Writing Can Be Hard?

(Don’t Ever Give Up)

Do you ever feel stuck writing sometimes?

To create something new.

To come up with ideas.

I feel that way sometimes too.

Do you have moments when it feels like you have no idea where to start or what to say?

I seem to go through starts and stops.

Bursts of creativity. When the words flow.

Then nothing.

This can happen to me from time to time.

I don’t think it’s writer’s block because frankly I’ve been told that writer’s block doesn’t exist. (Or does it?)

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Tip 1: Just Write

You just need to write.

I learned this in a creative writing class.

To write daily. With pen and paper.

There’s nothing more daunting than staring at a blank piece of paper.

But pen and paper help the brain and hand connect again.

For those days, when you do not know what to write.

I was told to write those very words down.

“I don’t know what to write”.

Then carry on and write what those next thoughts are, soon the flow will start.

Try it and see if that works for you.

This exercise helps when you hit a dry spell.

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Tip 2: Get Rid of Preconceptions

When do you become a writer?

When you write something masterful?

Or when you start to write?

So, you want to be a writer? What does it take?

What are your preconceptions about being a writer?

It’s probably along the lines that writers don’t earn much money.

That it is a hard industry to break into.

That you have to be good if you are going to get noticed.

But what if you just wrote?

I know. Seems too simple.

Try it.

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Tip 3: Write Daily

How can you become a writer if you don’t write?

I know when I was writing daily, I was getting better.

I used a platform called 750 Words.

There are no prompts, you just go on each day and add your 750 words to the platform.

You would get points for each day you wrote.

Each day you write you got a daily writing streak.

The incentive was to not break your daily streak and to have fun doing so.

I found it helpful to just write each day.

Some days what I wrote wasn’t that great.

And others, I stood back and thought great job.

Since coming across to Medium, I still try to write daily.

My daily writings are more like drafts of my thoughts.

Writing on Medium takes more time, I come back to those drafts, to edit and re-write them.

Therefore, I have not yet been able to publish as much as I am writing in the background.

Final Tip: Read More

I read a lot. At least I try to do so.

More so since joining the Medium platform.

I am trying to read a minimum number of stories each day.

To write at least three comments on pieces I enjoyed reading.

I am starting to connect and to find writers with a style I can relate to.

I can hear when a writer has found their voice, as their words speak directly to me.

But for me, finding my writing voice seems to be taking more time.

But I know that the more I write, it will improve.

Final Thoughts

When you write, does what is inside come out?

If nothing comes out does that mean, there is nothing inside?

That you are empty?

You are a writer; you are never empty!

Even when nothing comes out.