Why Great Authors Don’t Write
An honest look at writing honestly
Many published authors aren’t great wordsmiths. In fact, I would venture to say that most are not that great at telling an honest story. Meanwhile, many great authors are never published, the honesty of their stories is never read by anyone.
Why is that?
Why is it that even with a great idea, a decade’s worth of knowledge on the techniques, strategies, and structure of storytelling, and a painful longing to become a professional author you never manage to finish anything? Maybe not even get started.
That was my exact struggle. From 2009, when I chose for myself the struggle of becoming a fiction author, until 2021, when I gave up on that dream altogether, my heart ached to make it big in the fiction game.
During that time, I learned everything there is to learn about writing. I read every book, attended every convention, and watched every masterclass. I wrote many short stories, a few RPG settings, and five first drafts telling very different versions of the same two stories. And yet, I remain what many would consider a literary failure.
But where some might see failure, I finally see success. I have finally figured out why I can’t write — and why when I do write I feel too self-conscious to share it or even…
