I Don’t Write Every Day Anymore
A little over a year ago I set out to write and publish an article every day for a month. I introduced the series with an article titled 3 Reasons You Should Write Every Day and proceeded to accomplish my goal of 30 articles. The best way to read them all in sequence is by signing up here:
I maintained the daily writing habit for a while and stand by the advice I wrote in that initial article…mostly. Today I am sharing a response with a slightly different perspective.
1. Writing daily can increase Imposter Syndrome
The thing is, that isn’t actually a bad thing. Imposter Syndrome can be a sign of growth. Paul Alan Aspen even makes the case that you will never stop feeling like an imposter unless you stop growing and start to stagnate.
Writing every day means facing what you do and do not know on a given topic. It forces you to get past the Dunning-Kruger high of not yet knowing what you don’t yet know and hit the dip of realization that you aren’t an expert.
Keep writing anyway.
Imposter Syndrome is a sign of growth. It means you care enough to pursue excellence. It means you are on your way to achieving greatness.
2. Writing daily isn’t enough
I know too many people who have established a writing habit only to write and write and write and never share what they have written. NaNoWriMo creates a whole hoard of this breed of writer every year in November.
Writers who write but never publish quickly develop anxious and depressive tendencies.
Imagine only ever speaking into a telephone and never hearing a response. Without the little nods and smiles, Ahs and Mmm Hmms that we usually experience while expressing an idea we become worried that that idea is stupid and begin to wonder if we are stupid too.
This is exactly the scenario that writers create for themselves when they write without sharing.
In order for writing to be a good habit and not an unhealthy addiction a writer must publish. A lake with no output becomes stagnant and dies. A writer who doesn’t share his words meets the same fate.
3. A full writing and publishing habit doesn’t have to consume a lot of time
Sure, daily publishing requires a decent chunk of time, but even publishing something weekly is more than most people put out.
As editor of the 100 Meaningful Words publication I know it doesn’t take much to write something worth reading. I have drafted, edited, and published 100 words in 10 minutes’ time — and gotten a good response from my readers!
This made me wonder if it would be possible to publish weekly, build an audience, and make money from the process in only 10 minutes a day. Paul Alan Aspen was confident it could be done so we created a plan. I will execute on it in 2020 under a pen name — an identity without any audience to speak of and no real writing to her name. It will be exciting to see just how effective it is.
Incidentally we are making that plan available — the best way to learn more is to register for this free training:
