5 Ways Writers Sabotage Themselves

And how to beat them

You have an invisible enemy who’ll stop at nothing to crush you.

It attacks every time you start writing, or express yourself creatively. Fear and doubt cause you to freeze up and stop writing. Perfectionism makes it impossible for you to finish a project. You chalk it up to writer’s block. But the real culprit behind these attacks is often something more sinister.

Self-sabotage.

Often, the things we do to sabotage our success as writers are unconscious patterns driven by our past. They’re truths — about ourselves and about writing — that we don’t want to confront.

Self-sabotage allows you to stay comfortable, even though it ultimately hurts you.

Everyone fights self-sabotage, especially creatives. But you can beat it. Often, recognizing how self-sabotage shows up is enough to help you stop.

Let’s look at some of the most common forms you’ll face as a writer.

1. Writing About Whatever You Want

Writing is Godlike, in a way — creating something out of nothing.

The act of creation is an intoxicating power. If used correctly, it can lead to a fulfilling life.

Beginning writers often think they’ll have unlimited creativity and get to write about whatever they want. Some of the most common writing advice I’ve heard is: Write what you want to read.

But what if you’re the only person who wants to read it?

Okay, you probably won’t be the only person… but you may not draw a sizable audience by writing about, say, the migration patterns of moths.

The point is, you don’t get unlimited creativity as a writer. You get to be creative within a framework.

If you’re writing on an online platform, you’ll have to pick a primary topic (and sub-topic) that people want to read about.

If you’re writing a novel, you’ll need to know the market and what people are currently reading in your genre if you want to sell to a publisher (or self-publish).

The good news is that once you know your topic, you can get creative within it. You get to write about a proven idea, and put your own spin on it. And make no mistake, you can spin it so much that it’s “original” to your readers.

In a nutshell, you kneed to know your audience before you get creative.

2. Assuming Readers Will Care

Writing is deeply personal for most of us. We want others to like our words and we unconsciously believe they should give us attention just because we wrote something.

Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.

By the time most writers realize this, they’re on the verge of quitting because they feel resentful and frustrated. You say things like, “The algorithm is rigged,” or “People don’t appreciate my art.”

The best way to get readers to care is by solving their problems.

Pick a problem you’ve solved in the past. Write about how you solved it.

Most people have similar issues. The details differ, but they fall in the same categories. A few big ones are money, jobs, relationships, and personal growth. That may seem like a small list, but there are nearly endless sub-topics within it. If you write about how you solved a problem under one of those topics, you’re likely to get more readers.

Write a step-by-step post on how you did it, share it on your social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or Twitter) and see how your followers respond.

You can’t just write and assume people will care. If you’re writing on a platform, it often takes several months of posting three to five times per week before you get traction.

Don’t give up, help your readers solve their problems and you’ll find readers who care.

3. Doubting Your Expertise

Imposter syndrome is a major cause of self-sabotage for writers. Even professional writers feel it.

As soon as you start writing, the voice in the back of your head says: “Who do you think you are?”

But you have more expertise than you realize. I’ll prove it.

Imagine for a minute that you’re back in high school, and you’re struggling with 10th grade math.

Who do you think would be the best tutor?

a) You teacher

b) An 11th grader

Most would say your teacher is the best person to tutor you. However, that’s probably not the case. The 11th grader who has recently gone through 10th grade math (and passed) is much closer to the problems you face.

It’s true your teacher (the expert) knows more about the subject. But they’re further removed from the struggles of learning.

The point is, you don’t need years of experience to help someone. You only need to be one or two steps ahead of them.

Everyone is an expert at something. But the fear that you’ll look (or sound) stupid or fake will sabotage your writing because it makes you question your authority.

Your expertise may not be all-encompassing about a subject. That’s why it’s best when you’re writing about a specific problem you’ve already solved (see above).

4. Not Trusting Your Gut

Nietzsche said, “There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.”

To keep moving forward while your writing, it’s important to learn how to trust your gut. Writing requires you to make many decisions. Don’t believe me? Open up a blank document and try to decide what to write.

As you write, you’ll probably be tempted to edit yourself and fix your mistakes. But that ruins your flow.

Many writers sabotage themselves by trying to get their first draft perfect.

It’s better to write a full draft quickly, using the first words that come to your mind. Let it be messy, with incomplete thoughts and unfinished paragraphs. Save your editing for later. Don’t try to make everything make sense while writing your first draft or you’ll never get it done. Heck, don’t even try to make your first draft good.

As long as you write something, you can fix it later. It’s much easier to revise and polish a finished draft than to fix a draft in-progress.

Trust your gut and get words on the page. The result may be better than you expect.

5. Attaching to an Outcome

All writers fail sometimes.

The post you spend hours writing doesn’t get attention.

The book you worked on for three years can’t find an agent.

The landing page you designed doesn’t convert.

It happens to everyone (present company included).

The difference between successful writers and those who sabotaged their own success is the successful ones don’t take losses personally.

I know it’s hard — physically painful, even.

But if you want to be a writer, it’s important to develop a certain level of emotional detachment from your outcomes. I know your writing is special to you, but the more attached you are to the outcome, the harder your life will be.

So how do you emotionally detach from your writing?

The best way I know of is to start a new project while you’re waiting for results from the previous one. Get that next post ready to publish. Outline your next book. Design the next landing page. That way, no matter the results of your previous work, you have something else in the pipeline.

Try to learn from your mistakes, and incorporate into the next thing.

The internet is huge, so if your post fails, nobody will remember. Don’t let past failures sabotage your future success because you’re too hurt to keep writing.

Creativity is Personal

Writing and self-sabotage seem to go hand-in-hand because creativity forces you to face yourself. Each time you write and publish something, you’re putting a piece of yourself out in the world.

I’ve faced all these forms of self-sabotage myself, and I’ve worked with writers who have faced them. You aren’t alone.

Hopefully, shining a light on them will help you see them in your life and move forward with confidence.