90% Of Writers Quit. Become Resilient By Conquering This Process
Successful writers survive all 3 stages with these 3 tips
I’m shocked by how many writers give up.
I have a list of Medium writers whose content I read. But 90% have quit in the last 6 months. What’s the lifespan of a writer? My experience suggests it is very short.
This has 2 startling implications for you:
If you keep writing you’ll be in the top 10% because the other 90% have abandoned the arena.
The odds are against you. You are very unlikely to last and still be writing in 2 years.
Let’s be honest. Writing online is brutal.
Every writer feels like giving up at times. It’s hard to keep going when you don’t see results. You can only write into the void for so long.
You need a new way of thinking to sustain you.
I’ve been writing on Medium for 9 months and have 1000 followers. But without the tools below I would have quit.
If you want to last as a writer you need to find your way through these 3 stages:
1. Uniformed optimism
You start because you believe you can do it.
The endorphins kick in and you feel great. You realise in theory it will be hard or there will be bumps in the road. But you don’t pay any attention to potential problems.
You are uninformed about how tough it is going to be.
For my first 3 months, I was not bothered by my low views:
- Month 1: 24 views
- Month 2: 68 views
- Month 3: 408 views
I was too busy being impressed I had written an article. And it was on the internet. I was proud I’d put an idea into practice. The lack of interest in my stuff bounced off me. But a darker day was coming.
Blind optimism is necessary at the start. Otherwise, we’d never get going.
But it sows dangerous seeds making us reap a harvest of despair.
2. Informed pessimism
After the initial excitement has worn off you discover how hard it is.
Anyone who has started a business, run a marathon, or been married — all reach the point when they think:
I knew it’d be hard — but I never thought it’d be this hard
After 3 months I was no longer satisfied with spending 2 hours writing an article. I wanted people to read it. I longed to be one of those writers earning $$$.
I decided to get better. I devoured all the writing tips. Crafted sizzling headlines. Learned how to write compelling introductions. My stats improved but not by much. It was a lot of effort for very little growth.
I started to feel discouraged.
When you discover how hard it is. You start to doubt you can do it. I was now informed and pessimistic I could make it.
Most quit at this point.
But I knew others had made this work. I researched how they had done it. And was struck by how they described their beginnings. They all said it was awful but gave tips on how to get through the dark days.
New hope was birthed as I headed into the 3rd stage.
3. Informed optimism
Blind positive thinking won’t get you through the dark valley.
To survive informed pessimism you need more than that. You need something to give you hope and to stop you from quitting when all feels lost.
These are the three tactics I used to keep going:
Projected your growth forward
I played a numbers game to inspire me.
I’d calculate my growth rate and imagine where this would take.
After 6 months I had 461 followers. I was gaining 136 followers/month (29%). I calculated if I grew by 29% for the next 6 months I’d have 2121 followers.
Imagining 2k+ followers gave me the boost I needed to keep writing.
Read honest stories
Find someone who has grown and shares how hard it is (avoid the growth gurus trying to make a quick buck).
Eve Arnold has helped me. She is writing part-time like me and makes a lot of money writing. But she is realistic about how hard it is and gives loads of practical writing advice. Whenever I am struggling her blunt advice to ‘write for 2.5 years before anything will happen’ — refreshes and energises me.
Build your skills while you wait
Focusing on what you can’t control is a recipe for misery.
Notice the metrics but give your attention to your writing quality. When the big opportunity comes you need to be ready. Follow a robust process to improve:
- learn a few tips
- use them
- learn some more
I had an article boosted that raised my earnings by 1000%. This brought me a ton of new subscribers and followers. I now make $300/month.
I know other writers who got boosted but it only made a small difference to their account. A boost puts your writing in front of people. But if you haven’t learned to write compelling content. No lasting fruit will come of it.
Improve your skills. Become a high-quality writer. And if you keep writing for a long time. Then good things will happen.
Focus on your inputs and trust the process.
Uninformed optimism only sees the benefits
Informed pessimism only sees the costs
Informed optimism — sees both but knows the rewards will come if you keep going.
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