I have a double professional personality. It may not be great for business, because it can look like a lack of focus, but I can’t help it.
I’m usually one of two things (and sometimes both at once):
Content marketer working with B2B brands on strategy, planning, and implementation.
Writer who likes to talk about writing with people who love writing.
They don’t exclude each other, and I enjoy helping in both cases, but they do pull me in slightly different directions.
From the marketer’s side, I recently wrote an article about why it’s so difficult to be consistent about publishing content. And then my other personality wanted to explore something similar from a different angle: why do people want to write, but struggle to keep at it?
I’ll indulge my writer half and mirror a list of reasons I see happen repeatedly:
Lack of routine. Routine can get you through many days when you simply don’t feel like putting pen to paper. The power of habit is strong, nudging your body and brain into a predefined rhythm. A routine can include some combination of the same time, same place, same setting, familiar adjacent behaviours (coffee, a playlist), and the same tools.
Lack of an ideation process. I don’t mean a lack of ideas, we all have those. The issue is that we don’t always actively collect them while reading, listening, walking, or talking. We don’t always write them down systematically or revisit them.
When randomness becomes deliberate, the risk of staring at a blank page with no coherent thought in sight drops significantly.
Lack of purpose. Writing doesn’t always need a clear purpose — you can write randomly for years if you want. But it will remain random, inconsistent, and often frustrating. Without knowing why you’re writing something, or what you want it to lead to, motivation fades, and progress becomes hard to sustain. (Similar to what Junoz Diaz calls “propulsion,” but more targeted to each piece)
Lack of trust in the process. Writing is rarely clear or beautiful from the start. Ugly first drafts are the norm. Highs and lows are frequent. Lush paragraphs followed by dry, stubborn lines are part of the deal.
Without trust in the process, discouragement sets in quickly. Writing isn’t easy, and sticking with it through multiple drafts is unavoidable.
Lack of company. Writing is solitary, but writers need company. This might mean communities, online or offline, where you actively interact with others who share your interests. Or it can be more passive: reading other writers, listening to interviews, or observing from the sidelines.
Company reminds you that others struggle too. It helps you trust the process, rethink habits, and redesign goals. All of that supports growth.
Becoming aware of these “lacks” is the first step. From there, you can address them gradually, one at a time or in combination, which will almost certainly improve your writing output, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
If you’d like help with ideation, routine, or learning to trust the process a bit more, I put together this 30-day writing toolkit.
On with…
✍️ This week’s prompt:
From the five points above, which one resonates most with you right now? Which one is holding you back and why?
Write about it. Then come up with a few light action points you could try over the next weeks to loosen its grip.
And if you’d like to do this alongside others, you’re welcome to join Shrug & Send’s subscriber chats. It’s a small, growing, and supportive community.
