The Curse of Being Too Ambitious That Haunts Every Writer

Too ambitious? You might be doing it wrong. Does your motivation to write come from a deep-seated passion within you, or is it the result of an unclear goal? 

Try being too modest when writing your next story. Your initial edits might just take off in a whole new direction that leads to greater success down the line.

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Frame of reference: I’ve been editing and critiquing other people’s fiction for a while now, and it’s no secret that we’re all trying to move our stories forward. 

That said, the only way that we can do that is by doing exactly what we’re already doing: writing and revising. 

Writing is the only exception, because what you write should be evolving right alongside you. If you can’t see how it’s changing, make time to learn how to self-edit your own work (see my recent post for lots of suggestions).

1. It’s a mindset.

You can’t stop and start and stop and start and stop and start again on the same project. This leads to a stalling mentality which prevents you from moving forward. 

To avoid it, I often suggest writing multiple short projects. If you’re not sure if your story is “good enough” yet, then write something else instead.

2. Your motivation isn’t clear.

If you’re not motivated by passion or purpose, then maybe you should be trying to write something else. 

Don’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t excite you find something that does and your work will be better for it.

3. It’s not all about you.

Be willing to let other people help you improve your work. Surround yourself with positive, encouraging friends who will help you become a better writer. 

(And if you don’t have any like that, make some new ones.) I don’t know about you, but I try my best to avoid anything negative (except maybe dark chocolate).

4. Don’t be scared of failure.

What is it they say? Failure is the first step towards success? This one is closely related to self-editing and revision (which helps me accept my mistakes). 

If you think you’re writing something great, then ask other people to get their opinion on it. If they get it wrong, at least you’ll get something better than what you were trying to write.

5. Be patient.

When the words flow out of your fingers, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t go exactly the way you want it to go.

This is just how writing works sometimes/anyway (and I wrote this at 1:43pm today). Embrace the fact that your story isn’t written yet and make time to edit and revise later.

6. Focusing on the wrong stuff.

Sometimes it feels good to have completed a story, but you don’t know if it’s any good. Maybe you need to stop focusing so much on the words on the page and start letting yourself edit certain story elements instead. 

This will help you figure out what needs improving, so your story doesn’t stay muddled up in your head. (This ties into Point 1 as well.)

7. Too much revision is not good either.

Your initial edits might just take off in a whole new direction that leads to greater success down the line. 

The words you write are just that: Words. Trust that your story will find itself, and then find ways to get it out of your head and into the hands of other people.

8. Learning from others.

Read to improve your writing style and take note of what other writers do when they’re put in similar situations (and you will be, believe me). 

When you give advice, look back on your own advice before giving advice to others for consistency’s sake (not everyone does this). 

If you can master self-editing and revision, then you’ll make lots of mistakes when writing and learn how to fix them later in time (I’m still in the process, myself).

9. Don’t follow trends.

Read popular stuff and read what you love. If you love it then you’ll be instantly motivated to write your own version of that thing that you love. 

For instance, I really loved the movie Inception when I saw it in theaters, so I decided to write a short story about a girl who has similar superpowers to the ones from Inception .

10. Do what works for you.

Make time for writing by doing whatever gets you in the mood to sit down and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). 

If music helps, listen to music while writing. If movies make you more inspired, watch movies while writing (but maybe keep the sound off).