(5 MINUTES READ)
Even just starting writing is hard. Blank pages are the worst, especially when you have a strong idea of what you want to talk about. They’re part of why writing is hard. They’re like a wall you have to scale before you can even start the race, while everyone else seems to be halfway through the course.
But blank page, the ‘how do you start’ part, force you to order your thoughts in the hope that you’ll communicate them in a way that’ll generally be understood by most and entertaining to most of the people reading them. So the challenge of starting, though daunting, is good and it makes you better. The difficulty starts to become the point of the exercise. It’s not spark. It’s the execution.
Everybody Has an Idea
I have to tell you, almost everybody I know has amazing creative ideas. Humans are so playful, so intelligent and fun. I’ll get half an hour into a conversation, and they’re coming up with awesome topics, things to think about, great ideas for books or movies…. But most people don’t even start, let alone follow through and finish, let alone rewrite-rewrite-rewrite, let alone submit them or publish them, let alone market them or push them. And why? Because it’s hard.
I shouldn’t really be discussing this. Truly. I haven’t published a thing (well, except for a few million marketing words in the last couple of years). I haven’t won any contests or built up a blogging following. I’m not even sure if my alpha readers like my creative work. But I’ve decided if you call yourself a writer, you must write, and you must write every day and, because I don’t always want to work on this novel or these short stories I’m carving out of thin air, I’m thought I’d start discussing my thoughts around my process. I’m planning to do two or three a week. Let’s see if I continue because even this is hard.
Is it Interesting to Me?
The first trick is to decide what might be interesting to write about. For me. Before I started writing today, I had to reject multiple ideas, mainly because they were too big to discuss in about six hundred to a thousand words, but also because I couldn’t wrap my brain around them today. Each was a good idea, but not today.
The ‘what’s good today’ thing is huge. We aren’t machines. We aren’t CHATGPT churning out millions of crappy ol’ words on whatever gets entered. We’re people and we need to investigate what moves us, what’s interesting to us, or what makes us giggle. I would argue that even writing solely for the purpose of marketing needs to be interesting to the writer but I can’t prove that.
As humans, we swim in a sea of culture, and even if we’re good swimmers, we must grab onto the right floaties or drown. Interestingly, grabbing a floaty somehow keeps it floating where culture is concerned. Our decisions determine what becomes important.
Even Doing My Own Thing is Hard
I’ve had a few people suggest we team up and write one of their ideas, like develop a show or write a book together, and this is because folks truly think that they’re ideas are amazing and, quite frankly, many of them are. But I spent most of my creative life interpreting other folks’ work and presenting it well, so I think I will spend a little time interpreting my own. Also, folks are never as interested in your work so if you’re really trying to help, there will likely be very little reciprocation in terms of folks investing in what you’re doing. Unless you pay them, of course.
Interestingly, for me, is the point that culture heaves forward not because of good ideas but because of what gets done. So, for my third act, I am dedicated to following through on my own ideas.
There are So Many
When I started truly pursuing writing, I began listening to podcasts that explore what makes good writing. These are not podcasts that discuss new book releases, so they weren’t meant for the general public. Just for writers. Some of them have hundreds of thousands of followers. Just writers. Or ostensibly just writers.
I remember feeling shocked that there were so many folks out there trying to write. You know, you always have this silly idea that you’re special. But it does reinforce the idea that writing is hard. With all those people wanting to write and so few people finishing what they’re writing, and so few edi…. Well, you know what I mean. It’s hard.
So Why Do It If Writing is So Hard?
Though CHATGPT has changed the game so that anyone with an idea can create a piece of work, the resulting pieces are still not good. They might get better but not yet. What CHATGPT has done is out a lot more folks out there trying to get their work recognized. One magazine noted that, after CHATGPT, they were getting more submissions a month than they had subscribers. They had to close for submissions. Crap!
Is writing still worth it? Hmmmm. Is it lucrative? Also, hmmmm. I can’t tell you why to do anything. I can only tell you that I want to do it, I have a facility for it, and I have a knack for getting things done. So, so. So I will. And trying to do anything well is worthy almost an act of insurrection, these days. The process is worthy, of course. Gardening, embroidery, climbing mountains well is also extremely hard. Getting the top, finishing the project? So good.
If you’re on this journey with me, trying to write a novel or a short story or a play or a poem, I would love to hear your thoughts on the hard.
Jacqui Burke is a former Theatrical Director and Producer living in Hamilton, Ontario, with her husband and adult child. “Olnay in Time”, her first novel (well, sorta first), will be published on February 25, 2026. When she’s 64. Cue the music.
