Quit This, Not That (For Writers)

Writing is hard.

So quit. Give up your dream of being a novelist/short story author/screenwriter/memoirist. Delete all those half-finished manuscripts and do something else with all that “free time” that was never really free.

Or…

You could continue writing and quit other things instead. For example:

Quit believing you will never finish writing your novel. Writers who aren’t nearly as smart/talented/dedicated/beautiful/lost/uncertain/crazy as you completed their novels. Of course you can finish yours. Stop being so dramatic.

Quit telling yourself you suck as a writer. This is counterproductive. And redundant. All writers suck at some point in their career. Some suck at many points in their career. But stop telling yourself this. It makes giving up way too easy.

Quit coming up with excuses not to write. “I should be weeding the garden.” “I need to Google gifs of kittens.” “I have to feed my children.” Write or don’t, but stop making yourself feel guilty for the “don’t” times.

Quit reading articles about authors who blazed their own trail and bucked the system and became millionaires selling 99-cent novels on Amazon. This will either make you feel unrealistically hopeful or unfairly inferior. Neither looks good on you.

Quit reading articles about how impossible it is to find writerly success. Of course it’s impossible. So is the very idea that someone can string a few words together and create a world that only truly comes to life in someone else’s head. Impossible is a writer’s greatest motivation. Embrace it.

Quit using the phrase “writer wannabe.” If you write, you’re a writer. If you don’t, you’re not.

Quit comparing your writing output to that of another writer. Unless you’re on deadline, there is no deadline. Write fast. Write slow. Just write.

Quit whining about the sorry state of publishing today. What purpose does that serve, anyway (I mean, besides acting as a convenient distraction from the fact that you’re not currently writing)? When it’s time to pursue publishing (if you pursue publishing – you’re still a writer even if you don’t), learn all you can about your options. Then pursue one or more with the same passion that drove you to write in the first place.

Quit chasing trends. Write what you want to write. (Note: If what you want to write happens to be trending, don’t beat yourself up about that either. Okay? Write what you love.)

Quit saying “I don’t have time to read.” Make time. Reading makes you a better writer.

Quit blaming your inability to write on “writer’s block.” There are a thousand good ways to defeat writer’s block. The first is to deny it’s a real thing and get back to writing. But if that doesn’t do it for you, try one of the ideas in this blog post, Stuck in the Middle. Or this one, 7 Fiber-Rich Ideas for Solving Writer’s Block.

Quit reading this blog post and write 100 words. Or 1000. Or ten.

I mean it.

Go. Now. Write.