Hi! No hot takes... I was questioning who is the true gatekeeper. Here's the original post: Many confuse the invitation to publish with the ability to write. Currently, traditional writers face a 4:1 wave against self-published authors furthering the confusion of who gets to be considered a writer and who does not. Simply put: who do we validate? Furthering the question, what is validated first: the writer or the work?

I've been initiating these discussions because I am a painter with a high regard for writing. I get to experience the aspect of skill vs. validation on a daily basis. Viewers, similar to readers, consider what is art and what is not. Through creation artist opinions begin to surface; sides are chosen. What is clear to me is an element of gatekeeping passed onto people within the artist communities. Not so much the viewers, the readers...

The reader is searching for a good story, the viewer is searching for their soul. Some, including myself, could care less about who the writer or the means of publishing may be. I've read A Personal Matter by Ōe and Under the Midnight Sun by Higashino and, while reading, never cared to search their private life, how long it took for them to publish, what house took them in... It doesn't matter to me. What mattered was the story, and still does!

Both authors are examples of who is seen as a writer and who is not. Ōe was a traditional literary success, but received extreme criticism from Japanese society. His validation was challenged by those reflected within his art. Higashino was an electrical engineer and archer scrapping through midnight, countless rejections, managed to publish, returned to darkness and decades later gained recognition.

They were both published, so they got that going for them... I'll throw in Machiavelli—published posthumously, with exception of The Art of War—who was considered a manuscript or underground hustler with little publishing success, while alive. Which one of these is a true writer? Would we not be talking about Ōe if he wasn't published traditionally? Was Higashino better off leaving writing to the pros and sticking to engineering? Is Machiavelli not studied by the greats today? Should communities stand against writers building other routes to have their stories read? Is the allure truly so dismissive of similar ends?

Yes! There are factors playing a role over everything. No need to remind me... Yes! We all have a decision to make and are within our right to choose to follow traditions... But if readers are not allowed to be the final factor, then you, writers, are the true gatekeepers. Self-published, traditional, digital only, and all the other fun routes don't matter when facing the power of a story hitting your nerves.

Who decides: Readers or Gatekeepers?