Everyone wants to become a Nobel prize winner. Becoming a best-selling author has been a goal. Not only for money. There’s more than that.
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Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
It’s one of the noises I hear while sitting on the couch with my laptop on my lap. With my legs straight, I lean my back on a pillow.
While enjoying the comfort of being a writer at home, I wondered how it is to you who’s working from 9 to 5.
You may not be full-time employed, but you find it hard to leverage your writing craft for various petty but powerful reasons.
“I don’t have a laptop or a PC to write.”
“I don’t have time.”
“I’m a busy mom. I can’t spare my extra time on writing because I rather sleep.”
Your mind invites you to do something to prevent you from doing what you want to do. The lies of not being enough or being incapable of starting an action towards your ambition.
But why are you here?
Why are you reading my post?
If you aren’t willing to do some work as a writer, then why are you curious about the 5 compelling reasons you shouldn’t become a writer?
Is it because you want to confirm your alibis? Or do you want to simply validate your excuses?
I may be right because I’m guilty, too.
I am writing this post to wash my hands and appear clean. I rather do the opposite and show the real-side of things.
[su_note note_color=”#fb8b24″]The moment you start your writing journey, it’d be a tough choice. It’s not an industry for everyone, especially if you are easily giving up.[/su_note]
To become a writer entails a lot of sacrifices. There are things you need to give up to achieve your writing goals.
By nature, every writer has their own rituals to focus 100% on whatever they’re writing.
Some writers prefer silent surroundings. Some prefer to work in coffee shops. Stimulation varies from one writer to another.
What matters is they’re able to do the work.
How about you?
Why do you want to do otherwise? Why do you procrastinate? If you want to become a writer, why aren’t you writing today?
If succeeding as a writer matters most to you, then the 5 compelling reasons I will list here become your allergy. You don’t want to do or even think about these things because it drives you crazy.
You’ve got to write every single day. No matter if it’s written on your notepad or recorded on your phone. Whatever your strategies will be, it’s important you write something.
The list itself is brought by personal experiences. The mistakes I did while I have been building my career as a writer hope to inspire you to NOT do the same.
Without further ado, let’s dive into it. Shall we?
5 Compelling Reasons You Shouldn’t Become A Writer
There are more reasons to think about when it comes to convincing you not to start writing today. But these 5 reasons are on the top spot.
1. Writing for money
If this is your only concrete reason for writing, then, you’re not on the right track. It’s not about earning an income.
For sure, you need to make more money to make ends meet. This is why you want to monetize your skills online as I did. But this isn’t the only reason for writing.
It’s about creation. It’s the process of creating an idea and transforming it into real print. It doesn’t matter if it’s digitally- (blogs, ebooks, etc.) or physically-produced (i.e. books).
Either way, you as a writer take the role. It’s our job to spread a message to the world. It wasn’t easy for me to realize this.
When I started writing in 2014, all I thought was to explore my writing to get into the industry. I wrote and wrote tons of posts for various news sites until I felt bored and stuck.
[su_note note_color=”#fb8b24″]Earning an income online as a writer isn’t about the money. For sure, it’s attractive. But it’s not the main goal. It’s about expression…with benefits.[/su_note]
My chase for money by writing affected me physically. I can’t count the times I collapsed and got hurt. My relationships with others started to decline to the point I have nobody except my family.
“But I’ve got to earn more to pay expenses this month,” I told myself. “So I’ve got to write more.”
A wrong perspective.
Writing is my passion. But it appears like I started hating it.
It didn’t happen only once, but many times. Countless times.
The true reason for most writers for behaving like this is when they have a wrong perspective about writing per se.
“It’s about the money,” I told myself many times in the past, which resulted in feeling nothing. “I haven’t achieved anything.” I feel like I’m inside a blob of despair, wanting to get out and seek freedom.
What I’m saying is that there’s nothing with that. It’s better to see it as your way to say something, at the same time, you’re earning something in return.
2. Writing for personal gain
There’s no doubt a successful writer gains a lot. When you follow the right ways to get writing until you published your book, you can thrive.
If you want to start writing, you may want to download my FREE guides to get started today.
Not only will you earn more passively, but you also build a reputation or an authority in the subject you’re writing about.
These are among the gains you get once you get into this industry. You can make money out of it, more than you could earn from a 9 to 5 job.
You can spread your message globally with your words, inspiring and motivating people to be better. Writing is powerful. By having the skill to write, you can achieve greater heights.
I had those thoughts back then. When I began my writing career in 2014, I only wished to earn more money.
To achieve that, I have to devote myself to improve my writing. I read a lot of posts, books, magazines, or anything I could find. It was insane.
In return, I start to make more money than the rest of the family members, more than my mother earned after 30 decades in a government office within a few years working as a writer.
Having a writing skill is beneficial. While I did make money, I was able to spread my word around the globe. I wrote for several websites with international audiences and in different platforms.
That alone is a big deal. If you treat writing as a career as seriously as you could, you can achieve a lot. If not, more than I did.
Here’s the catch.
Once you get to the top and become a successful writer, you see a lot of things from a different perspective, causing you to lose track. It’s overwhelming, my friend.
You can’t think of anything else except writing more and more to get more. But you know deep down in your heart, this isn’t what you wanted. You write because you love it.
3. Unwilling to get out of the comfort zone
As I mentioned earlier, you have to write every day. No excuses allowed. If you search how prolific authors say about becoming a successful writer, it’s about self-discipline.
When you start building your career as a writer, you start to develop a procrastinating habit. Why? It’s because you face a lot of fear. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Impostor syndrome.
You make excuses so you won’t start writing a word.
You know this isn’t a habit of a writer. If you treat the craft seriously, you realize that no matter how tired you are, you can’t help but write.
[su_note note_color=”#fb8b24″]Becoming a successful writer can make global influence by inspiring humanity through our ideas turned into any forms of print. [/su_note]
It’s not about being comfortable. It’s about the desire to finish a book or a blog post and successfully relay your message to the world.
Writing isn’t about perfection. A thought most writers struggle. As a result, many writers procrastinate and not achieve anything.
If you already started building a writing career in the past, why are you still here? Why are you still in the search for reasons to disqualify yourself as a writer?
Do my words start to resonate with you? Are you getting uncomfortable now? If yes, that’s good.
What you feel right now is a by-product of fear. Learn how to overcome it and write, write, write.
4. Unable to compromise
The desire to write and the act of writing are 2 different things. The desire remains a wish. You simply recognize writing as a great option to make an income, but you aren’t serious about it.
On the other hand, the act of writing is about action. You write regardless of your circumstance. Be it in good times and bad times, you ruthlessly bleed with your pen and paper.
Personally, the reason for your inability to compromise is that you are afraid to show your vulnerability. You’re afraid to test your limits and your abilities.
You’re belittling yourself before you could even start writing a word.
You don’t want to show your unique writing style. You think people won’t like your article. There are a lot of reasons to think about it. You have them inside your head all the time.
Instead of looking at the wrong lens, it’s best to become open. From there, you start to see the wide-set of opportunities in front of you.
This is what I did.
In the past, all I care is about submitting on the deadline and earn some cash. I was so convinced that earning more is better than caring about the quality of my writing life.
If you like to read how I failed as an overachiever, you can read this post. A must-read to have a clear picture of what you should avoid based on my mistakes.
I was in a miserable state. I wasn’t happy. I kept jumping from one company (that hired me as a full-time writer) to the other within 6 months.
Again, I love writing but I constantly seek the truth of why I have to write. Why did I become a writer?
While writing this post, I suddenly have an “Aha!” moment. I may be writing full-time for another website, however, I enjoyed sparing more time to write here.
[su_note note_color=”#fb8b24″]Many writers suffer from insecurity. No matter how rich their ideas are, they hesitate to start a word because of the fear. A #1 fear most of us know and mastered to achieve perfection.[/su_note]
Like any other married bloggers out there, I have to manage everything all day. I learn to compromise with my writing time without affecting the household negatively.
My husband and I share compromises, especially when I need space and silence when I start typing words on my laptop. In return, I spare time with him as his wife and do my chores.
Before I was able to balance everything here, my day was in chaos. I wasn’t able to weigh my priorities between the household and my writing. Consequently, I was forced to set my writing aside and focused on my role as a wife.
I tried to stay away from writing by doing something else. I opened an Etsy shop to sell my handmade notebooks, which keeps me busy until now. If not, I binge watch every Netflix movie I could find until the day ends.
I thought by staying away would resolve my distress. It wasn’t. It got worse. I missed writing and wanted to do it again.
But my constant fear stops me. It took me around 4 months to get back again with a different view.
Today, I’m still struggling, yet, it’s a lot better than before. I can write for work while sparing a few hours more for my blog. At the same time, I do household chores and delegate them with the help of my husband.
5. Without clear writing goals (SMART)
Wishing to become a writer and working to become a writer is different. Yes, the idea of becoming a writer is cool. But do you have what it takes to become one?
If you are serious about building a career from this, you’ve got to be clear about it from the very start. Even if you’re working a full-time 9 to 5 job.
Before you even applied for a freelance writing job, you should know yourself the boundaries of writing.
You respect the idea of increasing more writing projects for more bucks. However, you have to balance it with the way you see it progresses. Otherwise, you’ll get trap with the idea.
You might think that by earning more income as a writer will make you satisfied. It’s not. I thought the same way before. But I wasn’t happy at all.
Yes, I earned more than my mother. Yet, I looked sick. I experienced the worst fatigue I’ve ever had in my life. But then I have to write again no matter what.
Albeit getting more and more sick as the months passed by, I continued writing for money. It was a terrible experience.
Because of what I have done to myself and my unhealthy writing perspective, I started to listen with my own voice and began to see the things I never got to see about writing before.
Before you start writing, I want to share with you this awesome writing tool that’s way cheaper than the popular option (Scrivener) without compromising the quality of your work. Try it here.
Conclusion – Now, It’s Your Turn!
After what I told you, does writing speak to you? Do you intend to become a successful writer? If yes, learn how to balance your desire to write, to make money, and to voice out.
If you’re able to these things in a consistent manner, I guarantee that you’ll have a different experience with your writing life regardless of the circumstances.
I learned a lot over the years and I hope you do, too.
Now, it’s your turn.
To get serious with writing, click this link to learn how to leverage yourself as a writer and prepare for your #GoAuthorGo project this year.
You can also read my post about the step-by-step process on how you can start writing your book.
If you’re unfamiliar with this, it’s a personal motivation to become a self-published author and become an authority. Are you in?
Start writing now.
If you like this post, why not share it with your friends and family who’re struggling with writing? I appreciate it a lot. If you have something to say, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. 🙂
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