The Gist with "Experience"
One of the things new writers are afraid of, (and even I, myself, am victim to this) is this idea that to be a writer or to have any chance whatever of writing professionally, you have to have years and years of "experience".
It applies to all different sorts of writing: blogging, essaying, poetry. There is this idea that no one can be any good until they've been at it for years.
This isn't true.
It is simply a fear that keeps new/young writers from writing their best.
I, myself, have this fear (as irritating as that is to admit). This idea that maybe just because I started blogging last February means that this blog is basically trash. Or that I'm not a very good writer because I've only ever really got a decent amount of the way through ONE book. (Relateable anyone?)
It's a weird, psychological thing.
The truth:
Just because you don't have a lot of experience with something doesn't mean you'll never have a decent chance, or that you won't be any good.
The thing is, when I read a good book, it doesn't matter to me whether that was the author's debut novel, or whether it was his/hers twenty-sixth. It doesn't matter to the reader how much experience you've got if you're a good writer.
Quite often, experience helps you grow as a writer and become a better writer. But experience is not strictly what determines your status or 'dignity' so to speak, as a writer.
Here's the thing...
The thing:
Experience is relative.
You are gaining experience every minute you sit down to write. Every minute you chose to plow away at your blank Chapter Six instead of binge watching YouTube videos. Ever since the day you decided you loved to inhale imagination and exhale ink-- since the day you began to think of yourself as "a writer." ALL of it is Experience.
It's not so much a statement that you have no experience, but the fact that you have, perhaps, less experience than a professional.
Which is basically a comparison. Don't compare yourself to others. Sure, there are lots of people we can learn from,
The nice thing is...
You will never have less experience than you have. There is no backspacing on experience because it's something you can never lose or have less of.
The only thing you can do is add to it.
Dear Writer,
Stop beating yourself up for not being as advanced as you will in two years or whenever. It's no use growing if you've doomed yourself before you sprout. Every moment adds to your experience. You can push past your limits.
Experience doesn't determine your actions now. Take the moments you have, and tomorrow, those moments will be experience.
Sometimes we don't feel we're good enough. Sometimes we're afraid to start. More often than not that requires guts.
Good luck!
I hope this offered some encouragement.
Let's Chat!
1. Do any of you other writers have doubts about your "experience" ?
2. Do you believe that this is a true worry/fear for young/new writers?
3. What are some other problems writers face?
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| Photo by Ilya Ilyukhin on Unsplash |
It applies to all different sorts of writing: blogging, essaying, poetry. There is this idea that no one can be any good until they've been at it for years.
This isn't true.
It is simply a fear that keeps new/young writers from writing their best.
I, myself, have this fear (as irritating as that is to admit). This idea that maybe just because I started blogging last February means that this blog is basically trash. Or that I'm not a very good writer because I've only ever really got a decent amount of the way through ONE book. (Relateable anyone?)
It's a weird, psychological thing.
The truth:
Just because you don't have a lot of experience with something doesn't mean you'll never have a decent chance, or that you won't be any good.
The thing is, when I read a good book, it doesn't matter to me whether that was the author's debut novel, or whether it was his/hers twenty-sixth. It doesn't matter to the reader how much experience you've got if you're a good writer.
Quite often, experience helps you grow as a writer and become a better writer. But experience is not strictly what determines your status or 'dignity' so to speak, as a writer.
Here's the thing...
The thing:
Experience is relative.
You are gaining experience every minute you sit down to write. Every minute you chose to plow away at your blank Chapter Six instead of binge watching YouTube videos. Ever since the day you decided you loved to inhale imagination and exhale ink-- since the day you began to think of yourself as "a writer." ALL of it is Experience.
It's not so much a statement that you have no experience, but the fact that you have, perhaps, less experience than a professional.
Which is basically a comparison. Don't compare yourself to others. Sure, there are lots of people we can learn from,
The nice thing is...
You will never have less experience than you have. There is no backspacing on experience because it's something you can never lose or have less of.
The only thing you can do is add to it.
Dear Writer,
Stop beating yourself up for not being as advanced as you will in two years or whenever. It's no use growing if you've doomed yourself before you sprout. Every moment adds to your experience. You can push past your limits.
Experience doesn't determine your actions now. Take the moments you have, and tomorrow, those moments will be experience.
Sometimes we don't feel we're good enough. Sometimes we're afraid to start. More often than not that requires guts.
Good luck!
I hope this offered some encouragement.
Let's Chat!
1. Do any of you other writers have doubts about your "experience" ?
2. Do you believe that this is a true worry/fear for young/new writers?
3. What are some other problems writers face?
Thank you so much for this post! I for one needed to hear this :)
ReplyDeleteOH YES. I always find myself thinking that I don't have enough experience.
Yes, definitely. Not only young/new writers, though, but old ones too! I've been writing since I was ten and I still find myself throwing myself under the proverbial bus, telling myself I don't have enough "experience" to consider myself a writer.
I think that writers, especially new ones, face 'style comparison'. I especially find myself reading other's writing and saying that their writing is better than mine(more poetic, more descriptive) when its really just that their style differs from mine.
"proverbial bus" I like that phrase! And I absolutely agree about the style comparison. That's a hard mindest to go over (I do it all the time too) because there's a lot we can learn a lot from other authors but we still need to presserve our own unique writing style . I totally get it!
DeleteBTW, your blog is not trash. It's one of the best blogs I have ever read! Its so helpful and informative, while still being fun to read. :)
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you!! I appreciate it! If you have any tips btw, I'd love to hear them! ;)
ReplyDeleteYour blog is no where near trash, I love reading the useful tips and encouragement :D
ReplyDeleteI do have doubts about a lot of things when I write. I doubt that my characters are unique enough, I doubt that it is good writing, I doubt that the book isn't cheesy, I doubt if my characters have grown at all...the list drags on. But I do see a significant difference between my first novel and my recent one and my first short stories and my newest ones.
YES! It is a true worry/fear for new writers!
Writers block, laziness, procrastination, prioritizing...writers have a bottomless pit of problems.
Aw, thanks! Yes. I can relate. I have a lot of those problems as well. Actually, this Sunday I was going to put up a list of ten fears of writers. Mind if I use some of those examples you listed?
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
I don't mind at all :) I'm happy to help!
Delete