I Fail At Writing Every Day. You Can, Too. Here’s How.

FREE PDF GUIDE: Learn how to fail as a writer. Download the guide here. (Trust me, I know what I’m talking about). 

It took me awhile to write a novel.

I don’t even mean a published one, I mean to write a draft at all.

I didn’t really even attempt one while in college—which was a mistake. I thought I would be a journalist and thenI only took poetry writing classes—for some reason I looked down on creative fiction at that time, even though I knew deep down that’s what I’d rather be creating.

Instead I put it off, and became frustrated and jealous. Frustrated that my own writing wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be and jealous of those who were at least trying and putting pen to paper (or saving sentences in a Word doc…as the case usually was).

When I finally did try, I convinced myself it had to be epic from the outset, on par with all the great novelists. Fitzgerald or Kerouac or O’Connor. Set great expectations, right?

What I didn’t understand was that those people had failed an failed many times. As readers, we just didn’t see it.

I read the perfected, final draft. I didn’t see the sweat, the tears, the wadded-up paper.

I was reading the most talented writers the world had ever seen. That’s what I was comparing myself to. Without ever having written a thing. How horrible. 

And that’s only one way I’ve failed as writer. Some failures are bigger than others, I’ve had a few successes, but I generally fail in some way every day.

I google too much for the sake of “research.” I’ve even written some creative non-fiction essays about failing as a writer, right before the publication failed (true story!).

Point is…I’m pretty good at failing as a writer. So good in fact, that I don’t want to hide my secrets anymore. Yes, right now, I’m going to reveal to you some of the top, proven ways that you can fail as a writer.

I’ve never shared these secrets with anyone before now. And now they can be yours. 

Next, tweet @joshspilker with your fail or tell me how you fail at writing in the comments. 

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