Writing Can Be So Terribly Boring Sometimes

/ Stuart Danker

A woman looking bored in the dark

I remember landing my first writing gig as a young journalist. I was so hopeful, dying to unleash my voice upon the world. 

But I wrote for the newspapers, where every story bordered between direct and sterile. Didn’t the other writers care about craft? Surely, they knew something about the arts?

Oh, they did. They definitely did. But I was young enough to think I knew better than everybody else.

It wasn’t long before I became one of them. Before I realised how writing for a living and writing for yourself were two totally different things. And after scraping by for more than a decade, I can safely say this: writing can be a real bore sometimes, especially if you’re paid to do it.

Here’s why.

1. You have no say

This applies even to the leisurely topics, such as travel and lifestyle. You’d be surprised at how little say you have over the final product. And it wouldn’t do to be a diva about it either, especially if it means having more chicken over instant ramen for the month.

Writers are lucky in that they have access to a wide swathe of industries. The downside, however, is that you’re seldom hired to shake things up. You’re just there to do the grunt work (unless you find a unicorn boss).

You’re not going to get days to come up with a sales tagline like Don Draper. Neither are you going to inspire generations through that press release that’s due at 3 p.m. today.

Sometimes, all you’re there for is to follow the brief. But hey, at least you’re writing for a living, right?

2. The silence hurts

Back when I was younger, I couldn’t help but picture aspiring authors crouched in the trenches, holding onto their helmets, trying to evade enemy fire (metaphor for rejections and personal replies).

But now that I’ve joined their ranks, I’ve learned that it’s not quite so exciting. Both sides of the literary battlefield don’t kill each other as much as they try to bore each other to death—the writers through their subpar stories, and the publishers through the long waits.

I used to picture myself following in King’s footsteps, stabbing my rejection letters through the nail in my wall, only to realise that you can’t do that with email. Plus, by the time you receive the rejection, you’ll have forgotten what your story was about.

Even acceptances take forever. A short story I sold took more than a year to finally make it to print. So did my novel. Basically, you do more waiting than writing when it comes to fiction.

3. Blogging is a job

I’m preaching to the choir here, aren’t I? You probably know this already. It’s all fun and games when you blog as a hobby, but the moment you decide to take it seriously, you start finding chores you never knew existed. Especially ones that you hate.

There’s the SEO research, the social media schmoozing, and the drafting at weird hours because you have a schedule to keep.

Then there’s sales funnels, email newsletters, and shady marketing practices that involve free books (you only pay for shipping!).

Sometimes it’s not the tasks themselves, but the repetition. You end up spending three hours a day doing keyword research and you wonder what you’re doing with your life.

And that’s not including the nitty-gritty like adding tags, formatting, or coming up with titles.

4. Freelance writing is only 50% writing

When I was a hairdresser, I used to dream about working from home (this was pre-pandemic) and selling words to clients all over the world. I’ll only write stories I’m interested in, I told myself. Ba haah ahaha.

Don’t get me wrong. There are swathes of industries ready to hire. The only problem was none of them resonated with me. Take cryptocurrency, for example. Or miracle leggings that apparently cure cancer. You can’t pay me enough to write about something I don’t believe in.

Yet that’s what freelance writing is about: Spending the bulk of your time scouring for paid opportunities, then persuading these clients to pick you over someone cheaper (or better).

After that comes negotiating your terms. And enforcing said terms. That’s provided your clients don’t ghost you in the first place. 

5. You’re better off being better off

Not gonna lie, I was first attracted to writing because I wanted to be a drunk like Bukowski or Hemingway. 

I always pictured myself with a scotch in hand, hammering away at a Remington, and I did realise that dream somewhat. Only I drank more than I wrote. And I didn’t own a typewriter. 

Turns out, that wasn’t the brightest idea because when I couldn’t hustle, the money wouldn’t come in. Which in turn led to the inability to afford alcohol.

So I went the Murakami route instead. I took care of my body and soul, and my output increased because of it. That’s when I discovered that I write best when the rest of my life is in order. And to do that, I’ll need the energy to deal with my day instead of greeting it with a raging hangover.

