10 Common Writing Challenges All Writers Face by Diana Adjadj
Writing is not easy for anyone. Even though you might believe some people just sit down, full of motivation, and churn out thousands of masterpiece-worthy words in under an hour, the reality is very much different. Every writer faces challenges and struggles. Even the most prolific authors who achieved international fame admit that writing gets incredibly hard at times.
Here, we will look at some of the most common writing challenges that writers face.
1. Fear and self-doubt
One of the most common obstacles for all writers is the fear that arises before they start writing. A large number of authors express the fear they feel before starting a project.
The solution, in this case, is not to wait for the fear to go away. The fear probably won’t go away as you make significant progress on your project. So, you can find the necessary team to support and encourage you to continue when you don’t feel like it.
2. Lack of time
Those who wish to become writers may require more time than they have. In turn, the world will not stop when a writer needs more time to write. However, there is an effective solution for this.
At this point, you should establish your writing as a priority over other activities you are doing. In fact, throughout the day, not all activities we do have the same importance. So, if you don’t have time, you will have to leave certain tasks aside.
3. Parkinson’s Law
Generally, when a writer wants to carry out an important project, he or she will have to meet certain deadlines. Even if you don’t have a set deadline, you should create one for yourself in order to avoid Parkinson’s law. This law claims that your work will take as much time as you are allowed to have. In other words, if you give yourself 3 years to finish a book, you’ll most likely be done in 3 years. If you give yourself 3 weeks, you can finish in 3 weeks.
A good solution to this is to set a date and time in the week to continue writing. In this case, you should make sure that no activity interferes with this task.
4. Perfectionism and too much self-criticism
A lot of people suffer from chronic perfectionism. This feeling makes the writer detect errors, even where there are none. In this way, writers never manage to finish a project as they are always correcting mistakes.
Estelle Liotard, a contributing writer from Top Essay Writing, says that “if you don’t want to suffer from chronic perfectionism, you should forgive yourself for some mistakes. The drafts you make are not supposed to be perfect.”
5. Using wrong or ineffective writing software
These days, pencil and paper are no longer used as they were decades ago. On the contrary, it is necessary to know how to use writing software. So, when you use the wrong software, then the writing process is greatly impaired.
You will need good writing software that meets your expectations. When you get high-quality software, you should know how to use it. This way, you will get good results. Kristin Savage, a writer from Trust My Paper and content creator for her own blog called Fly Writing, says that “many people use Microsoft Word for writing, but it’s worth it to explore other options as well. Sometimes, even the act of changing your writing environment can improve your productivity”.
6. Lack of discipline
As with any other activity in life, lack of discipline is a problem here too. So, without proper discipline, you may find that time passes, and your project does not progress.
At this point, the solution is similar to a previous one we have mentioned. Here you will have to set a time and a day again and avoid any other factors interfering. Even depression or lack of inspiration should not be an excuse not to write.
7. Accidents and unexpected events
In this case, writers suffer from unforeseen events and family emergencies, just like everyone else. So, dealing with these problems can be a big obstacle if you don’t know how to do it.
So, the solution here will be to learn to abstract from the current problems you have to go through. In turn, if it is too big a problem, you can take some time to deal with it. After that, you can use that pain as a resource for your writing.
8. Past problems
Depending on the topic you wish to write about, you may encounter some key obstacles. In this case, some traumas and problems from your past may interfere with your creativity.
An effective solution here is to identify the specific trauma in question. This, in turn, is an excellent opportunity to begin therapy and solve a multi-year problem.
9. Losing a good plot
The vast majority of authors tend to lose a good plot at some point. Even this can get worse when they don’t have enough inspiration to improve the situation. You can see this tendency everywhere, especially in TV shows with many seasons or stories with too many sequels.
Each author has his or her resources that are adapted to each personality. If you feel like you had a good writing plot, but distanced away from it too much, you can use these resources to help you get back on track.
10. Not being able to finish the project
One of the most common obstacles for a large number of authors is not getting the right ending. Sometimes it even happens that an author writes an ending, deletes it, rewrites it, and so on.
At this point, the solution is to write the ending that you think is best at this point. Also, you should not be a perfectionist with it. After a certain period, you can reread the ending you have written and corrected it.
Conclusion
The biggest struggles and challenges writers face have to do with their mindset. When you’re writing from a place of low self-esteem and perfectionism, it’s unlikely that you will ever reach a result that you really like.
So, if you want to progress as a writer, try working on your expectations, thoughts and behaviour patterns rather than the technical skill of writing. You will be surprised at how much things can change when you adopt a positive mindset.
Diana Adjadj is a professional writer working with some of the best companies in the industry: Best Essays Education, Supreme Dissertations and Classy Essay. She is also a regular contributor at Grab My Essay, an academic writing service. What inspires her the most in her writing is traveling and meeting new people.