The hardest things about being a writer

Nothing.

Hah!

Wouldn’t it be great if I could say that? Like with every other profession, writing has its downsides. But each writer’s opinion is different and here I’m going to write about what I find are the hardest things about being a writer.

Finding the time

I’ve written about this in the past and I know that a lot of other writers have this same issue as well. Life gets in the way, so we all say. For me personally, I juggle a day job, mother duties, chores and so on and so forth. But if I only think about the time I don’t have, I’ll cry. Like my day job, I treat my book writing with the same respect. It has to be a priority.

The problem with me is that if I set aside more than an hour a day I feel like I’m taking time away from my day job – my “real job”, the job that pays the bills. So I just keep my writing time to under an hour everyday. It’s a good balance between continuing my project and keeping my guilt in check.

Comparing myself with others

Stop. Just stop.

It’s easy to say but harder to do. For a long time I used to hate writers who are better in every single way – writing style, reader following, profile picture (LOL), marketing campaign etc etc etc. It was exhausting because envy takes up mind space – space that I should be using to create my own projects.

So I stopped.

I put on blinders and focused on my own work. Is it their fault that I can’t write as well? No. They worked just as hard, if not harder, on their craft. Who was it who said “Their success is not your failure”.

So true. I felt liberated after I stopped comparing myself and instead just enjoyed other authors’ works.

Quashing the insecurity/cockiness

You’d think the third one would be ‘getting published’ but your insecurity or cockiness has something to do with that, too. No matter how well you write, if you stop believing in your own skills then it’ll stop you from pitching your work to publishers effectively.

On the other hand, if you’re also super cocky about your work, then that’ll stop you from learning, too. I know that for a fact because I thought my first draft ever was the bomb. Oh dear god, how wrong I was! Also publishers don’t like arrogant writers.

What about finding a publisher?

That’s hard, too. You don’t know how many rejection letters I got before my book got picked up. I had to toughen up to keep going. Remember though, there are so many reasons why your manuscript was rejected. Be professional and don’t take it personally. Perfect your pitch and learn from others. It does help.