Just write

Kyle Galbraith
Jul 10, 2017 · 3 min read

When I made the decision to start writing again I evaluated what failed me in the past. Thinking about the past when I was actively writing, I came up with these three reasons for what made me stop writing.

What stopped me from writing

  1. Judgment from others
    This was easily the biggest contributor to me giving up writing. It became demoralizing to write when the people I would share it with would simply make fun or judge me for my writing. This led to a lot of self doubt about my writing and once that started to trickle in, it was all over.
  2. Losing focus on the purpose
    When I first started writing it was to express myself through a creative means. There were no other reasons other than getting my thoughts down. But in the age of the internet that quickly turned to how can I get more ‘clicks’, ‘subscribes’, or likes. Writing went from being a creative expression to being an advertising pitch for myself.
  3. Overthinking
    After a while I began to overthink about which topics to write about. I think this was a result of the first two reasons. As everyone knows when you are unsure about what to write about you get frustrated with it. Once you are frustrated, you overthink more, and then eventually you just never write anything.

What I am doing about it

After realizing what forced me out of writing I decided to write down three reasons why I enjoy writing. The thinking is that anytime I am feeling the things that pushed me away from writing, I can refer to these reasons to motivate myself back up and not discouraged.

  1. Keeping my creativity fed
    Don’t get me wrong, writing software is actually a very creative form of employment. Writing, however, gives me that extra boost of creativity that I need to think about problems from different angles. Writing software eight hours a day just doesn’t give me that kind of creative motivation.
  2. Self expression
    I have always been more of socially quiet person. I wouldn’t go as far to say that I am ‘introvert’, but I am certainly not an ‘extrovert’ that will talk your ear off. I tend to be a fairly quiet person who will share my ideas in a semi private space. Therefore, I am looking to writing to allow me to express more of myself so that I can take baby steps to becoming more social.
  3. Relieve stress
    It’s not about the clicks, reads, or social shares of my writing. My writing is more for me than it is for anyone else. It provides me a place to write down what is truly on my mind so I can get the stress off my chest. This is an incredibly liberating feeling as it then allows me to refocus on the important things.

Conclusion

Self doubt, judgement from others, and writers block are all things that I think a lot of writers struggle with. However, these should not be things that stop you from enjoying what you do. I have learned that while there will always be judgement from others that leads to me doubting my own abilities. I must always continue to write because it allows me to express who I am and what I want to be. I hope that others who are trying to become better writers find this advice helpful.

Kyle Galbraith

Written by

Software Engineer. Entrepreneur. Love traveling and experiencing life. https://www.kylegalbraith.com/learn-aws/

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