Why I Keep Writing

Truth be told. I have my own blog and no audience. I have a Medium account (a great platform for writers, you should try it) and no significant audience there too. Nobody reads my articles.

But I am still writing here.

I’m not a good writer nor a professional blogger, and not even close to that title. But I am still writing here.

Why?

Because I do not care.

I don’t care about my Medium statistics. I do not want to rank my blog on Google (sometimes it happens even with no SEO).

I do not write for any financial gain (if you know how to do that, you definitely could), and I don’t even anticipate anybody to read my articles.

Don’t take this wrong. That does not mean I’m not trying. I am trying hard in all aspects.

I learn writing tips, grammar, new words, basic SEO, blogging, affiliate marketing, earning money from a blog, Wordpress, and more every single day.

Because to become a “good writer” (good writers does not exist) and improve my writing skills, I do have to learn new things. I believe you should too.

Don’t consider it as wasting your precious time. You don’t have to be an expert on SEO to become a better writer or manage your own blog.

I mean, at least you should have the basic knowledge.

Sometimes I feel like I have more meaningful things to do than writing. I know you also think the same. But I have a lot to write about. That is why I keep writing.

So, I don’t want to leave my blog or give up on daily writing. I am not too hard on myself.

Just write and hit the “Publish” button.

Writing fear

Yes, I know, it is not easy to beat the writing fear. Even if I write, that doesn’t mean I have beaten my writing fears entirely.

Nobody beats the writing fear completely even the best writers have that fear deep inside. You can’t wait until you conquer the fear. You have to cope with the fear and write.

Here is the deal. You are going to fail, reject and get negative feedback. I’m really sorry. I don’t know how to deliver that soft, or I don’t mean to be discouraging.

You have to be ready. That is the only thing you can do. I trained myself like this.

I reframed the rejection as some sort of success because at least I dared to send my writing out. I know that many writers do not go that far.

Are you planning to submit your first piece to your favorite blog as a guest author? Don’t even think about that yet. The probability of rejection is pretty high unless you are a terrific writer.

However, your article might not be good enough for their blog. I believe it is good enough for your blog or publishes on your Medium account.

Count it as a massive achievement as a writer.

You will never know how supportive other bloggers until you put your content out there.

Expect a ton of negative feedback. But I can promise you that most of the feedback is pretty amazing and encouraging.

They will inspire you to write more. They will help you optimize your content and give tips to get the best writing from you.

Maybe they don’t like my writing. At least they asked me to write more. Isn’t that satisfying?

Do you want anybody’s approval?

Do you want to please everyone? Don’t waste your time and energy on this because you can’t do that. You never will. Do you want to hear from others that you are good? Then you are in big trouble because It is not going to happen.

Honestly, it is not real. It does not exist.

At least you would not please yourself. Go through your own article after a few weeks you published; you’ll feel that you could have written this much better.

So, how could you please someone else? How could you expect to hear that your writing is good from someone else?

Even if I say so, deep inside, we all expect claps and whistles, right? I realized writing more is the only solution to change this mindset.

Writing more will grow your confidence level. Then you do not want to please anybody or expect approval. You’ll start to believe that your piece is good enough.

I want to come to that stage ASAP. That is why I keep writing.

The definition of writing success depends

Success does not have a universal meaning. It depends. Especially when it comes to writing or blogging, it depends on your perspective.

You should not follow the footsteps of your favorite blogger. Don’t look at others. They are not you. So, you define success yourself and go for it.

My success is this. I count just writing 500 words per day as a huge success because I put a lot of effort into achieving that. It may be nothing closer to yours.

Maybe you define your success as 1000 $ per month from your writing, guest post on Entrepreneur, Forbes, or The Guardian. That is totally acceptable and great.

Keep your success in mind and keep writing. I have bigger dreams in my mind. That is why I keep writing.

Realistic writing goals

Newbies are excited when they begin and hurry to place impossible standards before them.

I was there once and want to shoot articles on my blog daily. That was a terrible mistake.

Even if I got so many things to write, I was exhausted within a few days. So, I simply dismissed the standards and went for a manageable goal for daily writing.

For me, writing 500 words per day was a good achievement. I’m not telling you that you should settle for something more comfortable and give up on your goal.

You probably could write 1500 words per day pretty quickly. So, go for it. But set small goals, and don’t try to go beyond your limits to achieve more. Just write.

Enough is enough

Are you a “not good enough” kind of guy? Question your efforts all the time. Does frustration come with everything you do?

So, please think straight; at least you have done it. That is the most important thing.

Worrying does not make you a good writer. It only gives you embarrassment. I think it is time to stop it. Ideas do not pour into our minds easily until we practice our brains to write more and not worry about writing.

Start with a short article, like 500 words. Small works pretty intensely sometimes.

Writing must be unique

You really are a unique person. You are unique in many ways. Nobody has the same genetic materials as you have. Nobody thinks the same as you do. So, nobody can write like you.

So what else do you want to know about your uniqueness?

The world needs no second Hemingway. The world already had one. If anybody wants to read Hemingway, it is already there.

The world needs you. Your unique voice only.

You indeed have a unique voice. You only have to find that voice. A unique voice is a way to earn success, and writing a lot (I mean really a lot) is the only way to find your unique voice.

Writing must be personal, and you should not always write for others. You should write for yourself. Write like you are talking to yourself. You will be able to hear your voice in your head.

I feel like I still couldn’t find my original writing voice. That is why I keep writing.

Wrapping up

Choosing the best platform to publish your articles is crucial.

A Wordpress blog (recommend self-hosted) is the best option if you are a computer geek or have a few bucks to spend.

If you are still not ready to get into trouble with Wordpress, Medium is the best for you.

Medium is free, has a clean and responsive design, has mobile apps, and is easy to work with. Setting up your account takes five minutes, and you are good to go.

The best thing is that Medium has a vast audience and all the features you need as a reader or writer. You just have to write, publish and see what happens next.

I am almost 31 years of age. Half of my life was gone already. Am I too old to be a beginner? I don’t think so.

Maybe your family thinks your writing is a waste of time. Perhaps you had to experience a harsh critique of your first blog post. Perhaps you are going through a terrible time in your life.

I know, all these are only some excuses not to write. Your mind is tricky, and it is playing with you.

If you quit for any of those reasons, you might have to leave this world with sorrow at the end of your life. It is the worst, right? Try to experience that moment right now.

You will never think about quitting your dreams again.

Don’t give up on writing. I still don’t. I keep writing because It is a dream, and I love writing.

Featured Photo by Daria Shevtsova