Don't Lose Your Passion For Your Writing.
Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that.
Subscribe to Becoming A Writer podcast! New episodes published every 2nd and 4th Saturdays.
Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
- Howard Thurman
Many times I have heard writers say they love having written a book. It's like saying I love having a wedding.
But here's the point - wedding is not the real deal; marriage is.
Just like you can't have all the fun of a wedding without the ups and downs of marriage, you can't have a written book without the process and rollercoaster ride of writing.
Writing is your marriage. One day, you and your dream of becoming a writer came into union and promised to stick with each other until death do you part.
Initially, it'll be all rosy and honeymoon-y. You both will be getting to know each other on an intimate level. It'll be fun and scary learning what you can do together. Dreaming about your beautiful future together will take you on a magic carpet ride. And for that moment, however long it might be, there will be no one in the world except for the two of you.
Then you'll return to reality and realise that things aren't as rosy as you thought they would be.
You'll fall into the daily routine of grinding and functioning as a human being. Initially, you two will try to make time for each other and keep the spark alive, but eventually, the world and its errands will take over your day, and you'll be too tired to do anything else after surviving the day.
You'll also start noticing each other's flaws. How writing promised a fun ride, but it turns out you have no clue what you two are doing. How your bad habits of self-doubt and procrastination are keeping you from engaging with writing. How the daily act of writing doesn't feel as high and orgasmic as you felt when you first met each other.
Just like any marriage, your writing journey will have dull phases and ups and downs. Now, it's your job to make sure you keep this union alive.
Why is it your job? Because writing is already present and available in this marriage, it's you who isn't listening.
You can't just declare, "I am a writer," and call it a day. The same goes for publishing your book—you can't publish your book and then say, "I am a writer."
You aren't a writer because you say so or because you publish your words. You are a writer because you write.
Writing, like any marriage, needs consistent, persistent, intentional effort and love. You have to remember why you got together in the first place, why you fell in love with writing and what made you take it to the next step of becoming one. And then you have to make sure you continue staying a writer by constantly engaging and listening and improving together.
Otherwise, you’ll lose your passion and enthusiasm for writing and say you fell out of love.
Reasons Why Writers Lose Passion For Their Writing.
Monotony. It's not that you have lost your passion for your writing. It's the day-to-day grind of writing, over time, sucks the joy of the activity.
Isolation. Being a writer and the act of writing will keep you in your own company because it is a mind-and-heart job. Not many will get the way you process the world around you and put it into words, therefore making you feel lonely.
Unrealistic expectations. It was the rosy, bright future you saw as a writer that made you sit down and start writing. But as reality begins unfolding, you'll soon realise that it's not as easy, rosy, or quick-rewarding as you thought it would be. This phase has broken many writers' hearts.
Lack of external progress and recognition. Unlike a traditional job, a creative job like writing means that progress will be slow and recognition will be close to none in a society-approved way. Not having external results to validate your effort has stifled many writing dreams.
Personal challenges. Health issues, relationship problems, basic to major life problems and changes will impact your ability to focus and maintain passion for your writing. Majority of the time, such obstacles will keep you away from your writing.
External pressures and distractions. Comparing your journey with the of other writers and non-writers will always make you feel you are lacking something and are not doing enough. Feeling this pressure will make you look for distractions to numb your pain. Then, you'll end up spending your entire evening scrolling Instagram and eating rubbish instead of spending some quality and rejuvenating time with your writing.
Criticism and rejection. The actual receiving of them or just the fear of them paralysis us even before we can let ourselves fall in love with our writing process.
Imposter syndrome. This self-doubt of not being good enough, not doing enough and even if we are good, we won't be as good as XYZ makes us pull our writing punches.
Perfectionism. This is the belief that we shouldn't even start writing if we don't even know how it will end or whether it will end up as the unrealistic image we have in our heads. This limiting belief comes from the space of not wanting to be embarrassed or looked at as a failure, and this leads to us not writing at all.
Burnout. In order to prove to ourselves and others that writing is a worthy vocation, we push ourselves too hard, work long hours, use too much of our head instead of our heart, and are constantly stressed to "make it happen." This inevitably leads to exhaustion and a disheartened heart.
Ways Writers Can Bring Back Passion Into Their Writing.
Stay in your lane. Don't compare yourself to other writers or non-writers. We all may have the same end goal (happiness, love, success, money, etc.), but our way of going about it, given the knowledge and wisdom we have at that moment, will be different. Focus on your journey as a writer and potential authorpreneur.
Embrace self-compassion. We will face times when our writing is not going well or as we had hoped. Feeling angry or defeated about it will not help our cause. Instead, be kind and loving to yourself. This positive attitude will help you find a solution to your writing problem quicker than trying to whip it out of yourself.
Disconnect from media. Media of all kinds (social and others) have lost their charm. 90-95% of it directly or indirectly makes you feel inferior, worried, and dumb. It is best to stay away from it if we are to enjoy our writing process to the fullest.
Take inspiration breaks. Instead of spending the free time you get outside of your life and writing on social media and going down the self-sabotaging rabbit hole, you can spend it finding reasons to continue writing. Dedicate time to activities that inspire you, whether it's visiting museums, watching films, reading books, or attending live performances. Sometimes, a break can provide a new perspective for your writing and reignite enthusiasm.
Rediscover your passion. Reflect on why you started writing in the first place. Stoke that fire of inspiration again.
Set realistic goals and expectations. Become self-aware enough to know how you work as a writer. This will help you set your goals and expectations according to your writing personality and nature and, therefore, make your writing process 80% easy, breezy, and beautiful.
Experiment. This is a beautiful and exciting perk of being a creative like writer. Instead of being stuck doing the same thing day after day, like in most traditional jobs, we have the freedom to try things out whenever we want and whenever it's needed. Experimenting keeps us on our toes and makes us keep an eye out for what's working or not in our relationship with our writing. Learning this makes it easier to pivot and make changes to our writing journey in our favour.
Celebrate. No matter in which phase you are with your writing - early days of courting, just married, settling in comfortably, hitting a couple of rough patches, having book babies together, seeing them grow - some into success, a couple being black sheep, or cosying into old age - celebrate your life and journey together. Many aren't able to live and love their dream, but you are. Be grateful for that and celebrate it.
My book for writers, Soul Writer vs. Social Writer, is out now!