The Top 3 Reasons Why Your Writing is Suffering
You’re overthinking it.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
You know you shouldn’t be looking at your stats, but you can’t help it. The numbers don’t lie. It’s your worst month in views yet. You don’t know what you’re doing wrong.
You keep writing, but you’re frustrated with every word that comes out. Everything feels like garbage and you know it’s not your best work. Maybe this isn’t you.
You wonder why it’s so difficult. You write every day and it feels stale. It feels lifeless, so you stop. What happened that made you so out of sync with writing?
There are 3 reasons your writing may be suffering.
You’re overthinking it
The worst thing you do as a writer is overthinking every word. It’s a peril of the job. You’re constantly on the hunt to write the best piece and you want to put out your best work.
You rewrite sentences and change out words, but it’s not enough. You keep thinking about the words until you’re overthinking them. Instead of putting words down on paper, they get stuck in your head.
When you take a break from writing, it can be hard to get back into it. Taking a break puts a pause on your creative juices. When you don’t use them, it’s hard to build them back up and get into the flow.
You start to feel like you’ve run out of things to say. You fear that you’re all dried up. You haven’t. You need to get back into the routine.
Instead of letting the fear fester, jump back on the saddle and get your brain juices flowing.
If you’re not careful, you’ll let your fear run the show and you’ll end up paralyzed. That’s not how you want to go out.
Looking for a cash grab
If there’s one thing that will ruin the game for you, it’s not having the right motivation. There are people that do very well writing. You look at all the people around you who are having success and you figure it couldn’t be that hard to replicate.
False.
Writing is a labor of love. If you’re looking to make a quick buck, writing is not the way to do it. Those who are successful at it have been doing it for years. Success doesn’t come overnight.
It takes years of practicing your craft before you can start to see success.
It’s true no matter what profession you go into. It’s always going to take you working to learn and master your skills. If you believe in fairy tales, you think writers are swimming in pools of unearned money. Anyone can write, so why not you? Especially if it’s raking in the big bucks.
If you’re looking for cash, try something else. Perhaps reselling your old items is more up your alley.
You don’t care
If you don’t care about what you’re doing, it’s game over. Either you don’t care about what you’re writing or you don’t care about writing period.
Writing is just a means to an end, but you don’t really enjoy it. Let me repeat this for people in the back:
Writing is a labor of love. If you don’t love writing, then it’s not for you.
You can’t force yourself to care about something. Maybe you’re not interested in the subject matter you’re writing about. In that case, explore different subject matters. Try different genres.
But if you don’t care about writing, if writing is a chore for you, then it’s time to do something else.
Final thoughts
You can’t force yourself to do something you don’t love. This is not to be mistaken for passion.
You can do something you’re not passionate about and the passion will grow. But if you don’t like something, then it’s not worth your time.
Life isn’t worth spending unnecessary time on things you don’t like. Life is meant to be loved and enjoyed, so do whatever that is for you.
Anyone can write, but not everyone is a writer.
And if you’re writing, it might as well be with your heart.
