What’s Stopping You From Writing?
What’s Holding You Back?
You want to be a famous writer more than anything in the world.
You want your impact to reach hundreds of thousands, if not millions, and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to generate the impact you want to make on the world and others around you.
Yet when it comes to sitting down and actually writing, you easily get stuck. Distractions pop up and pull you away from your time writing, so you don’t end up writing much at all. And if anything ever makes it onto the page, it’s usually not very good at all.
You’re at an impasse: you wonder, do I keep going? Dare I keep going and testing the universe for what I want? Am I even good enough to be the writer I desire to be?
It’s easy to think that when things aren’t going your way that there’s something wrong with you. Like you’re not “good enough” to be the writer you want to be; that your message isn’t taking off because it’s never meant to be read and experienced by anyone other than yourself.
Yet, what if I told you you’re looking at this all in the wrong way? What if I told you that you’re holding back in some way and that you’re really capable of being the writer you desire to be — not soon or in the future, but right now?
You might balk at this or think I’m crazy. But the truth is you have everything you need to become the successful writer you dream of being right now.
The only thing stopping you from that is the expectation you set around the writing process itself.
So You Want to Be Famous, “Successful,” and Well-Paid For Your Work
I hate to break it to you, but so what? Nobody cares, not even your readers.
Just because you want to be successful doesn’t mean you’ve earned it. And even if you reached the success you crave as a writer, what would you do with it?
What people care about in their lives are the results they can get from others. They read your content to generate better results in their lives. That’s it.
Stop bemoaning about the fact nobody cares about what you’re creating. Instead, refocus your writing to make it about somebody else. Solve your reader’s pains to gain their attention and then earn their trust with your words.
Here’s the thing: your story has nothing to do with you— rather, it has everything to do with the person reading it and what it can do for them.
Your writing has everything to do with the person reading your blog right now. It has everything to do with them (read: not you). It has everything to do with solving their problems. It has everything to do with giving value back to them in some way.
Sometimes, simply entertaining others with your writing is valuable. Adding enjoyment to somebody’s life in this way is crucial. Giving somebody a new perspective or getting them to view the world they thought was so complicated to understand in a different way is incredibly helpful.
In the end, people need to feel good about life, and you’re here to make them feel like the person they so want to be.
Being a writer is all about being helpful to others. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the other person.
The more you can connect with that, the more your message will spread.
The Money, The Fame, It Will Come — Or It May Not.
Does it matter whether you ever become successful or not with your words?
Does it matter if you generate the money you want to make with your craft?
Does it matter if you get recognized or appreciated or honoured for the work you do?
Of course it does. I’m not here to say that money, fame or recognition aren’t important. They all are.
But what’s really important is becoming the person you need to be. What’s really important is owning your craft and being the writer you need to be.
What’s important is spreading your message because you know it’s true and important to you, and could be just as valuable to somebody else reading your content.
What drives me as a writer is tapping into the enjoyment of the creative process itself. What’s important is writing a message that will resonate with others, because I know my message has nothing to do with me and everything to do with my readers.
Funnily enough, the more you can tap into that enjoyment and step into your power as a writer, the more you can become the person you need to be.
No more holding back. No more falling into your shell. No more hiding your beauty from the world. It’s time to bloom.
It’s time to spread your wings and fly.
Here’s How to Love the Writing Process Itself
Becoming the writer you’re meant to be won’t be easy. It’s simple, yes, but it’s incredibly difficult.
Yet there is power in owning who you were meant to be. There is power in sharing your creative potential with others in this world.
Because you were never meant to stay sheltered on this ground.
No, you were always meant to spread your wings and fly.
And you were meant to share your beautiful message with this world.
So share it. Spread your truth. Do it without apology.
You might be surprised how many others relate and connect with your message itself.
So, Now What?
If you adopt even one of the strategies I wrote about here, you’ll begin to see success in your writing life. It may not be massive — and if you’re starting out, it probably won’t be — but I hope it will be bigger than you’ve seen before.
Because you’ve begun to stop caring about what the world thinks, you will create great art with your talents. And there is beauty in being unabashedly you no matter what.
Yet you will never know the impact you could create unless you completely give yourself to the process and revel in the act of creation itself. It’s when you begin to separate yourself from the expectations of the results that will come about and bear fruit instead from your efforts themselves where the magic truly happens in life.
The more you can do that, the bigger your potential will grow and the more powerful your writing will be.
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Blake Powell is a writer, dreamer, and doer. He is sharing his journey and his soul every day for 30 days in March, and he aims to inspire writers and creatives as he goes. If you’re looking to grow your audience and engagement on Medium, you can click here to join his free challenge today.
