write about anything
liberate yourself with the creative process [89]:
I have been writing this Substack for four years and have had questions from friends on how and why I can keep up with writing, how I feel about writing on the Internet vs. writing in my journal, and so much more.
During this time, I have worked through bouts of inspiration and defeat, ideas drying up, and beliefs of uselessness or unoriginality with my work. As every writer will tell you, there are periods where inspiration feels so dry that you want to punch through the screen for a worthy thought. I debate hard on whether a topic is interesting, insightful, or novel enough for my readers who I know are smart, thoughtful, and well-read. I want to write something decent and worthwhile, something deep and discerning.
Every time I hold myself back from writing, it is because I tell myself what I have is not good enough. This obsession paralyzes and leads to inaction. I don’t doubt that this happens to every writer, novice and professional alike. The answer to having sufficient materials is not from talent or better luck with more lightbulb moments but rather persistence to comb through the gigantic amount of running potential ideas. Anyone who loves writing probably has an ongoing roster of topics. The challenge is to take a mildly good thought and turn it into a fully crafted piece of writing.
Setting aside the pressure to perform, I will give one suggestion to help with the writing process. For beginner and those who are improving their craft and building a portfolio especially, write about whatever you want. Refrain from overthinking about the merit of the budding concept. Champion liberation in writing by letting your writing take you where it wants rather than closing down on one topic.
As an avid consumer of YouTube lifestyle vlogs, I love watching people showing their lives: runners, lifters, dog owners, personal finances, property or rental investors, etc. It is inspiring and intriguing to learn about what others are doing. Having followed these bloggers for many years, I noticed that they would film everything and anything. The other day, I watched a fitness influencer trying out ground beef and stewed bananas together. This might be silly, but if people can make eating bananas with ground beef content for thousands of views, why am I limiting myself to certain writing ideas? I call this self-censoring and self-rejecting.
Of the widely recognized creatives and visionaries in history, many were not noticed in their lifetime: Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Emily Dickinson, etc., for their different notions and expressions. The pursuit of art and expression is not always quickly embraced. In addition, when you create 50 pieces of art, a handful will be adored exceptionally by the audience.
If you begin to argue for the algorithm and SEO optimization, and following trendy topics and clickable titles, I hear you. I am not saying that those can’t be an element for consideration. If you can find an overlap between social media optimization and your writing/content, that would be an ideal world. But forcing your writing to contain trendy topics will eventually bite you in the butt because trends will come and go and your audience can detect inauthenticity or lack of enthusiasm.
I have only written about things that I like and am drawn to: ideas that I believe in and want to explore further. I found that I resonate with people the most when I write from the heart. My favorite writers on Substack are those who write with passion and honesty.
The caveat if you are a writer for a living is the pressure to adhere to producing what “sells”. I know
has written about relentlessly pitching ideas for publication and unpaid work in the publishing world. I don’t have an answer for this precisely, if you made money through Substack or a paid writer, please share your experience.On Substack, people seem to love reading about friendships (go to any of your favorite writers’ blogs and check out their friendship posts), breaking out from traditional career paths to explore the world, mindful living, sex, transcendent psychology, etc. Based on the titles that are floating on my Substack note feed, there is a pattern to writing that gets significantly more engagement.
During my journey here, occasionally I stumbled upon writers who share things that I have been meaning to write for a long time, yet haven’t found the occasion to. Exhibit A with
and her essays on being a woman of color and navigating womanhood. I feel excited and inspired when I found trail-blazing writers who share topics that might be slightly different or less palatable to the general consumers on here.What I am trying to get at is: it might not be necessary to torture ourselves every time with writing when we have free will.
The artist’s tortured struggle complex is real (cue the title of Taylor Swift’s latest album). I sometimes indulge in that a bit excessively. Nevertheless, I believe there can also be joy in crafting a work of art. There is no right or wrong topic to create. If you are a self-tortured artist, I implore you to follow what feels right and build your portfolio around the things you enjoy creating. Arguably, the way to pursue art sustainably is to like what you create. Step outside of your head and produce whatever you like. The right audience will come and the wrong ones will part.
I would rather be prolific and have some good pieces than wait for the right ingenuity to come along and have a handful of creations.
If you are interested in reading more about writer’s block, check out this post from
- I found this highly enjoyable and relatable.Thank you for reading the Life with MD publication. If you enjoy this essay, please give it a like by clicking the heart at the top or bottom of the page.
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If you have experience dealing with writer’s block/self-deprecation with new ideas or struggle with the general creative process, please leave a comment and share your thoughts. I’d love to know.
i wrestle with this all the time, especially since i'm pitching publications all the time for work and i have to balance what i spend my time on — recognizing that research is a practice that can be leisurely, but is also very much "work" a lot of the time. and, of course, being on substack for a while means recognizing what content does well in terms of engagement and what doesn't, which might not line up with what we're passionate about and feel driven to share.
The self-censoring and self-rejecting you described are so real. Great piece.