I'm so happy to see this discussion StellaBelle. I think blockcodes has explained the current problem with curation. As a minnow, when I upvote a post that I think has merit, it does little to nothing to reward the writer financially. Whereas, if a whale or two upvote the post, it produces a larger payout for the author and the whale benefits with a large curation payment. Aside from upvoting and commenting because I like a post, I have no financial incentive to do either. I just do it because I'm moved to by the content.
Steemit is promoted as a community where people can earn a payment for curation, commenting, and writing good content. If new members who don't have a lot of steem or steem power quickly realize curation and commenting don't pay off financially, they'll try writing content... or they'll leave. Good content can generate excellent payments, but only if it's noticed. And then the whales jumping on to upvote is what seems to result in posts being noticed and the higher rewards for all.
I think some of the ideas mentioned, like storefronts and maybe contests, could provide a form of payment that might keep people in the community. As a writer, I'm excited by the potential audience here and interaction with other creative people. Thanks StellaBelle!