Writers block

I’ve been on Steemit for 1 and a half years. I’ve come to love and hate this platform over that time. No, I don’t hate Steemit in particular, I hate that Steemit shows me very clearly: I suck at writing.

I’ve never been able to just sit down and write a 10min article. It’s always a really long drag. I research, I carefully construct my sentences, I proof read, check spelling, etc. But by the end of it I’ve spent many hours simply to write a short article. At the beginning that didn’t really pay off and I started posting about photography instead. I’ve done so for over a year now and it’s been a blast, but I do miss writing, which is kinda funny: I was never good at it. So here’s to a new try.

The first question, the most difficult one, is always what to write about. I’ve had many conversations with friends about Steemit. I’ve managed to get some onto the platform, but they are all passive. When I ask why they don’t post it’s always the same answer: I don’t know what to write about and that it takes up too much time.

I can relate to that. It’s the same with anything in life. We think our work is our bread and butter, any leftover time should be spent on things you enjoy. I’ve felt the same, but ultimatelly that’s not true. Change only occurs with change. We can’t sit around hoping for our lives to change on their own. Change requires sacrifice. To trade our momentary well-being for a better future. This is a deep topics about the basics of life really, but I’ll stop here :P

As with any new hobby, setting some goals should be a good place to start. Goals like „I wan’t to become a good, successful writer” are really bad :D I think they aren’t worth even thinking about. A better goal would be „I will write 1 article every day”. This sounds easy, it’s achievable, and over time this will eventually make you a great writer, whereas thinking about becoming a great writer will only set you up for disappointment every single time you think about your goal, because you just aren’t that good yet. It might also grow disdain towards writing and make you blind towards your achieved success as it’s dwarfed by your unreachable end-goal. So don’t set an end-goal, that’s my suggestion.

All in all the achievements you make come down to your daily habits. The front-man of Metallica never wanted to become the most well-known metal band around. He only cared about playing good enough so he could play with his friends every day. This day to day mentality brought him success. It’s not about what’s tomorrow, but what’s right now. Do the things you care about consistently and you will improve.

It’s ironic. Here I am writing how I suck at writing and how I think I could improve it :P
I hope this has been helpful.

Feel free to comment and let me know about your writing. Do you have goals, daily habits? How often do you write? Etc. :D

Happy Steeming!