Today I Got up off the Sofa and Forced Myself to Write

It has been one of those, lazy, unintentional Saturdays. Having not set the alarm, I was shocked to discover that I’d slept until 10 am. I’m an early bird through and through, so this was a shock to the system.

Already, as I grumbled out of bed to inhale some cereal, it felt like I had wasted the entire day. However, I still started the day in the way I usually do — by reading and slowly coming around with a caffeine hit.

However, I was more than ready to write off the day (no pun intended) and not think about writing. But then I stumbled across a piece by Jessica Lynn, which made me think — hard.

Writing is a practice, and practice makes perfect. So why wasn’t I embracing today as a new opportunity to do that? Partly, I was holding myself back because I thought I had nothing of value to say. But that’s not for me to determine.

Should You Write, Even if You Have Nothing to Say?

In her latest piece, Jessica reveals that her success as a writer has been dependent on consistency and showing up to write every day. Which, of course, has many truths. I stuck to this in my first few months of writing online, and it worked, to a certain extent.

It enabled me to develop a daily writing habit and craft my voice. Moreover, it gave me the confidence to put myself out there and stop caring about what people think.

I’ve recently been experimenting with the quality over quantity technique. In January, I’ve been taking the less is more approach to produce high-quality pieces of work, which reflect myself more.

Have I had more success? It’s hard to tell because the same article that has been making up most of my income since the Autumn is still making me the most money. But reading Jessica’s piece made me consider that perhaps quantity leads to quality.

In essence, the more you write, the more chances you have of developing your voice. It makes sense because the odds will lean more in your favour when you write more. There are more variables added to the equation, which increases your chance of success.

Which begs the question, should you write and publish something, just for the sake of quantity, even if you don’t have much to say?

Sometimes You’ve Got to Trust Yourself and Write

I’m terrible at following my own advice. For example, I’m sitting here, writing this now and trying to persuade myself to stop because I don’t think it provides anything of value.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for a writer to psychoanalyze herself or try to explain why she writes what she writes — it’s a reductive way of looking at oneself and one’s work.” — Donna Tartt

As a writer, sometimes you’ve just got to write and put it out into the world, and then after, you’ll see if it was of any value. It can pay to practice the craft, even if it feels pointless.

Jessica also mentioned that writing is an exercise. The more you practice, and the more you flex those muscles, the easier it gets. This could explain the value in writing every day, even if you feel like you have nothing to say.

Pursuing Quality or Quantity is Determined by Our Definition of Success

People write for different reasons. For some of us, it’s a necessity and a sense of release in this crazy world; for others, it may only be a way to make money. It’s a mixture of the two for many, and we shouldn’t feel ashamed to admit that.

Some will give up at the first hurdle, but others will pursue it because the craft infatuates them. Today, I woke up and quite frankly, thought “fuck it” I don’t want to write because I don’t have anything to say.

But that’s my own perspective. It’s for the reader and audience to determine the value of my own work. But of course, in some respects, as a writer, I have to believe in it too.

Success is subjective and will determine your writing strategy

Personally, writing is a way of living. I have to do it; otherwise, I don’t know who I would be or how I would cope with the chaos of the world. I write to stay afloat and to feel some degree of sanity.

I try to stay as real as I can do in the stories I produce, but that is dependent on my state of mind when I write them. Success for me is being happy doing what I love. Writing brings me happiness, so why should I develop a masterpiece that I only think people will like?

Shouldn’t I be writing for the pure sake of it?

Writer’s are prone to be overthinkers. A lot of what holds us back from success is worrying whether readers will be receptive to our work. It can prevent us from writing in the first place, or even hitting the publish button.

In this piece, I’ve aimed to demonstrate how something can spring from nothing in rare moments.

When I woke up today in the shock of what I thought was a waste of a day, I never thought I’d be sitting down to write this or even thinking about publishing something. But there you go, I did it.

And maybe you should too.

This was originally published on January 30, 2021 at Medium.com