But nobody likes waking up early and working out regularly. Picking healthy food options is boring too. But that doesn’t change the fact that you gotta feel your best to give your best.

6. Nobody cares about your work

No one. Not your parents, not your partner, nobody. Putting your writing out to the world is the equivalent of performing on open mic night, forever. 

Sure, you might get a decent crowd about once a year, but most days, only two of those seats will be filled. And they’re there just to support their friends.

Even if this post were to go viral, I’m willing to bet that most readers would just skim through the headings and close this tab without knowing my name.

But it’s not all gloom and doom. If you’re on somebody’s payroll, you will have at least one person who’ll care about your writing. But only to tell you how much you suck at it.

7. You’ll never truly master writing

Have you ever had your car die on you? Ever popped your hood even though the only thing you recognised was the car battery? 

You knock the smoky thing with your wrench, fill some hole with water, tug at a few wires, then you try starting the car even though you know you’ve done jack all. 

Ten per cent of the time, your car actually starts again, and you’ll feel like a magician. Yet you know deep down that it wasn’t due to your mechanical prowess.

That’s what writing feels like. Sure, you can study plot, sentence structure, and world-building, but crafting a story still feels like tugging at wires and hoping that you’ll somehow fix the damn thing so it can go somewhere.

And every time you face the blank page, you get the same feeling of staring down the hood of your car, not knowing what’s wrong in the first place.

Conclusion

If writing’s so boring, then why are you still doing it?

Good question. I have no idea. And I bet you don’t know why you write either. 

Maybe it’s my way of expressing myself. Maybe I was indeed born for this. Or maybe I’m just hoping that all the time spent writing for magazines and newspapers would someday mean something.

But you wanna know what the magical part of this is? I’ll still write. And so will you. We won’t have a reason why. And that’s okay.

Writing can be boring, but reading needn’t be, especially if you want more exclusive content just like this one. You’ll also get a free guide on how to grow your WordPress audience, so don’t miss out!

I promise not to bore you if you click here

130 thoughts on “Writing Can Be So Terribly Boring Sometimes”

  1. Writing is a coping mechanism for me, without it I would be gasping for oxygen trying to keep my head above water. I hear you about how boring it can get once you start doing it professionally. I am a teacher, which is my calling in life if you will. After 10 years in this profession I am bored out of my mind. It’s still something that I do for a living, I can still improve, learn and get better, but to tell the truth it doesn’t excite me any more.

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    • So interesting how writing can mean different things to different people. And I love your thoughts on teaching too. Because what we love and what we do best can differ wildly sometimes. Thanks for this great introspection!

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  3. this is a very real perspective on freelancing and writing overall. i feel like people dont realize how much time writers spend pitching themselves and trying to get seen. its almost more about that than writing 🥲

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  4. Hi Stuart, Your writing is always so animated and fun to read!! When you are paid to write, guess the article has to serve a certain audience and a certain purpose. I would imagine that you must have a wide range of knowledge to be able to write different kinds of articles. But it’s nice to learn about something new so you can be paid to write about it even if you are asked to approach it from a certain angle, non ? Guess writing is a joyful pursuit if you are just writing primarily for yourself and hope that your writings resonate with some people. Thanks for this article.

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    • Yup. You got it right there. Writing is an interesting craft in that you’re never truly a specialist, but you learn a new thing each time you write. I didn’t know about kendo, but I learned so much about the art when I interviewed a practitioner. Similarly, I didn’t know about blind football, but now I know and am so impressed by the super hearing that the blind develop. In some ways, I don’t get better in writing. But writing helps me get better in life! Thanks as always for stopping by, LH!

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  5. I think it was in the book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow where one of the characters says something like , ‘the surest way to hate your passion is to turn it into your job’.. hehe. But I guess all jobs eventually become tiring and if your job is something you’re passionate about, like writing, then at least at the end of the day, all the effort wouldn’t feel meaningless. 😊

    I really enjoy your writing and if it’s any worth then your posts make my day (whenever I get the time to read them)😊

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    • That book had an interesting angle on the day job, that’s for sure. Especially if it’s a passion you pursue. Yeah, the most important thing is that we’re working in an industry we’re capable in, instead of just bumbling through anything that pays the bills. Thanks for your thoughts!

