February 1, 2025 / 3 Minute Read

pointless pressure

How ironic that as I sit here prepared to tell you not to stress about your writing routine, my thoughts race with anxieties and possibilities. 

Is this content relevant?

Is the article too short?

Will I touch someone’s soul?

What comes next?!

Like all artists, I care deeply about the content I produce (even though my work may not always show it).

Consistent quality is what I strive for.

The question is, what does consistency mean?

When I first started my blog, I forced myself to write for an hour a day, five days a week.

This may not seem like much to you English majors and literary legends, but it was more than a challenge for me. 

I found success for a while, but I inevitably started to drift from my routine.

My schedule became somewhat erratic and soon, I was writing seemingly at random. 

I still maintained a general awareness that I needed to write, and that I needed to do it relatively frequently, but I abandoned the militaristic date and time standards that I’d set for myself.

Surprisingly, my writing actually improved! 

While I released less content overall, the articles that did make it to print were far more refined and thoughtful.

Part of this can be attributed to the natural course of progression achieved through repetition.

The other part can be accredited to the absence of pointless pressure.

What is pointless pressure you ask?

Pointless Pressure is putting yourself in a proverbial writer’s prison, creating arbitrary standards and deadlines for minimal results.

Pointless pressure is why so many artists work themselves to death. 

Pointless pressure is why the mainstream media reports half-baked, incorrect, and oftentimes fallacious stories. 

It is the utilization of force instead of power. 

An exercise of fear instead of faith. 

Don’t get it twisted.

To an extent, routines and deadlines are necessary.

Boundaries and plans give a writer focus and direction. 

The value in writing semi-daily was that it showed me that I have the capability to write consistently. I now know for a fact that I can produce at will if needed. 

But for what?

To chug out an article just to immediatley get started on the next one? 

To get a few claps on Medium or a gaggle of likes on Instagram? 

To prove to myself that I’m a “real” writer? 

I think not.

Writing more doesn’t always mean your content will be better, or that you’ll gain notoriety sooner.

There are many famous authors with only one book to their name, and many prolific writers with only their own gaze as validation for their work. 

Not writing doesn’t mean your skills are regressing. 

Reading and experiencing life are just as, if not more important than the act of writing itself. 

Where else are you going to get ideas and material for your stories?

The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

Am I telling you to just go bananas and write whenever you feel like it?

Not necessarily.

But I’m also not saying it’s a bad idea.

The truth of the matter is that there is no perfect routine for writing.

Writing is an art, not a job. 

For me, the act of writing itself is all that really matters.

No matter how terribly or infrequently, as long as one keeps writing and trying their best, what have they to be ashamed of?

So stop with the pointless pressure and get to work!

Or don’t, that’s cool too.

Bye Chance.