulted in some very nice tips, thank you very much!
So anyway. Back to being in denial about my deadline today: It occurred to me, out of roughly nowhere at all, that I could create my own tip jar. I scuttled over to Wordpress, where I have produced and monitored numerous blogs and pop-up websites in the past, and whipped up a tip jar that I have very cleverly called Tip Your Writer (thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week! Try the veal!).
Jazz hands!
I’m working on a couple of fairly random essays that I hope to publish here soon (random in topic, not in, one hopes, quality) and I’ll be slapping the ol’ tip jar at the end of those when they complete the journey from inside my head to the pixels on your screen. But in the meantime, I thought I’d tell the tale. There’s no pressure, surely there’s no paywall, but if something I’ve written moves, informs, and/or delights you and you’d like to spot me a cup of coffee or a dozen doughnuts? Now you know how!
And that’s the story, Morning Glory. As a former co-worker of mine used to write at the end of every email she ever sent: Thanks for reading to the end.