      Btw, your link to your site seems broken in your profile!

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  8. #5 is so true. The depressed alcoholic writer / starving artist image gets romanticized so much and it’s just not healthy or realistic – I hate to say it, and I don’t have the healthiest lifestyle myself, but the vast majority of people who lead self-destructive lifestyles just self-destruct; they don’t produce amazing writing in the process. They be better off leading a lifestyle that’s healthier and more sustainable and making writing a part of that.

    Always appreciate your honest opinions!

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    • Yeah, and as someone who fell in the emotional dumps for a stretch, the land of self-destructia was an attractive place to be. Thankfully, I grew out of that.

      Plus, having your life in order does wonders for every other area besides writing too.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts, JYP!

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  9. Yes to this post, Stuart. As a writer I can fully empathise with this post. It’s one thing to write for others, another thing to write for yourself – and even writing for yourself can be awfully boring at times. When I was freelance writing full time, there were times where it was challenging to let my opinion be heard – and that is part of the job working for yourself, that you still have to work with others and be accommodating in some capacity. And so sometimes I felt like I was churning out writing as opposed to creating narratives.

    I don’t know how long you spend writing a blog post, but I spend ages. As you mentioned, there’s the SEO research, multiple drafts, coming up with titles and tags, photography and more. It can certainly get repetitive. I do think visiting others’ blogs is the best part of this for me, though the list can be very long and take a while to get through.

    To me writing is also boring because sometimes I just don’t know what to write. And then I start thinking of something else to do. Great post, and great writing :)

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    • My writing time actually differs from piece to piece, but boy does it feel like a grind sometimes. Even the tiny things like sourcing for photos and captioning them can take longer than I’d like.

      The good thing about my process is that I’ll always have something to write about. If not for the blog, then at least for the journal.

      On the flip side though, writing has taken me on some very interesting journeys, and perhaps I should share the bright side of it too, lol.

      Thanks so much for your lovely comment, Mabel!

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      • I so agree on the tiny things you do for blogging taking time. But it is always about the journey and glad you have have been on interesting journeys along the way. Keep writing and many more interesting journeys to come. And interesting stories to write :)

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  10. Blogging is a job… truer words, and all that! I just wanted to write a book in my spare time, around my full time job. But you can’t just write a book. You have to have a platform, an online presence, a website. It’s all very daunting. After two weeks of NO writing because I’m trying to learn about SEO and how to set up an email list, I begin to question what I was thinking.
    But I agree. I will just keep on writing. Because that’s how I’m wired. Because it’s been a dream since childhood. Because I’m not giving up that easily.
    But a week in a tropical area with nothing hanging over my head just might help. :)

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    • There’s just so much, isn’t it? But to be fair, if writing a book is your goal, then that should be the priority. Having to juggle too many things kills the creative mind, at least for me. But I’m so glad to hear your experience because it makes me feel less alone. Thanks for sharing!

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  11. Oh but I do know your name! 😳 Also, I enjoy the writing very much that, I hardly am looking to find mistakes. Alongside that, I also find myself pondering the same question- “Is writing actually what I thought it was?” The answer although is hazed.😶‍🌫️

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  13. Thought-provoking and insightful write! I blog as a hobby and don’t intend to pursue writing as a career, so I don’t quite feel the pressure or the boredom, atleast not yet 😂 But I can understand what you mean all the same and I think a lot of it is subjective to the person. I especially loved point 7 and think it’s quite the realisation. Brilliant writing as always!

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    • Lol high five then! There are a few writers who don’t feel as lost when facing the blank page (surely, they exist), but we don’t make friends with these kinda people :P

      Hopefully, the writing spirit remains heated within you!

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    • Such are the challenges of creative pursuits, amirite? Equally annoying is having one image in your head, but ending up expressing a totally different thing. Weird how our brain works sometimes. Thanks for visiting!

