How to Overcome The Feeling That Your Writing Sucks

Summary

The article provides strategies for overcoming the common insecurity that one's writing is not good enough, emphasizing the importance of persistence, skill development, and embracing the journey of writing.

Abstract

The author, who has written daily for over a year, acknowledges the persistent doubt many writers face about the quality of their work. To combat this, the article suggests envisioning long-term goals with the "five-year rule," actively learning and applying new writing techniques, treating articles as practice for larger projects, accepting initial obscurity, and understanding that passion often resonates more with readers than perceived quality. The author emphasizes that even with self-doubt, consistent writing and publishing are key to improvement and that readers may value emotional connection over technical perfection.

Opinions

Writing quality is subjective, and readers may overlook technical imperfections if the content resonates with them emotionally.
The "five-year rule" posits that it takes about five years of consistent effort to achieve success in writing or content creation.
Regularly writing, even if the articles seem like warm-ups or practice, is crucial for development and can lead to more significant content creation opportunities.
New writers should not be discouraged by initial anonymity or the perceived lack of audience interest.
Writing is a skill that requires conscious practice, including the study and application of new techniques to build confidence and improve over time.
Despite self-criticism, the author stresses the importance of continuing to write and publish daily to overcome the feeling that one's writing is subpar.

Think of your articles as warm-ups.

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“Should I write this or not?”

I know that’s how you feel as soon as your butt caresses your clanky desk chair. Millions of doubts run through your mind rent-free. A chill runs up your spine as you make your final decision, but three words stand in your way to reach your writing mecca.

“My writing sucks.”

As someone who’s written an article every single day for almost a year and a half, that feeling never goes away. But I’ve managed to overcome it and get my ass back in the writing chair.

Here’s how you can do it too.

Imagine where you want to be in the next 5 years — This is called the five-year rule. I got this from one of my favorite writers, Ayodeji Awosika. It means that it will take everyone, especially content creators, five years of consistent work at their craft to be successful. If your writing sucks and you’ve done this for five years — you’re in trouble. If you’re a beginner, give it time. You’ll be a completely different person in five years. Heck, I feel like Beyonce looking at the progress I’ve made in a year and a half.

Write down new techniques to learn — I always scribble new writing techniques I find on my calendar in front of my computer. I see the tips as I write this article now. Writing is a conscious practice — one that involves intense thinking and emotional projection. You’ll never be a writing machine unless you pick one technique, work on it for weeks until it’s ingrained in your psyche, and move on to the next. The process of improvement will make you a more confident writer.

Think of your articles as warm-ups — Articles are under the umbrella of “content” because they’re made for views. If you’re on this platform, in particular, you’re writing articles to gain traction. You gotta accept that most of your articles will be duds. You won’t have a Michael Jordan-esque performance right away after being a bench-warmer. Your articles get you ready for the big leagues, especially if you want to make other content (e.g. books, newsletters, courses) in the future.

No one will read your work anyway — You think the Queen of England cares about your work? Scratch that. Do you think the person who serves up tea for a random upper-middle-class family in suburbia cares about your work? Hell no. You aren’t under a microscope. You will start at zero like everyone else. Embrace it. Have sex with it.

Readers don’t care about your writing quality — This happened to me at least seven times now. I’d write a passionate article in twenty minutes, but I take one scan and say, “This is not my best work at all.” I chuckle at the screen in embarrassment for a minute before hitting publish — the article blows up. The funny part? People in the comments section say how great the writing quality is. Passion=quality. Readers will look past grammatical errors if they can resonate with your piece. Shitty writing is subjective.

While I’ve made huge improvements since I began writing, I’m still no J.K. Rowling.

I still think my writing quality sucks. But I’ll never stop writing and publishing articles daily. This article is a long-winded way of saying that you can overcome the feeling of your writing being poop if you keep doing it. I’m sure Beyonce hates doing vocal warm-ups before every performance, but she still does it to become the best in her profession.

So…

Write on.