What to Do When Writing is Too Much Effort and Too Little Gains

Abandoning self-defeat and failure

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

How many times have you wondered, when?

When will I see results?

When will people read what I’ve written?

When will I gain enough traction to thrive as a writer?

The stress of uncertainty ignites feelings of frustration and agitation. And unconscious triggers stop you from writing.

The Weighted Whiplash of Words

You feel like a failure as you fret about famine.

You wait and worry and you wish for the wisdom of your words to wield wealth … but the weighted whiplash of words weighs heavily on you instead.

Day by day your load gets heavier as the pressure increases until you panic — — for you feel the very ground you walk on is shaking.

Point Six on the Rector Scale

And as the writer’s Geiger-counter leaps to point six … you realize gigantic efforts are insufficient for getting expected rewards.

In fact, it’s all just too much effort for too little gain.

And finally, one day…

The pressure is over-whelming.

Your spirit staggers from the sickness of self-defeat.

Your hands tremble and twitch. Your body shakes and shudders. You can hear your heart pounding in your chest and feel it in your stomach. For your stomach burns with resentment and shame, spurring your screeches and screams about the injustice.

Colossal Crisis

Do you see yourself in this picture?

Could this really be you? Is this you whose dream is smashed to smithereens?

Could this one day (or now) be you crumbling from colossal crisis and crying as you condemn the crookedness in blogosphere? Could this be you cursing the day you ever thought you could be successful as a writer.

If it is you whose heart is broken, then take the advice of a long-time wannabe.

Be Forewarned

Instead of falling into pools of self-pity, realize that you aren’t alone.

For even super-blogger Jon Morrow from smartblogger.com understands the danger and earth-splitting devastation of overinflated and unrewarded expectations. He warns us that “it takes 3 to 6 years” to make enough money to support yourself as a blogger.

Guided by a Gutsy Goal

But, in order to achieve anything of importance, you must be guided by a gutsy goal. And it takes guts to be a writes who actually publishes what you’ve written.

According to blogger Aydeji Awo0sika (Ayo),

“your goal should be to become a better writer.”

But not just a better writer. You decide to be a word master.

Consequently, you must write. You must commit to being the best writer you can be.

Fearless Focus

That means, you must write a lot. And you must write for your audience, not for yourself.

For instance, when you write a headline, you need to figure out what problem the reader has that your post will solve. Then you fearlessly focus every word and every sentence you write on that problem and its solution.

And each article you write must be fearlessly focused on your audience.

Honing Your Voice

Ayo also says that to become a better writer requires writing many, many posts.For Ayo explains:

“get 100 blog posts under your belt and it will make everything else easier.”

For you are “honing your voice” by injecting your personality into your writing.

Being a Like-Minded Spirit

Yet, when you write for an audience, your reader doesn’t want to hear just stories about you. They want about your experiences that relate to the solution of their problems. Relate to the realization of their dreams.

And according to blogger Henneke Dustermaat,

“the online world is about more than information and entertainment. Readers want to be comforted. They’re looking for connections, for like-minded spirits.”

Make Your Reader Giggle

Being a writer means making a commitment to being that like-minded spirit who shows readers you understand them. When you show a reader you understand them, they glow. Their thoughts soar. Their mind calms. And the get all giggly inside.

All because of an increase in oxytocin in their brains.

That’s the experience a reader truly desires. That’s the experience your words offer your readers.

Making Magic

As J. K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter books) says,

“Words are, in my humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both influencing injury and remedying it.”

You want your words to magically take away your reader’s pain, solve their problem, and give them reason to anticipate their dreams coming true.

Abandoning the Darkness

But it’s hard. Especially when you feel down, defeated, and disillusioned.

Rowling also says,

“We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”

When you abandon the darkness and act the part of a writer — by writing — that’s who you really are. Nobody can take that away from you except you.

Nourishing Your Audience, the Salt of the Earth

But, as Robert Louis Stevenson said,

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”

Being a writer is like being a farmer. You experience the joy, the excitement, of seeing seeds you’ve planted pop up out of the earth and grow a little each and every day.

As you and your writing skills do.

And as your audience, the salt of the earth, also does.

Celestial Messages

For the seeds that grow are in the messages you plant in the minds of your readers. And each seed — each message — is planted with love. Your love. And God’s love.

Love which nourishes all the earth, and all on it.

For your message is a seed planted in your mind by God.

You know God sent you a message through his celestial telegraph. It said with time each and every little effort gets results by appealing to people’s hearts.

Capturing A Reader’s Heart

And as I quoted Nelson Mandela in a previous article,

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

With time and practice — lots of practice — your words will capture the hearts of your readers. You will captivate your audience and they will become loyal readers who read everything you write. Even become raving fans who will pay to hear your message.

The Miracle of Mentorship

And as Henneke says,

“As bloggers, our task is not to simply share tips, but to encourage our reader, to make them feel good, to spark action — to be a good mentor.”

In other words, our job is to spend our time and energy bestowing upon our readers the miracle of mentorship by doctoring their pain.

Thus, you must commit yourself to making magic. The magic of miracles. The magical miracle of making your reader’s dreams a reality.

The Courage of Commitment

When you are courageous and commit to being a writer, you have the capacity to make magic with your words. For your commitment causes you to forget about your own worries and woes.

Instead, you focus on your reader and the boosting their hopes and igniting their dreams.

And commiting to helping others helps you, as well. For as author Marcia Wieder says,

“Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer.”

The Magical Miracle

If your dream is really to be a writer, each post you write will get you closer to becoming a word master. As well as closer to being a master mentor whose messages are the miracle sought by your audience. Your readers. your fans.

Your messages will be the telegram they look forward to each and every day.

And they will cherish each telegram because it comes from your heart and speaks to their hearts.

That is the magic.

That is the miracle.

That is a dream realized.