Dear Writers, Please Kill The Fad of Writing More Faster
Why I’m done being a writer
I think it is time for a shift in the diva drama-queen suffering writer narrative. Sort of like Stephen King’s description of the Hemingway Defense (using the fact that you’re a writer as a justification for self-destructive habits like alcoholism, addiction, or other vices), It is time to stop using the ‘Writing is Hard and I am a Failure😭’ defense. Writing is not a god, okay? Nobody gets how it works. Listen to the success stories of most of the top writers on Medium or elsewhere, and you will find they reference an element of mystery to their first successes. As for the quantity you write, George R. R. Martin sometimes manages to get out three chapters in six months. Cool your jets over there, Shakespeare.
If you have any interest in increasing the success of your writing, I would recommend that you read about writing. Maybe I should put that in a 🤗listicle🌟so that people listen.
3 Charmingly True Pieces of Advice To Improve Your Writing That Isn’t Trying To Sell You Something
Read about writing and understand that the most successful writers +2
Most of the Articles You Will Read Are Almost Direct Scams
Have you ever looked at your google news feed that opens with a new tab on the Chrome phone app? It’s a convenient place to find something beyond clickbait — people writing random, overly complex interpretations of anything you can imagine, like those full articles about Reddit posts or comments.
Look at how long recipe articles have become; they have a heartfelt eulogy for the death of the first dish crucified for the recipe’s inception.
On Medium, I’m going to cleanse the list of who I’m following. I can’t keep looking at articles advertising how to write. Maybe I’ll even trim the number of articles I have on my page. Since writing-about-writing articles were the first thing I’d read, I naturally tried to write in that synthetic style first.
Luckily at the same time, I had to write a series of multi-page love letters and texts to reverse the direction of my (formerly) toxic relationship. That writing was a lot more fruitful in developing my skill. Additionally, I started learning how fiction writers operate.
You would feel less arrogant about your writing when you realize it is all story writing.
Bold claim, huh? Glad you noticed that it was bolded text.
If you’re writing about evidence, something you see directly, isn’t that reporting? Isn’t that also what writing about your opinion is? Without a story, we fail to bring life to our placid recount of world events.
The obsession with writing something “true” has hurt anyone who wants to use writing to grow themselves, grow their business, or teach and connect with others. Do you notice that feeling when you go to write or read something? The feeling of scrubbing it for anything that sounds stupid, useless, or inaccurate? I wonder why writing and reading feel so laborious. Reading, writing, or living with the active intent to judge and criticize is exhausting.
What Could Possibly be Easier Than Romanticized Failure, Though?
You may ask.
Before you fire up Grammarly, search for SEO traps, build your following on six different websites, and make your first follow-for-follow post — while grinding out an article per day — realize it is possible to succeed with less, not more.
Most of the things you read about writing are borderline just a marketing scam. Most of the things you read online are borderline marketing scams…Almost anything that you read is a borderline marketing sc-
It is sweet that we desire to share how we found our success(or lack thereof). I have a bunch of articles about writing. I saw that everyone who wrote about writing said the same thing and did not seem to have any real qualification besides the fact that they were writing, so I said screw it. Articles like this aren’t exactly useless. I just feel like they lack…something. I think that this article is shallow, but that isn’t immediately obvious. Writing about writing is in itself a superficiality, and most of what you can say about it is inherently redundant.
“Write more, edit more, pick better titles, genuinely interact with people, set a writing schedule.” — Passive Income Happy Life, author on the internet.
We wouldn’t have an issue with these things if somebody didn’t call them into question because those are the only things you can do to improve your writing or following. Yes, after those things are established, you can hit Substack, Facebook, Twitter, and go crazy, but if you see your writing as some wild skill that you suck at, what do you think your writing will feel like to people? Write about what inspires you, and remember that you can use stories to get your messages across effectively. Those stories can be your personal experience. To write a story well is to relive it. Practicing consciously using your imagination is easier than trying to move freely straightjacket of tactics you’re trying to employ. It is how you exercise your creativity.
Didn’t Your Subtitle Say You’re Done Being a Writer?
Yes, it did. I’m someone who is writing about things. You might think that really sounds like being a writer. It would be fine with me if there wasn’t such a clear limiting mindset that comes with seeing yourself as a “writer.” There is a pressure that feels suspiciously like a school curriculum, and a work ethic that feels suspiciously dystopian.
Do you know what Stephen King says about finding ideas for his stories? He has no idea how he does it, and when it comes to writing, he does not know how the process works.
At the same time, Ernest Hemingway says, ”Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now.”
They are both true. The first is true for fiction, and the second is true for nonfiction.
Blind charisma will take you far, but here is the number one tip for anything in life — Do not assume that someone is more qualified than you because they are more successful.
