As Soon as I Write This, It Will Suck
A way to go about writing new content and getting over the anxiety
It’s a reoccurring theme that I’ve been only noticing now.
Every time I finish my drafts, I feel fine about them. Sometimes I feel like they are ‘masterpieces’ waiting to blow up, sometimes I feel like they will help someone go through a difficult time.
It’s all fine until I press the submit button. It’s then, I always get the feeling that it’s gonna suck so bad I’ll be sent to Azkaban by the Writing Gods.
So, should you feel bad about your piece or should it make you feel good?
A new way
If it’s good, it’s not good enough. If it’s bad, it upsets you.
— Richard Burton
When I first heard that my mind went back to the stone age. It woke my entitled ass up.
Whenever I push the submit button, I always tell myself, that this is not it. There is still a chance that it can be rejected.
Now saying that doesn't mean that I am overly pessimistic.
It only means that I am acknowledging a real-life consequence that can easily go the other way.
That the world is not your oyster and it doesn’t owe you shit.
But you already know that.
What else I’m doing is I am subconsciously accepting that it can still be better.
If you get rejected, it is bad. Believe me, if you let it, it can swarm over you.
But now you have a good chance to avoid the mistake.
The other side is when you have good feedback, you don’t gloat. You accept and tell yourself that it can still be better.
In the end, that’s the difference between entitlement and hope, that you accept that you can still get better.
If you don’t believe me, then do this three-step exercise to get rid of entitlement and instil hope for your content;
Step 1: List out all the things that you did exactly a year/six months ago.
Try to remember what you did a year ago. The reason for a year or half a year is that it’s long enough to measure your growth.
Step 2: Compare your content (or your life) with what it was back then.
Be honest here. You have no reason to lie to yourself for your improvement.
Step 3: Analyze.
Now what you have to do is lookout for the difference. Simple. If you have done well than a year ago, then good job! You’re improving and can continue.
If not, then it’s fine. You just have to avoid the mistakes that you made and still carry forward creating content.
Using this method has given me a new perspective on how to get used to the fear and anxiety of hitting publish and how to jump over it using a simple three-step exercise.
You always have to know how much you should realistically expect from your writing journey. Some part of you already knows, too.
Having normal, attainable expectations is what makes writing fun.
Hitting publish is not the end, it’s only the beginning.
