Summary

An experienced writer shares five insights to overcome writer's block and imposter syndrome by focusing on clear communication, emotional resonance, and audience engagement.

Abstract

The author, a prolific writer who produces around 5,000 words daily across various genres, offers advice to combat the challenges of writing consistently and with confidence. The article emphasizes the importance of concise expression by distilling ideas into a single sentence, writing with a specific reader in mind, evoking emotions in the audience, creating content with lasting value, and overcoming the fear of judgment. The writer encourages a healthy detachment from one's work to foster objectivity and growth, suggesting that the journey of writing is a continuous exploration of purpose and self-improvement.

Opinions

Writing is not solely about the writer but also about the quality of content consumed and the ability to communicate ideas effectively.
Constraints like expressing an idea in one sentence can lead to clearer articulation and expansion of thoughts.
Writing for a specific person, such as a past version of oneself, can provide direction and purpose.
The primary goal of storytelling is to evoke emotions in the audience, which requires empathy and understanding of the reader's perspective.
Good writing should be both timely and timeless, offering immediate impact and enduring relevance.
Writers should not be deterred by the fear of their ideas being the worst; this fear is often unfounded and limiting.
A writer's work is separate from their identity, and detachment can lead to more objective self-evaluation and improvement.
The process of writing is a journey of self-discovery and continuous learning, where the purpose may evolve over time.

5 Tips To Write a Lot Without Imposter Syndrome (From Someone Who’s Been Writing for More Than 5 Years)

I thought writing was about me, and I’m the main character — Oh! I was so wrong.

Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava: https://www.pexels.com/photo/contemplative-man-reading-book-and-taking-notes-in-home-office-7063759/

On any given day, I write somewhere in the ballpark of 5,000 words — and the genres are all over the board.

- I write on Medium - I write newsletters - I work on my screenplays - I write new chapters for the non-fiction book I’m developing - I have a journal for the sole (soul) purpose of writing for myself

When I tell people about it, they can’t believe it.

Most people (including myself 5 years back) struggle to write a single weekly article.

I remember the time when I used to get stuck in a scene. It’s been six years, and I’ve still not finished it.

As a writer, I’ve realized that the art of writing is not just about the material you produce but also the quality of content you consume. In fact, it has a lot to do with the quality of content you intake.

So, if you ever find yourself stuck, I’d encourage you to dabble with these five insights -

1/ Try to say it in a sentence

You get just one sentence.

That’s the constraint. Without making it any more complicated than what it already is, step away for a moment, maybe take a quick walk and ask yourself, “What do I really want to say?”

There’s a bright chance you’ll come up with something.

Now, a couple of things to remember -

- Don’t judge it too quickly. - Write it down and articulate it in five different iterations.

“If you can’t explain it to a 12-year-old in simple terms, you don’t understand it well enough.”

Start there, and you’ll see how magically you can expand it into so many different ways you couldn’t think of before.

2/ Write for that one person

I usually write for the past version of me.

When you know who you’re speaking to, writing with a specific direction and a clear purpose becomes so much easier.

I practised this often when writing letters to my five-year-old self and sometimes my five-year-old self as journal entries. It had a very specific person who was sitting in the audience listening to me, and I had very specific ideas to share with this person because I had a clear idea of what kind of person I was speaking with.

“You’re not the main character, it’s not your story; that one person sitting in the audience is your main character.”

Don’t write assuming that someone will like this; no one has any control over it.

Write with specificity in your mind.

3/ Make them feel something

Any kind of writing is done with emotions, not by being emotional.

But you often can’t help but feel emotional about what you’ve written — so it’s about how you feel and how you want your audience to feel.

What you want your audience to feel is forgotten by most writers because they care too much about how their writing makes them feel while losing track of the real purpose, which is to make their audience feel a certain way.

“The purpose of storytelling is to evoke emotions. Period!”

Empathize with your audience. Sit in that chair and now imagine what you would want to hear.

4/ Does it have a re-read value?

Good writing is timely and timeless.

Make an attempt to think and ask yourself what would make an impact now, in the world we live in today, and what would still be worthwhile long after you’re gone. Even if you keep this insight in the back of your mind — you’ll start to weed out many bad ideas and push yourself to turn a decent idea into a great one.

Another way to approach this is to go deeper into what you’re writing about.

The deeper you go, the more universal it becomes. As a word of caution, if you keep digging deep, you’ll find yourself in a rabbit hole at one point, so remember to control your digging.

“While growing up, I loved treasure hunt. Now, I create ‘treasure hunt’ with my writing, hiding those treasures in plain sight between the lines.”

Having layers of meaning in your writing encourages re-reading your work and makes the reader feel like getting back to your work repeatedly.

5/ It’s not just bad but the worst idea ever

Have you ever found yourself thinking like this?

It's not just bad, but the worst idea ever. I have. And after years of writing, I’ve realized there’s no truth to this. And it’s a kind of fear, a fear that stems from a type of person who we feel would not respond well to whatever it is that we feel a deep urge to write about.

Who is this toxic person? Why would they disapprove of what you’re trying to create?

Imagine this person sitting in the audience in front of you now. Once you put them in the chair, you can decide how to speak to them.

“If you judge how your audience will judge you, what’s your audience going to do? You do your work, let them do their work.”

Make them your audience and write for them now. By writing for them just once, you’ll shatter the faulty belief that they’ll disapprove of your work or have anything to do with the organic result that your work creates.

Last

The most important skill a writer can gain is to understand that they are not their writing.

Your writing is a part of you.

It’s something you’ve written and is a different entity. Most writers take years to understand the idea of healthy detachment.

“Detach from your writing to allow your writing to evolve on its own.”

This is why writing something and then taking a planned break to get back to your work in a few days is a hack that most great writers use in order to get some level of objectivity to look at their work.

Objectivity can help you see it more clearly.

It helps you understand your writing more clearly. And that’s the purpose of writing. I hope you find your purpose in writing. Even after so many years, I’m still trying to find my purpose. But the journey is so worth it that I enjoy it, even if it takes years.

I hope you do, too.

Until next time,

Ciao!

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