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  15. Number 6 really resonates with me. Most of the times I feel like this, you write and feel like your literary prowess was off the charts. Then, you check your stats and 1 like and 2 views. In this short attention span society, 95% of the times people just skim through hours of work and go about their day. It’s discouraging to think about but I’ll keep on, I must be motivated to motivate others.

    So Mr. Danker, this was a great piece. Keep them coming my friend!

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    • Lol, and on the opposite end, you churn out a piece in one hour, thinking it’s crap, and it gets the most likes you’ve ever seen. Which is why I keep learning that it’s better to write for ourselves, because we can never predict what will do well for an audience.

      Thanks so much for your kind words, and for making my day!

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  16. I can relate to the writing block or boredom point here. Being an unpaid blogger I have yet to achieve the level you are standing 😀 .. but for now I know that there are wild thoughts run in mind at times and you feel like writing it (at times vomiting it 😬) down as blog. May be it is fun there when you write as per your will. When you write for someone than the process is not natural any more and that just drags you towards boredom. Well wrote piece 👍

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    • I was just chatting with themanmorandum here about the exact same thing, that it’s so fun when people actually want to read your unfiltered words.

      But yeah, when it comes to writing as a performance, then the process can be a little icky.

      Anyhoo, I’m an unpaid blogger too. This is just my creative outlet. My paid words don’t usually involve this much freedom :P

      Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!

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  17. Hey Stuart! I love blogging as it’s an outlet for my thoughts, more so than Twitter at times. Added bonus is if people are reading what I write. You have a passion and are good at what you do so keep it up as long as it makes you happy overall!

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    • Yeah, it’s amazing how fun it is when people want to read our unfiltered thoughts, isn’t it? I get the same feeling when people want to pay me for fictional stories. It’s a special rush, that one. Thanks so much for your kind words. I appreciate you!

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  20. Writing is just fun. And it’s hard to keep all the thoughts inside, bumping into each other, throwing elbows to claim ever decreasing space and fresh, non-stinky air.
    I did a stint in journalism. I didn’t like it. It felt too much like the writing I had to do in school, like, oh I don’t know, for journalism classes. (What a genius, I was.)
    This: Putting your writing out to the world is the equivalent of performing on open mic night, forever. Love it. :)

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    • Isn’t it interesting how the more we write, the more we can? It’s like keeping the water running so that nothing murky gets to grow and rot the ideas. I think that’s the purpose my journal serves.

      Writing changes when someone dangles a deadline over your work though. Especially if it’s a topic you’re uninterested in, lol.

      p.s. May we kill in all our open mics from now on!

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      • Writing is also like weight lifting, isn’t it? And hopefully we get better at writing too, so it’s not just drivel to wash the murk away–sort of like lifting a barbell and swinging your whole body. :(

        Bring on the open mic! :P

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  21. I absolutely love how you’ve arranged all thoughts together since I resonate with most of them, staying in this industry for almost decade sounds bomb, now you’re literally a guru in the art of blogging. For me this post hits the spot and I’ll read it again and again as a reference of motivation. Thanks Stuart for this amazing piece of work.

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    • Lol, thankfully I only blog as a creative outlet, so I can just fool around without any real expectations. Would hate to even be dictated on what I can or can’t write here. Thanks so much for your supportive words as always!

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  22. Stuart, I laughed in agreement while reading this post. And yes, I, too don’t understand why I write.
    The satisfactions I got at times, were to see my ideas turned into some form of end products. Not books thus far ; some student project short films, and their happy faces upon the end of their projects 😊

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  23. Hey Stuart! It’s been awhile…! You’ve made some really interesting points there. I like to think of it as you take the good with the bad. After years of searching, I can say I really enjoy (relatively) my day job. But there’s always an element that I don’t like such as admin tasks, formatting slides etc. I imagine writing would be the same. For example, I starting a blog because I wanted as a creative writing outlet. But you and I know keeping a blog is not just about writing!

    I get your point about not really writing for yourself though. But are we ever able to write for yourself in these public domains? Probably not, unless you don’t care for readers… right? Lol

    An enjoyable read as always! J

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    • I think William Zinnser explored it in his book On Writing Well. He mentions that the topic should be for yourself, but the craft should be for the readers. So write about your hobby in model painting, but do so in a way that’s most accessible for readers. That’s the most balanced view I’ve come across, to be sure. Or I might be misconstruing his point, lol.

      Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this topic. What a lovely comment it was!

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      • That really resonates and makes so much sense!! We have to be interested in the topic we want to write about. And guess that’s where the “craft” comes in, it’s writing about your topics in a way that will attract readers…! 👏🏼👏🏼

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  24. That was a very interesting read! I think all “artistic/creative” professions are somewhat idealised, because of what we see in movies or in books. It becomes an identity (the drunk writer, the very famous bestseller one, etc.) instead of being a job, and that in turn can lead to feelings of frustration when we see how reality is, which is not always so “glamourous”. Just like in a “regular” job, we’ll have to do things that we don’t like and we’ll lose motivation at times, but it’s part of the process, and in the end writing is still on of the best tools to put our thoughts and feelings out there!

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    • Oh yes. I’m an anti-romantic when it comes to writing, and I hope people see it for what it is—work. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to fit the ‘cool’ stereotype sometimes, lol. But I love the word ‘process’. It’s all a part of the process, both good and bad. Love this outlook!

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  27. Hello. I enjoyed your article. Here are a few of my thoughts: I tip my hat to good newspaper journalists. They produce coherent, informative pieces in compressed periods of time. Not sure I’d be able to do that. I take my time with my blog stories because I have to. That is, it takes me quite a while to whip them into shape. Neil S.

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    • Haha yeah, I still take a lot of time to come up with my own posts. I mean, there was a time not too long ago where I had to come up with 2,000 words a day while out on the road for 16 hours. And it’s good to know where my ceiling is from time to time.

      But then I come back here and take one whole week to come up with 1,000 words for the blog. So I totally get you.

      Thanks for stopping by, Neil!

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  28. I love this:

    That’s what writing feels like. Sure, you can study plot, sentence structure, and world-building, but crafting a story still feels like tugging at wires and hoping that you’ll somehow fix the damn thing so it can go somewhere.

    So true. No matter how much you study the craft, writing is still very much a tug of war. Thanks for this post!

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    • The worst is when you have expectations. “I’ve done this for so long, so I should be good at this by now, shouldn’t I?”

      Nope. It’s perfectly fine to suck, regardless of time spent, amirite? Thanks so much for your comment, Krista!

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  29. Great points! Some of the reasons you mention here are actually what swayed me from going into journalism; that was my original major in college, and I switched to English education two years in. Now I get to be a total goof in front of the classroom as I gush about how fabulous creative writing is. Of course, when I actually do write, it’s almost never for money. Maybe someday I’ll figure out a way to make a living off my novels, but I definitely need to commit more time and effort to that process first. Also, ironically, my car did die on me over the weekend, but it was the battery. All that frigid weather really killed my battery power.

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    • I believe that journalism should be something that you do for passion. So many people just do it to get by, but it’s the ones who truly act as the fifth estate that contribute the most to the field. I once dreamed of covering conflict stories, but then I became a travel writer and learned that I can’t hack it in rough living, lol.

      Great to always have a creative outlet that we do just for the sake of it, and if it’s writing, all the better! Thanks for sharing, Sarah!

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      • Definitely! I’m glad I’m doing what I am. I think I would have enjoyed some parts of journalism but not others. I believe people can feel when someone is passionate about their job and it really pulls them in.

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  30. Bukowski. There’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Unless I catch the Modest Mouse song “Bukowski.”
    I have a hefty collection, including several works translated into German.

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  31. I too write best Stuart when I order my life; for me, it’s mindset training which leads to care for the body. Resting, relaxing, exercising, leaving my comfort zone. All contribute greatly to my writing mojo. Fabulous post my friend.

    Ryan

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  32. “Before I realised how writing for a living and writing for yourself are two totally different things.” It took me a long time to realize this!

    Right when I was applying for my Master’s, I had thought of directly jumping from engineering into creative writing as my major. However, I wasn’t keen on writing from the reader’s perspective, rather I wanted to continue writing “what my heart
    felt” in the hope of bringing a positive change in this world with my words. And so I did my Master’s in Management while continuing with my blog.

    Till date my blog remains a safe haven for my thoughts. I’m still not sure if I ever want to do a full-time job as a writer. Till then, I’ll continue to write for myself :)

    Love reading your posts!

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    • And I love reading your comments.

      Right? You used the perfect words for our personal blogs. Haven is what I’d call it too. Can’t imagine myself ever ‘selling’ it and losing autonomy over what I can or can’t post, or how often I should write, or how I should go about marketing.

      I even enjoy not having to think about keywords or power words for my titles and just going with what my heart feels. Great on you for having a useable Master’s, lol. I’d only recommend someone do their MFA if they really want to learn about the subject and nothing else. I might do an MFA someday.

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  33. It’s funny to read this. I may have told you this before but, after I started blogging I realized how much I love writing. So I applied for a writing position in the editorial team at my work. After the interview, I withdrew my application. I just couldn’t get excited about writing someone else’s words. So, I continue to hone my craft as a hobby and that’s okay with me.

    As an aside, do we ever truly master anything in life? I always think that no matter how good we are at something, we can always be better.

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    • Yeah, you actually bring up a good point. I think we’ll never ever master anything. And the more we know, the more we don’t know, amirite? Only someone who doesn’t know much (like my junior journalist days) will claim to know everything there is to know :P

      Love that you’ve found a way to grow your interest in writing. I’d have loved to have your take on writing on a payroll though!

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  34. If I needed to write for an editor as my day job, I would be so extremely stressed. Its a world apart from my blogging hobby, I write what I want, when I want and stick to stories that appeal to me! Great eye opening insight to the life of a journalist.

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    • Lol, I once heard Joe Rogan talk about how he does his podcast his way, even though people are paying him millions for it. You’d expect someone to jump through hoops if they’re getting millions of dollars. But I guess sometimes the creative freedom is important. I hope to get to a place of total freedom (even while earning from my words) someday!

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  36. When the blog first started picking up steam I had moments of thinking I’d like to quit teaching and somehow write for a living. But deep down I knew a) though it’s never technically too late, it was too late, b) as soon as you monetize something or turn a hobby into a job it loses its shine, and c) I’m a selfish writer who only wants to write what she wants to write about. Thus I concluded that I would keep my day job, my pension, my salary, my benefits, and my joy of writing by keeping writing a hobby. Maybe in my next life, though…

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  37. Hey Stu, it’s like you literally rip my writer’s heart out each time you dive into this issue of why we do what we do! Thanks man. While point 3 has me shaking in my boots, I laughed when you talked about how you can’t even remember the story after the editor took forever to reply. Kinda like my recent experience too! O well…Now as I try to pick up the pieces of my heart from off the floor, I just wanna say that indeed we don’t need a reason to write. We just do! So onward bro no matter what!!

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    • I’ve been blessed to be interviewed a couple of times for my stories, and that’s when I realised that the interviewers have more info about the characters than I do. I sometimes even forget who’s who, especially since I’m also juggling other stories in my head, lol.

      I’ve seen you write without fail for years now, which makes you part of this exclusive ‘just do’ gang, lol. Onwards forever!

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  38. My first assignment writing for a newspaper was putting together the community events calendar. Talk about boring! A few years ago, I began writing articles for trade magazines. I needed at least five interviews, I was provided the questions to ask and had to include a list of elements in each story. The creativity was gone for me quickly, but the pay was good. Also, it was during COVID and I was spending hours each day calling and trying to land interviews from small business owners. The main part of the job became cold calling and I was done.

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  40. I used to be a journalist and know how tedious writing can be if you do it as a job. But I love writing and enjoy doing it as long as it’s not what I do as a profession. That’s one of the reasons why I do a completely different job. Doing something in the field of writing to earn money seriously jeopardizes my passion for written words. Whenever something becomes a job, it inevitably becomes boring, too.

