The Lies That We Tell Ourselves That Stop Us Writing
I, like most writers I know, am my own worst enemy.
We stop ourselves from writing by coming up with excuses. But really, most of these excuses are just lies that we tell ourselves. They are internal fears, that we twist into lies to become false external excuses over which we feel we have no control.
But we do.
Stop Listening To Your Excuses Lies
KM Weiland, at her Wordplay site, has compiled an excellent list of the excuses that we put upon ourselves for not writing, and how to smash through them.
Here is a selection:
1. I have no talent.
2. The odds of being published are too high.
3. I’m too exhausted/stressed/wired.
5. Fiction offers nothing of value to the world.
7. Writing is too hard.
9. I need to learn more about how to write.
The Danger Of The Word ‘Too’
One of the key problems here, Weiland highlights, is the use of the word “too”. “Writing is too hard… I’m too tired… the publishing odds are too high.”
That little word turns these statements of facts into lies, and then they become excuses.
Yes, writing is hard. Yes, the odds of being published are high. And I’ve no doubt that you are pretty tired after working your day job, looking after your family, doing chores around the house.
But none of these things should really be enough to stop you from writing.
So, stop lying to yourself. Head on over to Weiland’s site for more writing excuses and how to smash them.
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How to you overcome your excuses? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Image courtesy of childofdarkness72.
Christopher Jackson is the Editor for Fuel Your Writing and a creative copywriter. He is currently working on Project: Snotbook, an interactive children’s storybook for iPad.
I’m too busy. I have too much to do. There aren’t enough hours in the day.
I hear all of these in my head on a daily basis. Somedays I let them win. Somedays I just tell them to shut up and write. Not every day is a win, but some are. I call those good days.
“2. The odds of being published are too high.”
Sorry, but this one is valid. It doesn’t stop me from writing, but it stops me from being able to embrace being an author as my career- my dream goal.
When you have 5 published authors- very successful ones- in your state meet with you and tell you NEVER self-publish, because you kill the book being picked up by a real publisher (also agreed in Stephen King’s “On Writing”), you realize you have to win a mini-lottery that isn’t truly skill-based JUST to get published. There are more books being pushed on publishers than there are readers, by far.
Then those same five authors all tell you they ALL have day jobs and write in their spare time, because they don’t make enough money as an author to live on… well, that’s crushing to my dream of being an author only. (Again verified by Stephen King in “On Writing”.)
I have anxiety disorder, and if I had a “day job” (I have been unemployed 10 years because I can’t find a work environment I can perform in) I would have to spend any free time I had destressing – for me, the only thing that does this is computer gaming. That means having to work a meaningless day job eliminates my ability to write, because the 4-6 hours of non-sleeping free time I have will be spent gaming so I can return to my meaningless day job the next day.
Writing, though I love it, does NOT clear my mind of my thoughts and thus does not destress my anxiety.
It’s simply a depressing fact of this society- instead of being able to do what we love the most, our societal for-profit-over-all-else mentality requires lives that mean we must abandon any dreams we have, and waste our short life on meaningless chores that don’t impact the world in any way.
I wonder how many great works of art- novels, films, paintings, songs- have never been created because we are forced to spend our time on pointless other day jobs rather than embrace our true passions? It’s sad.
I love this article.
I have been writing and working for a few years now and I have never been put off by the fact that writing is ‘too’ anything. I am ‘too’ stubborn for that. There are moments when I want to punch my computer in its screen-ish face, but they pass quickly and it’s back to work for me.
I find that sitting to write enlivens me, and though there are a lot of times when getting my butt into the chair is almost physically painful – such is my desire to procrastinate or do ‘busy’ work – once I am in that chair and in my story world, it is hard to come back out!
I also love that my time is never wasted. While I am at my day job I am in a environment (quite unlike my writing environment) where I can observe human nature and behaviour, eavesdrop and gather it into my head to use later in my stories. I think it is important to focus on the opportunities that ‘day job’s’ provide we artists, because the most menial of tasks can enrich our artistic endeavours.
The excuses can never stay when I remind myself of what I love about writing and why I chose to make the sacrifices that are required. There’s just no contest.
Maggie Stiefvater has blogged extensively on the topic of excuses and what she managed to fit into her day – every day – well before she made awesome novel sales, is incredible, inspiring and motivating. When I read those articles, I gave up all pretenses of the validity of excuses.
Hoorah! for this article, and thank you.