BECOMING A WRITER
Becoming a Writer is Hard
What no one told me about getting started as a writer
I’ve written several articles about getting started as a writer on Medium — or even just becoming a writer in general. Typically, I try to maintain optimism and focus on what I’ve learned so far on this journey. But today is different.
Today we’re admitting that becoming a writer is hard.
In fact, let’s admit that building new habits is hard. I started writing at the beginning of January with the goal of publishing 2 articles per month.
Then, in July I started reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. I haven’t even finished the book and I’m already starting to make positive changes to my daily habits.
My biggest takeaway is that building habits work better when they are “identity-based” rather than “goal-focused”.
Since I had already started writing, I decided to focus on improving this goal.
The challenge of building a new habit
I made a mistake right off the bat.
I challenged myself to write 500 words a day for 30 days straight. That shifted my writing habit from identity to goal. And when I missed a day, I felt defeated, frustrated, and unmotivated.
Starting this challenge I intended to use it as a motivator, but instead, it’s done the opposite. While I still intend to complete this challenge, now I’m going to shift my mindset…again.
“You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.” — James Clear
Rather than only looking at my word output and article stats, I’m focusing on my current trajectory. What do I gain from writing every day? Where do I see myself in one month? Two? A year? And how do I want writing to impact my life overall?
What no one told me about getting started
No one tells new writers how difficult it is to get started. Sure, I’ve read plenty of articles about how to build a following, overcome writer’s block, and more tips and tricks.
But the mental barrier is larger than that.
Becoming a writer is about focusing on your own path. It’s about ignoring the jealous feelings of seeing others’ content outperform yours.
And it’s about writing even when you don’t feel like doing so.
It’s tempting to jump on the bandwagon when you see others posting 3+ articles a day. It’s harder to slow down and think through your writing process.
Long story short: Don’t get sucked into someone else’s process when you’re still trying to figure out your own.
