Summary

The article discusses the reasons behind losing motivation to write, emphasizing the importance of intrinsic motivation over external rewards and the necessity of patience and dedication for long-term success in writing.

Abstract

The article "3 Reasons You’ve Lost Your Motivation To Write" explores common motivational pitfalls for writers, particularly those on platforms like Medium. Initially, new writers may be carried away by a surge of enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations about quick success and financial gain. However, as the initial excitement fades and the reality of the writing profession sets in, many become discouraged by the lack of immediate results or the realization that writing for its own sake is not satisfying for them. The article suggests that motivation driven by external factors, such as money, is unsustainable and can lead to dissatisfaction. In contrast, intrinsic motivation, which stems from a genuine love for writing, is more likely to sustain a writer through difficult times. The author also references Robert Greene's book "Mastery," which argues that true expertise and success come from years of persistent effort. The article concludes by encouraging writers to critically assess their motivations and to pursue writing only if it aligns with their intrinsic values and passions.

Opinions

The initial excitement about writing and potential earnings on Medium can be misleading and may not reflect the reality of the profession.
External motivations, such as money, are considered insufficient for sustaining a writing career on Medium.
Writers who are genuinely passionate about their craft are more likely to persevere despite challenges and lack of immediate success.
The path to mastery in any field, including writing, is long and requires dedication, with the author citing examples of historical figures who achieved greatness through persistent effort.
The author advises that setting short-term, manageable goals can help maintain motivation and build resilience in the face of difficulties

3 Reasons You’ve Lost Your Motivation To Write

You probably never had it

1. You are high on initial enthusiasm

When you are starting out on Medium you might be flooded with enthusiasm about writing. You are making your first steps as a writer, and everything seems surreal. You can gain money while talking about something you like, that prospect seems incredible.

You embark on the race towards having 100 followers to enter Medium’s Partner program.

You’ve managed all that quite quickly, and you start writing you. You might also take on the challenge of writing for 30 days day straight. You publish a lot and hope that you will make it here.

It is all good until life hits you and you are incapable for some reason to write for a few days. You check your stats. Even though you are already part of this platform for a while you see that you aren’t making enough money to even pay your subscription fee.

Maybe all the talk about the money was a lie and in reality, only a handful of people have that chance. You get discouraged, and you stop that streak of daily published articles. You get demotivated.

The reality of the situation is that your motivation followed your initial enthusiasm, you’ve seen promises and after a few months, you are now dealing with reality.

You are now faced with a dilemma, what will you do moving forward if all your motivation depends on how you’ve felt when you started out.

2. You are motivated by external things

Some people at this point quit, the challenge of writing without pretty much any results has no appeal to them.

The reason they quit is that their motivation was mainly external, they didn’t care too much about writing itself, but about the money, they could make on the platform.

In my opinion, if you are only motivation for writing on Medium is to make money, I don’t think is worth it. You could do other things that take less effort and make much more than here.

There are other people for which the deal is worth it. They like writing and they would love making money out of their craft, but they are not bothered by how long is going to take. People that are like that, will write anyway because is what they love to do.

I love writing, but it really depends on what I write about. I have a passion for psychology, nutrition, philosophy, and many other things. But, if I were to write about a topic I find dull, I wouldn’t like it.

Writing mainly because you like it, is caused by intrinsic motivation. Having that sort of motivation means that your energy to do it, inspiration and determination come from within.

Having this kind of motivation can push you beyond your limits, and work despite having little to no results.

Don’t get me wrong, things are not that black and white. You can have both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to write. It works on a gradient, the closer you are to having your drive to write linked with motivation from within, the longer you will persist in doing the thing you love, and the more hardships you will endure.

The problem is when all your motivation comes from external sources, it is purely extrinsic. You won’t resist on Medium or on any other writing platform for that matter.

I also don’t think is something that anyone should do, unless it has some extraordinary circumstances. Only doing something for external rewards, in the long run, will slowly damage your soul.

We love being free, doing what we like. If you are not in touch with your intrinsic values and desires you will end up in a miserable position, sooner or later.

3. You expect fast results

In his book, Mastery, Robert Greene talks about the greatest geniuses that ever lived, but also great people from nowadays.

People like Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Einstein, and many others. Through his book, he conveys the fact that being good at something takes a lot of time. Mastery is something that is achieved by years of effort or even decades.

The smartest people who ever lived, have gone through the same process as we do. They had their failures and defeats, but they persisted through all of that.

If there is something that can trump talent, is dedication and hard work.

If you play the game long enough, you love it and it speaks to you, sooner or later you will have some good results.

I believe a good way through which you might be able to increase the amount of time you can resist in the face of intense struggle, is by creating digestible chunks of time.

For example, you feel like you can’t write anymore. Nonetheless, you want to continue to persist despite your urge to stop. The way you can overcome this is by making an agreement with yourself to do it only for a specific amount of time. That amount of time should be determined by how much you are willing to resist.

If you write on Medium and you are frustrated with your results and want to write for another year, but you hate to even think about another month, just try to write for another day.

Keeping an agreement with yourself with making yourself more confident, and will give you the gratification that might not be found within your results.

One day at a time your capacity to endure will increase, and you will find yourself writing for weeks without being bothered by how hard it is.

A conclusion

If you lost your motivation to write, it could mean different things. You need to analyze for yourself what blocks you and decide whether you should continue writing or not.

To recap there are three reasons that might have led to losing your motivation to write:

Being high on initial enthusiasm
You expect fast results
You are motivated by external things

The first 2 points, can be resolved in one way or the other.

The problem is with being motivated by external things. That is something anyone can hardly change about you. Intrinsic drive towards specific things is not really understood in psychology

We don’t know exactly how different people are attracted by specific things. Regardless people have passions. You should find whatever you love and pursue it. If writing is not for you, maybe something else is.

I’ve heard years ago, the advice of Charles Bukowsky on writing. Which practically can be summarised as, if it doesn’t come bursting out of you, don’t do it.

I think that idea has a lot of merit to it. If writing is what you love, you don’t need that many reasons to do it, because you will naturally gravitate towards doing it.

I am not trying to discourage anyone from writing. I am just encouraging you to follow the shouts that come from within.

If the shouts are telling you to write, I wish you good luck in your journey and I hope to read the magnificent piece you will write in the future.

On the other hand, if writing is not for you, give yourself time and look for what speaks to you, follow that and you will find yourself in a better place than writing could ever lead to.

We are unique as individuals and we have different affinities towards things. The online gurus make it seem that anyone can get rich writing online, doing marketing, programming, or other things. It is completely false, almost in all cases it will take time. You will be miserable if the only reason you choose to do something is that you thought it will bring money fast.

Choose your calling with your heart, and everything else will work out, eventually.