5 Ways I’m Struggling As a Writer Right Now

Because nobody’s perfect all the time.

Time for some honesty.

Most of us who are trying to “make it” as writers are doing so with roughly 17,000 other things on our plates. We may want to “make it” in different ways, but we all share one thing in common: a love of writing.

I love, love, love to write. Always have.

It’s easy to present yourself as a professional writer online. I enjoy sharing insights as I learn about the craft but honestly, there are a few places where I’m struggling right now.

This isn’t about my struggles per se. I only hope if you’re frustrated and struggling in some areas right now too, you can see that you’re not alone.

Here are 5 ways I’m struggling as a writer right now.

Writing and publishing consistently

As an online writer, quantity and quality are the names of the game.

I’m a big believer that the more you do something, the better you get at it. But for that to happen, you have to be consistent.

I write every day because I want to get really good at it. Here’s the problem: my time blocks aren’t always sufficient to get into a flow and do my best work. Like many of you, I also work a full-time job and I have two little kids.

For years, I’ve used my hour-long lunch break at work to get in some writing time. Recently, some executive geniuses decided to cut our lunches in half across the company. Now I barely have time to eat, much less write.

Most weekends, I’m up before the sun to write. But my kids — who are four and two — don’t understand the concept of sleeping in.

When you’re trying to break through as a writer, sometimes it feels like other areas of your life conspire against you. It’s what Steven Pressfield calls Resistance, and it chokes out most writer’s dreams.

Consistent writing and publishing are important, but I’m struggling there right now.

Building an email list

Every writer should know you don’t own the platform you write on, especially if it’s social media. Your followers could disappear overnight. Algorithm changes can crush your views. Simply put, you have no control over what happens behind the scenes.

That’s why building an email list is still the gold standard for writers of all stripes.

About a year ago, I took an online course by an email list building super-guru. I started building a list of my own, so I could connect with people who enjoy my writing. That way one day I can offer more than online articles.

You know what, though? I haven’t checked my email subscriber list in months. I can’t remember the last email I sent out.

Is it because I don’t care? Nope.

It’s because of time.

I’m so focused on being consistent on one platform I haven’t taken time to communicate with people who volunteered to hear from me.

I should go and check that email list now.

Optimizing my posts

SEO is like a foreign language to me.

When someone finds my writing through a search engine, it always surprises me because it’s dumb luck. It isn’t that I’m too dense to understand SEO, it’s that I haven’t taken the time to try.

From what I understand, SEO can help your writing but isn’t necessary if you’re writing on a platform. Now, if you’re trying to build a blog, it’s essential. But for me, this kind of technical stuff can wait. Am I making a mistake? Maybe. But I’m learning a skill I can continue building on later.

My personal website

Like most other writers in the last decade, I started writing on a personal blog.

For about two years I beat my head against a concrete wall trying to figure out how to get more views. I had no real plan, I hoped my writing would grow organically through sharing on social media and because of my stellar writing abilities. Maybe I’d become the next Mark Manson or Tim Ferris.

I haven’t posted on my blog in over a year.

I’ve been meaning to transfer my Medium articles over there, but I never make the time to cut and paste.

Personal websites are important, but they aren’t the future. Using platforms that already have a built-in audience is how writers find a footing now.

One day I’ll work on driving traffic to my website again. But it’s more likely I’ll change it to some kind of landing page for my future work.

Designing my category

Create your category as a writer and dominate it. That’s the advice from online writing gurus right now. And it isn’t wrong.

The idea of category creation comes from a book called Play Bigger. The authors dissect how dominant businesses define new categories in the market and then set themselves up to be the “category king.”

For writers, this means carving out a creative space that is unique to you. For example:

• Ryan Holiday doesn’t write personal development. He writes about personal development using stoicism and history.
• Nicolas Cole doesn’t write about blogging. He writes about optimizing your writing for the digital world.
• Mark Manson doesn’t write feel-good self-help. He purposefully busts self-help cliches.

The beauty of becoming a “Category King” is no one can copy you.

Nailing down your category takes time and experimentation. Often, you’ll think you want to write bout one thing, only to find out your platform of choice doesn’t have a large audience for that category. For example, it’s unlikely you’d find a large audience if you write about gardening on Medium.

The key to figuring out your category is studying what’s already working on your platform. Then, put your perspective on those topics.

What my biggest struggles teach me

If you read (or skimmed) this story from start to finish, you’ll see one overarching theme: time.

The reason for most of my struggles is because I use my time to do what I love, which is write. I don’t use my time to focus on other aspects of writing like website maintenance or SEO. For now, I’m focused on writing to pretty much the exclusion of other activities. That means some things get neglected because I’m spending all my time writing.

Here’s the takeaway. When you decide to get really good at something, you have to focus on it. Other areas are going to struggle because if everything matters, nothing does.

So if you feel like you’re struggling in too many places as a writer, know that you aren’t alone.

The most important thing you can do is keep writing.