Five Writing Lessons I Wished I Had Learned Sooner
By: Ana Clara Caravelo Neumann
Tags: Self, Personal Growth, Love, Lessons Learned, Writing

Five Writing Lessons I Wished I Had Learned Sooner

Photo by Steven Houston on Unsplash

When I was ten years old, I realized that I loved to write. This realization came when I created my own magazine for my classmates where I would write about upcoming events, what was new in the world of Avril Lavigne, and good old school gossip.

I charged my two faithful customers 25 cents for every magazine, which didn’t even cover what my parents probably spent on electricity and ink for the printer. Nevertheless, I knew that writing was what I loved to do.

However, without even realizing it, I started to write less and less as the years went by. When I was 12, I wrote a fan-fiction about my favorite band. When I was 16, I occasionally journaled about my feelings. By the time I was 19, I was only writing papers for college. Even when I was 23 and joined a Professional Writing and Communications post-graduate program, I only wrote what my professors asked me to write.

It wasn’t until I was 26 that I started to ask myself, “why did I stop writing?”

It wasn’t that I didn’t like to write. Every time I grabbed a pen, I would be overwhelmed with the same emotions that I felt when I was ten years old, sitting in front of a computer and typing my life away.

So, what was stopping me from pursuing what I loved the most?

Here is what I realized:

1. Passion is not all it takes

Passion is where things begin, but it is not enough to take you all of the way. I always had the impression that my passion for writing would be enough to help me become a successful writer.

However, that was not the case. Instead, I allowed writing to take a supporting role in my story. I got busy, and so did my life.

“Do what you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

For the longest time, I thought this was true, and I thought that loving something would be enough to make sure you are actively pursuing it. Although this may be accurate for a lot of people, it took me years to realize that it isn’t true for me.

Writing takes dedication. It takes sitting down every day and forcing yourself to write, even when it feels like you have no words left inside of you; or even when the words that come out seem to make no sense at all.

For 16 years, I thought that my love for writing would make me a successful writer. It simply was not true.

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.” — Stephen King

Writing starts with passion, but it ends with dedication. It ends with pushing through the days where your mind draws a blank and you cannot come up with an idea that is “good enough.”

2. Sometimes you need to settle for good

As writers, we always want to strive for perfection. We want to use the right words, and to the perfect way to captivate our readers and make sure that they always come back to us.

Or at least, that’s how I’ve always been.

Because of this, I found myself writing, reading, and editing the same sentence so many times that the words in it would stop making any sense at all. I was never satisfied with my writing, or even with a simple title — it always needed to be the smartest, funniest, and wittiest title in the world.

This is why every single piece of writing that I started would go unfinished. It was never good enough for me because I was striving for perfection.

However, I had to realize that my writing will never be everything that I expect. It will never be perfect enough for my unrealistic standards because there is no such thing as perfection. But this doesn’t mean that my writing cannot be good. And sometimes, good is better than perfect.

Because at least good gets published.

3. Inspiration won’t always come

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” — Stephen King

I always thought that whenever inspiration came, I would write the perfect blog, essay, or novel. “If only I had the right idea,” then I would most certainly get the job done.

However, inspiration never came to me. Or if it did, I didn’t pursue it because I thought my idea wasn’t perfect enough.

Sure, inspiration has played a big role in the lives of writers before me. However, waiting for inspiration has only wasted my time. This is because inspiration only comes when your mind is trained to find it. It won’t come if you are not looking for it.

There are days in which you will feel more inspired than others. There are days in which the writing flows better, and the ideas seem to burst inside your head without even knocking. But those days will not come if you simply do not force yourself to write first. Because when you incorporate writing into your daily routine, you are always looking for ideas and inspiration. When you are not even thinking about writing because you are waiting for inspiration to come knocking on your door, it will not come.

Photo by Elsa Noblet on Unsplash

4. There is no such thing as an original idea

There is very little out there that has never been done before. It took me a long time to realize that. It took me long to understand that originality does not come from an idea that no one has ever had before — it comes from how that idea is told.

What makes a writing piece original is not whether or not another writer has ever written about it; originality comes from putting your individuality into your writing and allowing your readers to experience it.

I was always looking for an idea that was entirely my own. I wanted to write something that had never been thought of or written before, which is why I barely ever wrote.

Much like inspiration, waiting for originality was a waste of my time. There is no such thing as an original idea, but there are original writers, and unique human beings behind computer screens, notebooks, or typewriters.

It took me a long time to realize that being a good writer does not mean having an original idea but being able to tell your story in a unique way.

5. Getting to know yourself is key

It took some time for me to figure out what was the best way to get me to write. After years of unproductivity, I started to look for the times in which I did get my work done, and what helped me be more productive on those occasions. I realized that I needed a few things:

A designated place in my house where I would only dedicate myself to writing

Water, tea, and a candle

Whenever I felt stuck, all I had to do was take a shower

In an interview with Franziska Samanek, Daniel Markwig stated that it is possible to stimulate desired behaviors through the set-up of a space. I don’t live in a big apartment, but I have designated a little corner in my house where I only go to whenever I want to write. By creating a space entirely dedicated for my writing, I am able to train my brain to feel more productive there.

Setting up my space includes lighting a candle, filling my water bottle with cold water, and brewing a nice warm tea. For some reason, the combination of those three makes me want to be more productive and gets me more motivated to get work done.

When I was still in college, I realized that whenever I felt stuck on a subject or was having a hard time working on an assignment, all I had to do was take a shower. For some reason, I am usually able to come up with the first paragraphs of my writing when I have water running down my body. It isn’t something I fully understand, but it is something that increases my productivity — so I take advantage of it.

It is really important to understand what works for you, and what helps you be more productive. Those three items are some of the things that have worked for me, and that have helped me bring writing back into my life. Whenever you feel unmotivated or overwhelmed, try looking for patterns in your life that make you feel more productive and closer to achieving your goals. When you identify those patterns, take advantage of them.

Writing is not an easy task, I am sure you know this already. However, it is important that we understand that we are the ones in control of our own productivity.

I wish I had realized these five lessons sooner. However, they’ve still taught me a lot about writing and about myself. By admitting that I was the only one stopping myself from pursuing my passions, I was forced to stop making excuses for my lack of writing.

Allow yourself to identify what is stopping you from going after what you love, and make the changes you need to pursue it.