You’re Doing Great! Writing Encouragement For Writers Who Are Feeling Down

 You’re Doing Great! Writing Encouragement For Writers Who Are Feeling Down

Hello my fellow writers! I’ve been feeling pretty down about both blogpost writing and my personal writing, so I decided that I would write out some encouragement for anyone who might be feeling the same.

If You Have Imposter Syndrome

I get this one in particular a lot. For those of you who don’t know, imposter syndrome is: feeling like a fraud, being convinced that you’re not as competent as others think, and that your accomplishments are because of luck or timing, which leads to stress and a lot of self-doubt. 

For me personally, I have a hard time believing that my writing really is as good as other people think that it is. A lot of times, I like a thing I wrote in the moment, but looking back on it, feel like it’s terrible. Or, that my way of writing and my style is not good, or ‘common’ enough.

Sometimes the best thing you can do with imposter syndrome is take a moment to look at your writing and remind yourself that it doesn’t need to be perfect. I get that it sounds like a terrible solution, but it does work. Or, read something similar to what you write– whether be the style, narration, or genre. 

For the more analytical minds, look at the concrete evidence that you have created something real and good. Look at the facts that say, you did this, not luck. 

Having imposter syndrome is the worst, and it can come in waves. Just remember that you are your biggest critic, and remind yourself that it doesn’t need to be perfect, especially for a draft.

If You Haven’t Written In A While

This one can be a monster. If you take a long pause in your writing, sometimes you come back with a vigor, or other times you feel like you’re stuck in a loop of should-I-should-I-not. It’s what I was dealing with recently in terms of my blog.

My best advice for this is: write. I know it’s hard to just pick up a pen or pencil, or open up a Doc, but trust me on this. If you write even one sentence a day, you will start to get back on track. Because eventually, that sentence a day becomes a paragraph a day, then a page a day, and then before you know it you’re up to 2,000 words a day like you never stopped writing.

You can get back into writing! Just go slow. Take your time, and don’t let the fact that you’re not writing as much as you used to get to you. You’ll get back to that point.

If You’re Getting Burnout 

There is a careful balance you have to strike when either getting back into writing or trying to keep up a certain pace. If you do too much too soon, or try to write too many words every single day, it can stick you in a loop of writing exhaustion.

Now, there is a limit to how much you should aim to write a day. Let’s say you average 1,000 words. Keep to that, that’s good. But if you get 2,500 one day because you had too much free time, and then try to keep up that pace, you will get burnout.

The best thing you can do in a case of burnout is one of three things:

If you are genuinely beginning to feel exhausted or feeling aversion towards writing, then take a break. Take as long as you need! Maybe you just need to read a book, or eat some ice cream, or just take a week off of writing. Breaks are very helpful if you start to feel sick at the thought of writing.

Another thing you can do is decrease your word count. If you write 1,500 words a day, and start to feel the drag of exhaustion, then lower the amount of words you write per day. Maybe try 750, or 1,000. 

The other thing you can do is change up what you choose to write. Maybe you’re working on your epic high fantasy with elves and dragons, but you’re really starting to get sick of writing shan’t and thoust. Then maybe it’s time for you to try out that underdog wizard x one thousand year old vampire paranormal romance you’ve been wanting to write. Sometimes all you need is a change of pace.

If You’re Just Starting Out

If you’re a new writer, first off, welcome to the club! We may not be completely sane, but we’re a decently nice community. Secondly, if you’re just starting out, you probably feel a little lost or like you’re drowning in beginner videos on Youtube.

My best advice to you is: write! You’ll only get better the more you write and the longer you write. Start off slow, take your time learning your process(like if you plot a lot upfront, or fix plot holes in later drafts).

And, I’m stealing this advice from one of Brandon Sanderson’s writing lectures(which are on Youtube): 

Don’t listen to every piece of advice you come across– there’s a lot of self-discovery that goes into becoming a better writer, and sometimes the advice someone will give you is perfect for you, but may be a big discouragement for another writer.

Even if you’ve been writing for a couple years(like me) or even fifty, you still learn about yourself and your growing process, and sometimes advice from a random Reddit thread can hinder that.

As Brandon Sanderson said: You are the art. The journey of creating a story is to shape and form you, and to leave you different than before. Art is a process that takes time, and in the end, you have a story, but you have changed. You have learned something, and you have grown.

If You’re On A Deadline

I do not have much experience with deadlines outside of ones I have made for myself, so I don’t have much to say on this type of feeling down.

But, look at your deadline and what you have to get done, and tell yourself, I can do this! You just have to plan a little, and hold yourself accountable, or have someone else help you hold yourself accountable.

I’ll use myself as an example. I have a self-imposed deadline for March 15th(to March 25th because of a sudden project flip, but for the sake of the example, we’ll keep it to the 15th): to have a completed first draft. That’s just over a month away and I have 16,000 words. 

I need to write 2,000 words a day, which is my normal amount, yes, but knowing that I have to is a little bit daunting. So, do your darnedest to hit your goal, and once you get it, who knows, maybe you’re still flying and write out an extra 1,000 words.

That doesn’t mean you don’t have to write as much. Stick to a daily amount of words to write, or you’ll do 6,000 words one day and feel lost when you have to write some more.

…and there is my encouragement! Maybe it wasn’t super encouraging(I’m not very great at that), but I did try my best to give you guys solutions and ways to help with your discouragement. 

Take it from someone who’s been writing for several years: it gets better! All you have to do is not quit and keep on writing!