A Renewed Sense of Creative Energy

Summary

The author has found a renewed sense of creative energy in writing, overcoming personal challenges and writer's block, and is gaining confidence through support and success in publishing.

Abstract

The author begins the new year with a reinvigorated passion for writing, despite facing significant personal challenges such as unstable housing and medical disability. Initially hindered by writer's block and self-doubt, the author has managed to break through these barriers with the help of a supportive network, including friends, family, and a particularly encouraging partner. This support, coupled with a commitment to writing at least two stories per day, has led to the author being signed on to write for six different publications. The author's writing is characterized by honesty and a genuine tone, reflecting a personal policy of transparency and trust. With a growing fan base and a clear sense of purpose, the author is optimistic about the future, aiming to produce content that is both personally fulfilling and appealing to readers.

Opinions

The author views stable housing and medical disability as significant obstacles to their writing.
Writer's block was initially a major issue, exacerbated by comparing themselves to more experienced writers.
The author values honest feedback and has a supportive partner who provides constructive criticism on their work.
They prioritize authenticity in their writing, expressing genuine thoughts and criticisms without manipulation.
The author writes content that appeals to their own interests and those of their partner, using this as a benchmark for what to publish.
They believe that their recent momentum in writing is sustainable and could potentially become a source of income.
The author expresses hope that 2022 will be a turning point in finding a fulfilling purpose through writing.
The author endorses an AI service, ZAI.chat, as a cost-effective alternative to ChatGPT Plus (GPT-4), suggesting it to readers who enjoyed the article.

2021 Was A Very Challenging Year Personally for Me

There have been many challenges that have kept me from my newfound passion, writing. I’ve had a tough year personally. Without revealing much more than what I’m trying to convey, I’ve been without stable housing for all of the year. Writing when you have a stable living situation is hard enough but when you’re situation is a bit more unclear, it makes it even tougher because it seems that your priorities should be elsewhere. The second part of the year that made it extremely hard for me was the fact that I’ve been deemed medically disabled by my doctor so I haven’t been able to work since September 2018. 2021 was the first time in that time frame that it started affecting me mentally and it started showing. I had to start going back to therapy, I’d become more violent in my relationship and less patient. My social anxiety decided to strengthen in intensity as well so it’s becoming harder and harder for me to go out and do things that in the past I’d become accustomed to doing on a routine basis. Even simple things like trying to go to the store or to go to get my mail has become a chore both physically and mentally.

Writer’s Block

I knew that coming into this new hobby as a new writer and someone who had never thought of or even tried to commit my time to write down my ideas and stories online that it wouldn’t be easy to be consistent with it. I didn’t even feel like a competent writer half of the days that I could’ve written. I didn’t want to just put anything to paper without feeling confident in what I had just written. I know for many other writers, it seems to come so much easier and so many people I’ve read and met on various platforms seem to have much more to say on a deeper level than I do at times and that adds to my writer’s block. Feeling like I need to approach a level that I’m sure takes many people years to master adds to a lack of confidence in my work.

Gaining Confidence

Having a good support system and having friends, family and a partner who have been very supportive and honest in their criticism of the stuff I’ve written has helped me in a way I never expected. My partner is my biggest fan and is even one of my followers on here early on. He reads every draft of every story I put on here before I publish so that he can see if it’s something he would be interested in reading. He’s not the type of guy to BS me and just tells me something’s good if it’s not. I’m happy to have that type of person in my support system. Since the New Year and trying to write at least 2 stories per day, I’ve now been signed on to write for 6 different publications and this has only started to add to my confidence as I gain more fans and have the love and support of the people around me who enjoy what I’m putting out there and have offered me advice, criticism, and praise.

Finding My Tone and Creating a Flow of Honest Ideas

I have never been the type of person to be dishonest with people. It’s just not my style. I’m the type of person who tells the people I care about how I’m feeling because I’ve learned over time that not telling people how I feel has turned out mostly bad. I also don’t have or find the time for dishonest or manipulative people. My circles these days are smaller but that’s just because the people I keep in my life are the ones I know I can trust. I try my best to convey that in the tone of my writing. If I think of an idea I want to write about and it’s a criticism of a company, an idea, a person, or a city, I don’t shy away from letting my true feelings known about it.

Writing to What I’d Want to Read

Many times, I find myself to be a very appealing audience to appeal to in addition to my partner and my friends and family. I’m sure most writers follow this appeal as well, and I’ve found that my best work is when it’s something I’m super passionate and interested in. I try my best to distribute facts into the material when it is necessary to the work and to convey the point I’m making. If I don’t even want to read what I’m writing and if I feel like people wouldn’t learn anything from reading my material, then I tend to shy away from a topic. This is especially true if I have an unfinished idea and my partner doesn’t like it. He’s a good barometer of the segment of the audience I’d like to appeal to. Of course, I don’t want to completely pander to him and I still try to develop my style and come up with stuff that genuinely interests me and would only mildly interest him but I still enjoy writing to him. My logic is if I love and he loves it, then it is worth publishing. If not, it’s back to the drawing board.

Writing Through This Recent Momentum

Now that I feel like I’ve found my tone, style, formatting, and interests, I feel like I could write at least 2 articles a day. I have a wide variety of interests and feel like as long as I continue to work my process the way I have been going, I can easily grow my follower base organically and even though my initial goal wasn’t necessarily making a living writing. I could easily see that become something possible shortly with the support of everyone who has stayed by my side through the rough times and will seemingly continue to as I struggle through the early process of a new writer. 2022 is making me hopeful though that this is the year I find a purpose in life I can be happy about. Hopefully, I’m right. I love writing now and want to continue as long as I’m physically able to.