Editorial Op-Ed | Of Reading and Writing
Illuminating the Way to Overcome the Writer’s Silent Disappointment
Writers suffer from bouts of silent disappointment. The lack of readers, virality, achievement badges is part of a complicated emotional package. How we deal with ourselves matters.
Dear Writers,
We are such a confused bunch, are we not?
We want to write, and yet we cannot deal with post-publication trauma. These are some classic examples: -
“Shit, I think no one is going to read this.”
“It looks like a $1.00 revenue story.”
“How is this silly story going to earn me the coveted Top Writer badge?!”
“Only 5 views and 2 reads??”
“Why is it not chosen for further distribution?”
I can go on and on. Ditto.
This is the game we play, and these are the standard Writer’s disappointment we have to overcome. We learned to take things in our stride. We choose to focus on our sharpening our pencils, as opposed to whining our life away.
I have one more method to walk out of the Writer’s disappointment.
We can read our way out of it.
My Pick for the Week (or This Weekend)
There are many outstanding stories published on Illumination for the past week. These stories cover different angles of life, especially how we can deal with the not-so-ideal aspect.
If you happen to be dealt with a bad hand as I had this week, do read the stories I have handpicked for you.
These 6 stories will bestow fresh perspectives to our minds (again), allowing us to breathe deeper and better.
Let us begin with mindset.
“Our formal education does little to nothing concerning changing our mindset, it rather feeds our minds with facts and figures expecting us to regurgitate it back in the same form… It was Mark Twain who said, “Education mainly consists of what we have unlearned”. Hence as much as you don’t leave your stomach open to any food, likewise do the same to your mind.”
No matter what happens, always keep an ounce of confidence within. It keeps us going.
“I bet you don’t trust yourself. You haven’t done enough of what you need to in order to become a person you can trust. You want success, but you don’t trust yourself to do what’s necessary. This is because day in and day out, you fail to get yourself to work on your craft — to practice, to study, to learn.”
Perfection kills. Imperfection calms.
“I fear I will never be satisfied with what I see in a society that imposes unrealistic ideals on me. But sadly, the biggest critic I harbor within, that berating inner voice with the cynical grin. Even though this critic can be harsh and unfair, an inner observer makes me more self-aware. And when I surrender to the taunting voices, I am truly able to handle life’s difficult choices.”
This is by far, the best description of writing. No surprises here. Writing is a journey.
“Writing is a path well trodden, and where people have trodden, they leave travel diaries. It’s worth reading about others’ experiences, but don’t assume you’ll be taking the same journey. Think of it as going on a trip with other people’s hand-drawn maps — the terrain changes, new roads are built, old ones disappear — but still, they’re a guide. They can give you insights and ideas. They set you on your way.”
We need to start focusing on the things that matter. Does writing matter to us, at all?
“While most of us have more than a few years left, these are questions that can help us focus on how best to use the resources we have (or perhaps to find new ones?). I know as I get older (I will be 60 next year), I don’t have a whole life of running ahead of me, but I can make the most of the runs I have. What changes might you make?”
Bob Merckel | 3 Valuable Questions To Sharpen Your Motivation
Then, there are friends who are always there.
“By this time, we were in our late forties. Gone were the diapers, midnight feedings and those horrible Mommy and Me classes where everyone pretended to be having a great time, but couldn’t wait for it to end. Now we dealt with teenage aliens, divorces, aging parents and financial gurus promising to make us fortunes by the time we reached the half century mark. But, as always, my girlfriends took time to listen to my story and work me through the situation.”
Janie Emaus | When Life Threw Me A Curve Ball, My Girlfriends Came With Their Mitts
Summary
The Writer’s life is filled with ups and downs.
It is a cycle that we have to accept, and it comes with embedded peaks and valleys that we learn to navigate.
Above all, take time away from writing to calm the Writer’s frenzy and read.
When we write, we extract the juice out of our minds. When we read, we take in supplements and vitamins to nourish our Tree of Thoughts.
With time, we will walk out of our disappointment and get back to our writing again.
Happy Writing, People.
Aldric
Dr Mehmet Yildiz Liam Ireland Maria Rattray Terry L. Cooper Karen Madej Carol Price Tree Langdon Britni Pepper Dr. Preeti Singh Agnes Laurens Claire Kelly The Maverick Files John Cunningham Geetika Sethi Noorain Hassan, BMS Zen Chan Editor of Technology Hits Esther George Josh Balerite Acol
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.