I can understand your frustration. The people that you see so trendy have been here since the beginning and are now famous. At least more famous than me. I remember when I first started, sometimes no upvotes at all then here and there. Let me encourage you to keep going. As for me I have been here for about a year and a month, but I now see the value in posting something everyday. Try to increase your words. I have been using a site called, wordcounter.net. There I put my writing to see how many words I use. I try to be somewhere between 300 to 1000 words. I use the steemnow.com to see who is upvoting me and I make a list of who recently upvoted me. I try to go back and at least look at the writing of those who upvoted me and if I like it I upvote it hoping they would do the same the next time I write if they like what I wrote.
I found a book long a ago about how to write. The title is called, If You Can Talk, You Can Write. That did sound like something that I could grab on to. Since we all talk, then we can all write. So I tend to write like I would be talking to a friend. To me that was the key.
Now days I find a story in the little things. Don't write for the upvotes, but write for fun and because you like to write. When the people feel your writing then you will see something. It is hard and sometime the thing you just wrote feel like the best you could ever write and still nothing. Let me encourage to look for the next story. Look on the ground. Do you see a bug. Take a picture of it and write about it. Write what you thought about the bugs when you where a child and how you feel about this bug today. Write about what you might think that bug is thinking at that moment when you are looking at it and keep adding thoughts to it. Before you know it you have more than 300 words.
Let me encourage you that if you will write something everyday no matter if you get the upvotes or not it will pay in the end.
I know I will still be here trying to see what is the next thing I will write about and to make sure to write something everyday. Turn it into your little game that you always like to play. Also make sure to upvote and comment other people too as they may do the same for you.
Also try to save all your rewards you get into Steem Power. You want to do this continuously. I do believe that one of these days and it may take years that Steem will be $1000 a coin. So keep writing like it is worth that much even though as of today one Steem is worth less than $2. So I make sure to turn all my SBD into Steem then into Steem Power so my upvote is worth more.
I hope this helps and encourages you.