New Writers Have Been Sold a Lie. The Hardest Part Isn’t Getting Started.
5 reality checks you need (& what to do about them)
I’ve been on Medium for 5 months and have written 50 articles
But I’ve been lied to. And so have you.
We’ve been told that the hardest part is getting started.
Starting is the exhilarating bit. We see our first article go out into the world. Get our first view and think wow people are actually reading my stuff.
Then we get a shock and discover harder battles.
And unless we come to grips with these we’ll be stopped in our tracks
Here are 5 reality checks and how I am dealing with them.
1. The hardest part is staying motivated
I accept that getting started requires an initial push.
But the greater challenge is maintaining motivation. Over 80% of new year’s resolutions fail. The novelty of the start is energising. Making plans gives us a dopamine hit. We feel inspired and ride the crest of the emotional wave. It is hard to imagine that in a few months all that will have seeped away.
The truth is it’s hard to keep going when you see no results.
It is disheartening to spend hours on an article and only receive a handful of views. If you are to survive as a writer you need a way to keep going when that initial fire has burnt out.
Motivation gets you started but systems keep you going.
Here’s how I’ve kept my fire burning:
- Have a specific routine with input goals. Aim to write X minutes. Aim for Y articles. Make this your criteria for success. Celebrate achieving this goal
- Learn a new technique — this gives me a burst of energy. It’s like a restart. When the fire goes out. This can get you going again.
- Take a big-picture view of my progress. Are you further on than 6 months ago? Yes so encourage yourself. Like a growing 10-year-old — you see progress in years not weeks.
- Writing is more like farming than a factory producing widgets. You need to trust that if you plant seeds the harvest will come. Be patient.
2. The hardest part is overcoming setbacks
Setbacks are like a punch to the gut. They leave us winded.
I recently had a run of 5 stories that all got great responses. High read rate. Highest views ever. Claps galore. I thought I had cracked Medium. I’d learned some new tricks and they were working.
Then my next 3 got hardly any response. Total failure. Hours of work wasted. I was at a loss. I’d used the same approach but it had stopped working.
I’m not stupid- I know everything won’t go to plan all the time.
But that doesn’t make it easy to get back up when you’ve been knocked down.
Here’s 3 ideas that have worked for me:
- Why are you surprised?
If you are surprised by a setback. It means you have an expectation problem. You need to sort this. 50% of dealing with problems is overcoming the initial shock. But if you expect them you are half-way there.
The question isn’t will things go wrong but how will things go wrong.
2. It’s okay to lick your wounds but don’t do it for long
If your energy is low after a disappointment and you give writing a miss for a few days. That’s ok. Sometimes we need space to recover. The danger is every day we wait increases the chances we won’t come back.
Decide how long you will take. Then restart.
3. Writing isn’t a solitary activity.
Family and friends don’t understand. Find a tribe you can walk with. I’ve found Twitter immensely helpful for this. Writing isn’t enough you need to know there are people with you.
Devote time to finding your people.
3. The hardest part is dealing with self-doubt
It’s a shock to discover self-doubt never goes away.
He’s there at the starting gate whispering his seductive lies:
- Who do you think you are?
- No one will want to read your stuff
- You are not an expert
We believe if get started he’ll leave us alone. But he’s always lurking ready to pounce in any moment of weakness.
Research shows that those with high levels of self-doubt are likely to procrastinate. They have lower self-esteem and are less successful. So writers must find ways to overcome self-doubt.
Some swear by positive affirmations but that has never worked for me. My mind laughs back at me. But evidence wins every time. That’s why I remind record my progress.
- Every week — I record my numbers & check my progress.
- I put the best compliments in a folder and read regularly
Doing this grows my confidence. And when doubt pounces I can recall these facts and use them to fight him off.
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” — Suzy Kassem
4. The hardest part is finding the right approach
The initial excitement of publishing is soon extinguished by the metrics.
Be warned. They are brutal and don’t hold back.
A few months ago I started on Twitter. After 60 days I had a dismal 18 followers. I’d tried threads. Posted at different times. No advice worked for me. Until I stumbled on a new approach of interacting with a small group of people. I increased my followers and exploded my views.
We need to experiment and fail if we want to uncover a way that works.
At the start most things don’t work and it’s an uphill battle to discover what does. There are plenty of gurus willing to take advantage and sell us their wares.
Netflix was a struggling DVD-by-mail service until it changed to streaming. Who was to know that would disrupt an entire industry? You never know what might work for you.
Experiment and quickly discard what doesn’t work. There are plenty of other options to try. Get guidance from someone one step ahead of you. This is better than a polished professional selling a course.
Learning doesn’t come easy but keeping an open mind can help. Don’t pressure yourself and try to force success. Walk lightly saying to yourself ‘let’s try this and see what happens’. Have fun learning and experimenting.
I’ve experimented with:
- topics
- publications
- title techniques
- story length
I am slowly learning what works. Keep going and you will too.
5. The hardest part is having faith in compounding
Our brains are unable to grasp the power of compounding.
Compounding is the impact of a small action repeated. It is mind-blowingly effective.
- Every story you write.
- Every comment you make.
- Every new idea you try out.
Build on each other and over time can produce incredible results.
But here’s proof that you don’t believe its power.
Imagine folding a piece of paper in half. Then do it again and again. Repeat this action 42 times.
How thick is the paper?
Answer — it will reach the moon.
Told you. Mind-blowing.
(You can google proof later)
Going back to Twitter here’s my follower growth:
0–25 = 67 days
25–50 = 19 days
50–100 = 18 hours
100–150 = 3 hours
This is the effect of compounding which leads to exponential growth.
Hearing stories of others’ growth can strengthen our faith in the process. And keep us planting seeds as we wait for the harvest to come.
If you are a new writer who hasn’t made it yet there are tough battles ahead. But others have made it. With the right training and weapons you can too.
If you liked this story, you’ll love my most popular one:
