New to Writing and Feeling Overwhelmed By All the Experts

Here’s what I’m doing to write consistently without feeling too inferior

You’ve made the decision to write and share your knowledge with the world. Fantastic! There’s only one problem. The writer’s world is bombarded with experts and this is making you feel like your writing is mediocre at best.

There are times when you get so many tips in your inbox on How to Write Consistently that you feel more overwhelmed than when you write nothing at all.

I know. I’m there on a regular basis.

Plus, so many experts are damn good at what they do.

Many experts write so eloquently and routinely, it can feel difficult for us newbies to keep up.

Rightfully so, most have been at it for years.

Yet, knowing this, there are times when I feel like I can’t keep up.

Instead of wallowing in my own self-pity (most of the time), I’ve been using the following tools to get my writing juices flowing.

Reduce Your Writer’s Inferiority Complex

I’ll be honest here, I have a lot of work to do in this area. However, these steps have been helping me move forward at a much faster pace.

1 — Accept where you are as a writer.

You’re new to the world of writing. This is the only place you can start. You can’t start as an experienced writer. It simply doesn’t work like this. Once you accept that all writers — even the experts — have to start somewhere, it’ll make it much easier to write without feeling overwhelmed.

2 — Sometimes being new is better than being an expert.

When you’re new to the game, you have less of an audience to “fail” in front of. While failing is how we learn, it can still hurt when you’re feeling more exposed while starting something new. A fully nude feeling in my case.

Experts have to deal with an abundance of critics. We as the new kids on the block are lucky enough to start with most, if not all, people supporting our endeavours.

Thank you to my small, yet supportive audience!

3 — You can write about whatever your heart desires.

Experts generally write for a particular niche. Some have multiple niches. This is what drives so much traffic to their work. They’ve found their audience(s).

We, new writers, are waiting to be discovered, leaving us free to write about pretty much anything we want.

We can flip-flop all over the place, testing out our creative skills. We’re not confined to a specific group or topic. In a sense, we have more freedom.

Sure eventually you want to narrow down your niche. For many of us, our goal is to make a living as a writer. But until we hone in on our niche(s) and target audience, we can write and share as much as we want.

4 —Stop overreading what you already know.

Ok, I’m bad for this. I love the work of the gents mentioned above, and many more. They have so much wisdom why wouldn’t I gobble it up? Well, in my case at least, when I read too much of an expert’s work, I start to feel like I can’t manage it all.

My brain can no longer focus on what I want to do because it’s only thinking about what I should be doing.

I start questioning why it’s taking me so long to get my writing out into the world. I’m 42. I also ask why I’m not yet where these experts are. And yes, I know it’s because I’m just starting out.

In any case, in these moments, I return to number one on this list. Acceptance.

Now, I only permit myself one or two improve your writing skills type articles per day. The rest of my daily reading focuses on other topics I enjoy.

5 — Write even when you don’t feel like it.

The only way to get over the overwhelm and feelings of inferiority is to write. If there are days you don’t feel like writing, try to jot down a few words. See if you can change those words into sentences.

“No one is born a writer. You must become a writer. In fact, you never cease becoming, because you never stop learning how to write. Even now I’m becoming a writer. And so are you.” — Joe Bunting

Try writing about something completely ridiculous or something that makes you laugh.

The point is to practice and keep going. As new writers, we need as much if not more practice when it comes to writing. This is why it’s so important to write even if you don’t feel like it.

6 — Write when it works for you.

We’re not all built to wake up at 5 am to write. We don’t all have a workday that permits us to write at 12 pm either. And the energy my kids require after school leaves my brain pretty much mush after 7 pm.

When it comes to writing, I now write when it works for me. Knowing I don’t have to maintain a specific schedule takes the pressure off. As novice writers, we also don’t have a huge audience waiting at our fingertips for our next article.

We have the luxury of writing when we can. Although I write every day — journal and headlines — I don’t write an article every day. Two or three a week works for me right now.

This will likely change as I become a better writer. Until then, I say write when you can. Just try to have some amount of regularity to it, so you can keep developing your skill.

7 — If all else fails, go back to why you started writing in the first place.

This one is the cherry on the cake. It can feel so good to reconnect with your why.

Why are you writing?

Who are you writing for?

What motivates you to write?

When I discovered my love for writing, I initially never imagined sharing it with anyone.

As I got more and more into it, I realized I could also write to help others.

If the feeling of inferiority creeps in, I turn to why I started writing — for the pure enjoyment and the deep hope that it might positively impact the lives of others.

“A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.” — Roald Dahl

Discovering your passion for writing and drive to share this with the world feels so wonderful. At the same time, with all the experts out there, it can also feel daunting and overwhelming. For us novice writers, however, we have the luxury of simply writing. There are little to no critics. We’re more flexible with our writing schedule and we can write pretty much whatever we feel like writing.

When you start to feel inferior in comparison to the experts, turn inwards and look at why you started writing in the first place. There, you’ll reconnect with your true motivation.