Don’t Be Discouraged If Your First Article Goes Nowhere Fast

Here’s a mindset shift to keep you focused on your long-term growth as a writer.

Photo by Andrew Small on Unsplash

Do you have good taste? I’m betting you do. You’re reading this article after all!

Unfortunately, there’s a big downside to having good taste. Whenever you decide you want to be a creator and not just an observer, that taste makes you feel inadequate. It can paralyze you into inaction.

Don’t let your taste get in the way of your prosperity.

You have to let yourself suck at first. There’s no way around it.

But letting go of your ego can be extremely difficult.

The beauty of learning to be a writer — and learning any skillset really — is that it’s okay to be bad at first. But when you’re in the throws of crafting the perfect set of sentences, that doesn’t really matter to you, does it?

I know, I also face this mental battle daily. So to make that process easier, you have to reframe the conversation in your head.

Here’s an effective way to reframe the writing process in your head

Instead of seeing articles as a series of independent pieces, try to think of everything you’ve written as a garden.

For every story I write, I try to see it as a seed I’m planting. I know that even though I might not see the beauty in the seed at that very moment, over time it will blossom. If I continue to plant more seeds, I’ll continue to grow my garden. Best of all, if I work on the craft of growing those flowers, the garden will turn into something special.

Every article will grow to have its own unique quirks, the same way every petal on a flower has its own gift to give. Trying to make each individual piece you write “perfect” at this point is destructive. It doesn’t matter if one flower is better than another.

What matters in this whole process is the growth over time. If you keep the long-term vision of your garden in the forefront of your mind— instead of focusing on the difficulties of planting a single article seedling — your world will open up. At least, it has for me.

I’m no longer stressed about making the perfect article. I’m just focused on making sure my seeds have everything they need to prosper.

Take away

If writing was easy, every blogger who writes once a year would be rich. But you know that’s not the reality.

Enjoy the process of writing and tend to your flowers. In the end, you’ll have a garden worth being proud of.