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    • The perfect combination would be to work a day job that doesn’t require thinking (something physical, maybe), and then being able to come home to work on my writing. I heard Brandon Sanderson discuss this topic before, and he’d said that teachers and programmers are one of the worst jobs to complement writing, lol. Thanks for sharing, btw!

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  42. “I write best when the rest of my life is in order” – love this! I think the angst of writing makes for better prose so maybe it’s good that so many of us get so frustrated so often?

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  43. I’m still laughing about ‘miracle leggings that can cure cancer’…and then I peek at Davy’s comment — having a fit and planning to run away in his campervan. Thank you for all of this, Stuart. Your posts are generous and make me laugh and think and I learn things…like you once did hair for a living? You are a talented human…and hey…I could use a trim…just saying…😉😉😉

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    • Lol yeah. And I didn’t just dip my toes in the hairdressing industry either. That took up a whole six years of my life. So yes, you’re always welcome to drop by for a haircut anytime you’re in Malaysia :P

      Thanks so much for your kind words!

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      • I can only imagine you as a smashing success in that creative career — I’m sure your clients adored your humor and kindness…almost as important as the your hair design skills! 😎 And I’d be honored to receive a Stuart cut…next time I’m in the neighborhood! 😉

        Liked by 1 person

  45. After reading this, Stuart, I threw my pen on the floor, jumped up and down on it for a while, and decided I was going to travel the world in a campervan instead. In the next breath the pen was back in my hand shouting, ‘you are not going anywhere, mate.’ 😂😂 We sink to the depths sometimes as writers and then a ray of light appears which gives us a spark to keep going. If we ever discover why, we may have uncovered one of the secrets of the universe. Another excellent and thought provoking post.

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  47. Hi Stuart, great post.
    Point 3. Thank goodness it’s my learn a new skill retirement hobby. If this were my job, I would have been shown the door on day one. 😆. Yes, there are times, I feel bored with it and the subject matter, matters.

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    • Just to balance things out though, like I said to The Travel Architect, writing for a living does have its fine moments too. Perhaps I should write a follow-up on that :P

      Always great to see you here, Kevin.

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  48. Hey Stewart- I love reading your words. Your insights are on the nose and the clarity of your writing and friendly style make your posts a joy to read. You’re a role model for me. You’re making an impact with your writing. I hope you never give it up.
    Ps. I suspect that the same feelings happen if you take any hobby and start doing it for money. Carpentry, photography, computer coding. The deadlines and administrative tasks suck the joy from the part you truly love.

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    • Oh I’m a super anti-romantic when it comes to writing. I know some people have characters that ‘tell them what to do’. I also know writers who wake up with an inspiration and finish a book over a weekend. But those are isolated incidences, and writing, on a whole, is pretty much an act of practice, just like any other pursuit.

      Thanks so much for your kind words!

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  52. I suspect some of it is perspective, and why we write. Yes blogging is a hobby, but I actually think it’s helping in other areas. In teaching I’m used to students just focusing on what they need to do to pass the units I teach. They don’t care about the time, blood, sweat and tears (and sometimes late nights) that goes into writing lesson plans, class materials, handouts etc … its quite souk destroying when they leave the class and all your hard work is left scattered across the tables – you think ‘why do I bother’

    But then one day a student comes into class clutching a piece of paper, gushing with enthusiasm about how good this article is … how everyone should read it. Turns out she’d printed off a blog post I’d written about study skills – probably referencing or plagiarism. She’s the reason I do it … that piece of writing made a difference to that one student. Yes, most will pass the units, but getting through to that one student made all the writing worth it all

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  53. It’s never that boring. Yes, sometimes you have nothing to say, but this is because we are not open for inspiration. I talk with blogger and i read them. Out there there are plenty of inspiration sources. And if you have a big community, your follower will do the job for you.

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    • Maybe I’ve grown jaded from writing press releases about how a new highway is opening and which routes they’ll service, lol.

      But to be fair, writing for yourself is pretty fun. Can’t deny that.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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