Here’s a pep talk that I give to myself when thinking about not writing about something

The talk

You have a reasonably well founded position, you almost certainly have enough to write about. You have arguments and counterarguments for the major things people are going to say. You have experiences that no one else has. So just write them out. Who can argue with what you have experienced? You’ve already done the hard work of thinking about this problem, why not get the benefits of writing it out? If anything, this will help clarify the thoughts that you have.

The specific phrases don’t matter, as long as you are getting out the main thoughts. You can always refine it over time–the great is the enemy of the good here. That’s what the edit functionality is for. I know you would love to include a beautiful graph or venn diagram to illustrate something, but just say it now and add it later if you must.

There is this nagging thought that says, “what if someone on the internet thinks I’m WRONG??”. That’s a vestigial fear coming out, like being worried about tigers or alpha male chimpanzees. The more rational concern, and the one you should focus on, is “does anyone even know that I exist?” The only way to solve this is to write.

You’re worried about being controversial? That is a good problem to have, it means someone cares enough to write a reply. And if you are wrong? Well, you learned a lot quicker than you would have if you kept it to yourself. Seems like a good deal.

Just ship it.

Just ship. Other people might want to read it. That publish button is scary? Just schedule it for two days from now or next week and keep on writing in the meantime. You’ll have forgotten all about it when it publishes and be surprised when someone asks you about the new post. “Which post?”

Writing might be the single best way of spreading knowledge that you have. It just makes everyone better off, including you. Instead of rehashing the same stories and thought patterns in your mind and with others, just write about it and refer them to the article.

Don’t have much time to write? Put down a nugget of inspiration for later. Just put the minimum intelligible sentence, and maybe instinct will take over. Just write it up real quick while you are thinking about it. You can surely find thirty minutes to just write what you’ve been thinking about or reading about. Could it be considered productive work if you are publishing something that will help your business grow?

Lastly, it might help someone else out a lot. It doesn’t take all that much time and you will feel better having done it. When you look back on this year, the posts that you have written are going to stand out in your mind as a high note. You will get better at writing and the next post will be even easier.

Wrap-up

Meta-reservation: I was worried about publishing this post. Then I scheduled it for a week and a half away.

Phew, that was quite a pep talk. :)

If you ever want something to write about, let me know and I’ll try to help out!