How To Write When You Don’t Feel Inspired
I’ve read enough Medium articles at this point to know that the people who committed to writing every single day, did in fact reap extraordinary benefits.
I mean, there are hundreds of articles with profound learnings about what came of the process.
I’ll admit, I was envious. It prompted me to think, “You know what, I can do that too.”
So I joined the club and got started. I sat down everyday and got words on paper. Some days I published, most days I just wrote.
I had a great streak going, I really did. But then I took a day off.
And then another and another.
I lost my momentum and then it became easy to make excuses for why I wasn’t writing that day.
‘Oh, too busy’ or ‘Oh, work really picked up’.
Unfortunately, then I had to sit in the feelings of failing to follow through on my commitment.
If you’ve felt that guilt, maybe you also sense it right under your sternum. It almost feels like hunger for a second but then you realize it’s actually shame.
It’s not pleasant and it prompted me to get back into the rhythm of sitting down every day and just getting some words down, no matter how difficult.
Here’s what helps me.
Remove perfectionism
Perfectionism is the killer of creativity.
Remember, you’re not expecting to be Heidi Cohen within a matter of days.
Stop overthinking your sentence structure and just put some phrases on the paper.
Not everything you write will be meaningful and artistic. In fact, most of the time it won’t be either of those things.
Sitting down and getting to it is more or less meant to be exercise for your writing muscles; your focus is to get a little practice every single day.
Over time, just like any skill, it will get easier and become more natural. Be patient with the process and allow it to be a little messy.
When I am really struggling to produce content, I just open up a blank document and write down every thought that comes to my mind.
Sometimes I even wind up in a conversation with myself about why I am irritated at writing.
It doesn’t matter. I have the intention to stick with it until the juices are flowing and I just hang out there as long as I need to.
I certainly don’t love everything that I write but my goal isn’t to write perfect articles anyway.
Connect with the reason you decided to write in the first place
Did you challenge yourself for pure enjoyment? Or are you planning to monetize this skill?
Whichever route you’re going, be honest with yourself about why you even want to do this.
I write because I know it helps me make sense of what’s happening around me and it just feels good!
I don’t have any ulterior motives there and knowing this removes the pressure to crank out flawless articles in order to pay my bills.
Now if that is the reason you chose to write, excellent! You probably operate much better than I do under stress and if that helps get you typing, let it be your driver.
Maybe you don’t enjoy writing at all nor do you care to monetize it. Sometimes it’s important to really lean in and understand if you’re persisting for superficial reasons. If that’s the case, try and locate something that feels more aligned and truly purposeful to you. I guarantee the motivation to follow through on it will feel more natural.
Understand how this provides value to your audience
If you’re releasing your writing to the public, it will need to have innate value to readers in order to be consumed.
Otherwise, it may never be seen.
Consider the way in which you intend to enhance your reader’s lives and make sure that is constant throughout the entire piece.
Knowing that you’re doing something to help someone else can be very activating.
To try this, get really clear on the following;
- Who exactly will pick this up
- Why would they be enticed to keep reading
- What impact will this have on their day
- What other topics would continue to stimulate them
These questions will help you tailor your writing style, tone, the extent to which you add opinion or humor, the length of the content, and what other details you’ll reference to hook them.
Believe it or not, writing has elements of marketing and advertising, especially when you’re trying to keep readers coming back to your work.
I like to imagine specific people that I think my writing will appeal to.
I run through the questions listed above and speculate how else I can customize my message to their needs.
Not only does this expand my thinking and prompt new ideas as I’m writing, but it also really helps to shape my work and unlock more substance.
Keep these tips in mind when you’re really struggling to find the right words. Hopefully, they can get different gears turning like they do mine and keep us both on track with our commitment.
