A List Of Things Every Modern Writer Is Tired Of Hearing

1. We’re tired of hearing that our work is too ’emotional’ or ‘vulnerable’ or ‘heartbreaking.’ Writers write from their hearts and our work usually stems from intense and deep emotions resulting from pain or from heartbreak. Don’t make fun of our hearts. Don’t make fun of the deepest and most vulnerable parts of us.

2. We’re tired of people thinking we’re going to write about them or we’re sending them subliminal messages through our writings. We’re tired of people reading too much into the things we write and making assumptions without trying to ask us first what we meant or what triggered us to write a certain piece. We don’t write out of bitterness, we write to heal ourselves. 

3. We’re tired of people telling us how to be better writers. Giving us better ideas to write about. Telling us we should write about certain topics. Telling us we need to stop writing about the same things. I understand they mean well but this makes us feel that the work we put out is not good enough. It makes us feel that we have to find a new voice because our original voice is not special anymore.

4. We’re tired of people labeling us ‘damaged’ or ‘crazy’ or assuming we have too much baggage. We are all damaged in some way and we all have baggage, the only difference is we decided to write about them and share them with the world. We decided to be an open book even if it doesn’t serve us well.

5. We’re tired of people telling us that we should get a real job that pays the bills because writing should just be a hobby. You don’t understand the journey we had to take to become full-time writers. You don’t understand the struggle it takes for anyone to do what they love for a living. Don’t make us feel like our work is not important when it’s the most important thing to us.

6. We’re tired of hearing that we will eventually run out of ideas. Writing is like the air we breathe. It’s our therapy. It’s our safeguard from depression. It’s how we stay sane. Maybe we’ll have moments when our inspiration is not where it should be. Maybe we’ll have days when the words are just not flowing with ease but we’ll never run out of ideas. We’ll never run out of life.

7. We’re tired of people who use the work we’re not proud of to judge us. We’re learning as we go. We’re improving. We’re getting wiser and our words are getting sharper. We have written things we’re not proud of. We’ve said things we can’t take back. We spot a lot of editing mistakes and errors that we wish we could just erase but that’s the price we pay when we publish our work. It’s the price artists pay when they still haven’t found their voice or their style or mastered their craft. It’s normal and kind of a given that every artist wishes they could go back and do things differently but they can’t and it helps when people are kind to us about our flops. It helps when people understand that we’re humans and we’re not perfect and our imperfections will always be reflected in our work but that’s also what makes art real and beautiful. 

8.  We’re tired of people hating on us and our work but we always count on those who love it. Those who appreciate it. Those who reach out to us to tell us that our words changed their lives. That our words healed them. That our words are important.

We’re tired of displaying our deepest wounds but we also wouldn’t bleed any other way.