This post is not about handling writer’s block or how much you should write daily. There are plenty of really amazing posts on Medium explaining the solutions.
I have read many such posts multiple times. They are good.
This post is about that feeling when:
- You know what you have to write
- There is a checklist of steps you need to convert those thoughts and data into a post
- You are motivated
And still, the resistance is there, somewhere inside.
That difficult mental struggle that makes you find excuses to open your laptop and write the next 300–500 words to complete the post.
The critical editing part that makes the post alive. Every time.
The path to crafting the skills of writing is not straight. It is leaps and bounds.
Sometimes, you put effort once, and you get a fantastic post. Sometimes it takes 2–3 edits, 3–4 days of chewing the thought process, and still, you get a just above average post.
And it never gets easy. A certain level of effort will always remain.
Accepting the reality
The reality is that it is never going to be a walk in the park. Ever.
Only the main effort will change as per the level of progress you make.
Initially, developing the habit of writing regularly in itself is an effort.
Then working on developing the steps to structure better content was an effort.
Then writing good headlines
Then defining your audience.
Whereas the moment I accepted that this is not something you can do, only with one goal, it gets much easier to deal with it and also find ways to make it work.
So, if your goal is only to make writing a career, then it is going to be a little hard.
The solution
What has worked for me is to structure it in a way that helps in feeling better in multiple areas.
Like, write about topics that you like to speak about
Like also writing about things that you just want to share — because that is what defines a writer. Isn’t it?
Write to solve a specific problem in each post. Any problem that you faced and chances are that many people are facing it.
Write with a purpose that aligns with multiple levels of satisfaction.
For example, if you are writing to make it a career, then try to build your niche on topics that you like to read. If that is not possible, then start a blog on the side to write about such a niche.
What worked for me — so far
I am still a long way from saying that I have achieved success in crafting my writing skills.
For now, my posts are getting better.
Don’t be in a hurry to push your mind into the perfect mindset in one go.
It takes time. You can’t decide right at the beginning what kind of writer you can be. It takes a lot of testing and optimizing to get there.
So, whatever the resistance, it is part of the process. What you decide to do, when the mind is resisting, will determine where you will reach.
All of the remarkable writers I read here on Medium, they decided to work around their resistance to reach where they are today.
Very few, if any, got all the support they needed when they needed it. But still, such writers worked with whatever they had.
So, there was writing, even when the mind was feeling empty, or writer’s block was there.
It is going to be neither easy nor difficult, and it will be what it will be.
Hey, thanks for reading it so far. I will appreciate if you can take a moment to provide your feedback or opinion about this post!
