Writing Tips From a Former Lazy Writer
Practical Tips for Life and for Writing
I’ve experienced writer’s block many times. I used to get frustrated and blame external things which I believed was the reason behind my discomfort.
I’ve procrastinated so much out of the fear of writer’s block and having to stare at a screen that says “Start writing…” along with a cursor that would look like it’s winking at my empty brain.
I’ve skipped writing for months along with clever reasons to justify that I’m not lazy (studies, perfection, and whatnot?).
Months passed until my latest post was published six months ago. I was pissed off about my commitment and those old reasons didn’t live up to support my current situation.
But finally, when I restarted my brain and committed to writing and publishing one post every day, another tragedy struck me giving me one more reason to not think about writing again.
A publication ban. Nice.
(I’m talking about my Substack newsletter.)
But after the ban and the restart, I needed posts to publish again. But thanks to my lazy brain that would do everything but write, it made me feel smart when I found the export data that I’d carefully saved in a folder on my computer, extracted, and renamed (ha perfection✨).
I reloaded all my posts back into my renewed publication but there sparked an idea😃
Instead of dumping it all at once, I decided to schedule the posts and send them week by week.
That was the best decision that I’ve made in my Substack journey and it lives up to hold another place in this post where I discuss my learnings and tips, which is the main content of this post.
Since I’ve also lost my subscribers (🥲), I didn’t need to worry about sending the same letters to the same people again. I would import my old subscribers when my upcoming posts would become brand new, I thought.
Now after one and a half years on Substack with, the first year being a meta, and consistently posting since the rollercoaster every week for the last four months totaling up to 14 posts, here are the lessons I’ve learned (the hard and right way) to actually overcome the writer’s block and to write consistently.
Don’t Force!
Let’s be real. Just hard work is not gonna get you from here to there.
Sometimes the things that would actually take you there are the completely random and unexpected ideas that would (only) form when you don’t force things; when you are in the shower, or a commute, or at a breakfast, or when having a long walk.
The best ideas are formed when you don’t force things and allow them to naturally flow.
The ideas that form when you are thinking hard, more often than not, will not produce remarkable results.
Things that should naturally arise are supposed to be not forced.
Writing is something that naturally flows and it too should not be forced. And blaming external “reasons” beyond our control for things not flowing the right way, at the moment for some reason, is not a very wise response.
Also, the reasons for things not flowing the right way would mostly be beyond our perception or something that we cannot fully acknowledge with our current level of intelligence.
Lesson:
Don’t stress what should naturally flow. When things don’t flow the right way, the reasons are beyond our perception. Don’t welcome chaos by blaming external things outside your control as the reason for your discomfort.
I share my insights like this “Lesson” in my Substack newsletter, The Mindset.
If you are interested in mental growth insights, and tips for healing faster, and living happier, consider subscribing to my weekly newsletter.
Use the Schedule Button More!
This is the insight extracted from one of my silly but smart thoughts to schedule the “once-published-now-gone” posts.
Scheduling is a game-changer.
It gives you more space to naturally generate new ideas, take the deadline stress off your shoulders, and enable you to write more while you see the scheduled posts clearing out one by one.
Or, it gives you too much space and makes you even lazier with another really good reason to get carried away by “I got all my posts scheduled for the next 3 months so I don’t need to care about writing till then” kinda thought.
It’s about finding the balance and optimizing The Mindset to not get washed away and to hold the reasons at the right intensity which enables you to generate new ideas without stress or laziness.
Lesson:
Hold knowledge that enhances your workflow at the right intensity so that it doesn’t turn back as an excuse to procrastinate.
Start at the Flow
As soon as you get that idea, whether that’s during a walk, a commute, a shower, or even at the toilet, write that thought. Don’t lose it to the unconquerable past.
You can unpack the details later.
Don’t underestimate the power of sudden striking ideas. They might even have the potential to go viral, make your next sale, or even grow into the astonishing idea of writing a book that might take you from here to there!
The most phenomenal results are produced in this flow state that you should never ignore.
Once you get the flow, don’t lose it for silly reasons!
Lesson:
Don’t undervalue the power of flow and sudden striking ideas. Those are the origins of phenomenal performance and remarkable results.
Start From the Meta Beginning
I mean don’t start from the title and the subtitle.
People struggle a lot to write an essay that keeps up with the most prone-to-go-viral title that popped up in their minds on a random night.
I would suggest you go with the flow and just start writing.
You can unpack the details later, right?
Sometimes your randomly generated unmindful essay can be the host of a brilliant title and subtitle. Who knows?
Also, your naturally flown essay could often sound more engaging and relatable to your readers (like this one, I hope🤞) than the highly planned ones.
Lesson:
Embrace spontaneous creations and don’t stress over perfect beginnings. Allow things to unfold naturally; often the best creations emerge this way. Focus on progress, not perfection.
Process🖤
Learn to love the process and not just the results. The process is what you are living through and the results are to hang on your wall.
Since you wouldn’t be hanging on the wall, it’s crucial to enjoy the process even when you don’t see the results.
Since the majority of the time is spent in the process rather than living through the results, the uncertainty of success is elevated if you do not put in the right thoughts to enjoy the process.
Learn to enjoy the process. You are still going through the process, thus you need to learn to enjoy it.
Learn to enjoy it through the right thoughts.
Learn more about managing your thoughts here:
Lesson:
Optimize for what serves the most results and occupies the most time and space. Since the results are short-lived, and the process is extensive, optimize for the process in a way that makes the result charming and sustainable, i.e., to enjoy the process.
Hey guys! Thanks for reading this far!
The Lessons are not just for writing as you might have found out. They can be very well related to our ongoing lives.
Hope this post has resonated with you well even if you are not a writer or looking to be one.
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Thanks, Guys👋
-Jasir Ibrahim
