A Strange Thing I Noticed About Writers

An odd little post to end the year but maybe we get somewhere interesting

I don’t know how it’s the last Friday of the year, but thought I’d end the year with a strange post. Maybe we go somewhere interesting together.

In December, I gained just under 1000 new subscribers on Substack. Every one of those subscribers gets my welcome email. In that email, I ask new subscribers what they’re struggling with as a writer. Needless to say, I hear from writers literally every day. And hoo boy, am I ever behind on replying but it’s a lot of food for thought.

First thing that becomes obvious real fast is that we all have the same struggles. Time is the biggest one. Every day, writers tell me their biggest struggle is having enough time to write, because jobs and family and lord, do I feel that one to the bones.

Another struggle is our fears. Every day people tell me they’re afraid they’re not good enough, not interesting enough. This week one writer told me she’s afraid her life hasn’t been interesting enough to be a writer. Another writer told me he’s afraid he’s not “meant to” succeed and he doesn’t know what to do with that.

Here’s another one that undoes us. The court of public opinion. All it takes is one person to share a random thought that really just amounts to their own personal belief, but if enough people like or heart it, it casts doubt in countless others.

People read stuff online, write and ask me about it.

For example. One person posted in Notes to say the only people making money on Substack are the people who are teaching something. Which is so untrue it’s not even funny, but the echoes are still rippling into my inbox. When I hear that, I always send people to the leaderboards for a real eye opening.

Here’s another. Someone posted that if you’re not sharing your pain, you’re not being authentic. With the number of hearts that note had, I knew it would show up in my inbox and sure enough, it did. One woman in particular hit me in a funny place because she said she’s afraid to share her pain because of potential repercussion but she wants to be authentic. Why do we believe this stuff?

I can tell you why. Because of cognitive bias. Mental shortcuts. If a lot of people agree, it must be true. But it’s not. We all know Stephen King had addiction problems but we didn’t know that when his very first book came out and went bestseller. I have no idea what Margaret Atwood’s childhood pain was but I don’t love her books any less.

Right now, I have 250 emails in a folder from new subscribers and when I scroll through, I can’t think of another career that comes with all the emotional baggage creative people have. I don’t think accountants or teachers or nurses agonize over the amount of things writers do. You know?

But here’s the funny thing.

When I ask writers what their plan is, they seldom have one.

Start asking things like how many readers do you need to make this fly, who is your reader, where can you find them — they don’t know. No answers. What do you need to do to finish and launch your book? They don’t know. No answers.

Their biggest struggles are time and fears. Not lack of strategy.

Never once have a received an email that said I need xxx readers to make this thing fly or this is the target audience I want to reach but I’m not sure of the best way to find them. The biggest problems I hear every day are never strategic. Just emotional.

Do you hear what I’m saying here?

We put more thought into planning a vacation or a holiday than we put into turning a writing dream into a reality. If you’re having 10 people over for New Year’s you have a list of what you need at the grocery store, you have a menu, and a to-do list. If you’re going on holidays, you’ve planned everything to the nth degree.

But if you want to be a writer — no plans. Write first, then hope and pray?

I include myself in that because I’ve done that, too. Just wing it and hope for the best. In the new year I plan to write about that more. Share my plans and help you make some for yourself. I’d love to see a bunch of us grow in leaps and bounds in 2025.

But I’m curious why we do that. And I’d love to know what you think...

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