Advice and writing
3 Ways to Stop Comparing Yourself as a Writer
#2 Support one another
We all do it. We have all been there — when you start comparing yourself to other writers.
“How can they manage to write two articles a day and I can’t?”
“Why are they getting more claps than me and being accepted into bigger publications?”
Yes, these are just some of the questions that linger in our minds when comparing ourselves to other writers on Medium. I have been there too.
Recently, a writer on Medium came to me saying she wished she had more time to write and how do people do it with a full-time job — she should be able to as well. I reminded her everyone is different.
Do you struggle with comparing? Then here are three ways to stop comparing yourself as a writer.
Don’t compare productivity
So my friend from Medium told me that she was working her arse off to write two articles after a long day in her full-time job.
At that moment, she said:
“How do other writers do it with a full-time job? I have to be like that”
You see, we are all different. We all rate our productivity differently. What seems like a challenging or fulfilling day for me may be different for you!
How do you rate productivity anyway?
The point is, don’t compare your productivity with other writers as it will only bring you down.
Instead, read what other writers write and marvel at their work.
Yes, some writers on Medium have full-time jobs and still manage to bomb out their pieces daily and then there’s me — I don’t have a full-time job yet I still don’t manage to write daily articles all the time.
Yes, it is a goal of mine to write daily on here, but sometimes the article takes longer to be reviewed and sometimes I don’t have the words in me to write.
And that is alright.
Again — we are all different.
Always remind yourself this when comparing yourself to another writer because what you achieve may be amazing to them and they wouldn’t even second guess their achievements.
Support one another
This is a big one. Especially on Medium.
If you want to succeed on Medium, there is one secret.
Want to know what it is?
Support each other!
It is simple really, but goes a long way… think about it — Medium articles thrive from the amount of claps and reads, so you need to have some sort of community feeling to drive your articles somewhere.
My dear friend Vishnu*s Virtues has taught me this point to be honest.
We became friends on Medium quite a while back, but have become closer as of recent due to him being my accountability partner on here.
(I even inspired him to now mentor writers on here which I am chuffed about because in my eyes, he is the best writing mentor ever!)
He spends about four hours on Medium a day and two of them are dedicated to reading other people’s articles and engaging with them.
What way can you stop comparing yourself as a writer? Start engaging instead and stop despairing!
You will come to notice the community of Medium writers is absolutely lovely and I have come to make some lovely friends here who inspire me every single day including Kelly Eden, Krishna V Chaudhary, Orla Kenny, Gurpreet Dhariwal, FAIZAN AMJAD, Mariza Writes to name a few.
I am always open to meeting and supporting people on here, so please do share below if you would like me to read your articles and I happily will — this isn’t just the secret to Medium, but the secret to life.
Support one another and treat each other as you want to be treated.
Doing this will allow you to stop comparing to others and start loving others instead!
Don’t be so hard on yourself
Last but not least, stop being so hard on yourself!
My friend on Medium was beating herself up about not completing her articles up to her standards, nobody else’s.
After I told her that there is nobody to compete with but yourself, she gave in and said “you’re right”. Not to boast that I am correct (lol), but the fact is we are our only competition.
Think about it: Live up to YOUR standards, nobody else’s and you may get a lot more done than you think you can.
There is nobody else putting you down but yourself.
We are our own worst enemies after all…
We beat ourselves up better than anybody and it is something tricky that we all have to unlearn at some point.
Make this point be yours! Stop comparing yourself as a writer and start loving yourself as a writer!
So here are the takeaways:
- Don’t beat yourself up!
- Support other people instead of comparing
- Do not compare productivity levels with others
Hope this helps you in your writing journey. Remember: You are unique and you have a voice to be heard unlike anybody else’s so keep shining your light and stop comparing.
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