How to Tell if You Should Keep Writing No Matter What

There are times when you may wonder if you should keep writing or not.

Here’s a story that may help.

What I Learned from a Dental Hygienist

I went to see a new dentist the other day, and I was lucky enough to come upon a great example of someone who was doing what she loved to do.

I’d been looking for a new dentist for awhile. I had visited a few but had yet to find one that I felt comfortable with. In many ways, finding a good hygienist is just as important as finding a good dentist, particularly when you have sensitive teeth and tend to dread cleanings.

I lucked out, because I got a young gal who took her job very seriously. It was obvious within a few minutes that it was very important to her that I feel comfortable during my visit, and she took every precaution to make sure that happened.

On top of that, she was personable, enthusiastic, bubbly, and thoughtful, and more than once she told me how much she loved what she did for a living.

It was obvious the way she beamed joy every time she turned around. I left that office feeling uplifted and inspired.

The whole experience got me thinking about this idea of loving what you do. We’ve all been in situations where we’ve had to hold down a job that we didn’t particularly care for. In some cases, people start writing for that reason—as a way to channel a creative nature that isn’t allowed freedom at work.

But writing is something most of us do on our own time, even if we do enjoy our jobs, and after pursuing it for a while, it may be wise to ask yourself the question: Do you still love it?

Hard Work for…a Paycheck?

My parents came from a generation where hard work was valued for hard work’s sake, and whether you enjoyed your job or not was rather immaterial.

The important thing was that you got a paycheck and benefits so that you could take care of yourself and your family.

Today’s individual tends to want more from her career. A chance to grow and contribute and feel like what she’s doing is making a difference somehow. To trade time only for a paycheck can leave her feeling empty and useless, and cause her to question everything she believed about herself and life in general.

But sometimes you have to do what you have to do to keep a roof over your head and food in your family’s mouths. At times, it can feel like you have little control over that. But what we always have control over is our leisure time, and for many writers, that’s when the writing happens.

Do You You Still Enjoy It?

Here’s where it becomes important to make sure that you are still enjoying the time spent writing, because after all, we’re talking about the precious few hours you have to yourself. These are the hours when you make meaning from your life, particularly if you’re currently in a work situation that contributes little to that goal.

Indeed, more and more people are turning to their leisure time activities to find meaning. Yoshitaka Iwasaki, a professor in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Extension who studies use of leisure time, shares the notion that creating a richer leisure experience can, in turn, create a more purposeful, fulfilling life:

“It’s easy for people to do something that provides meaningless pleasure, but your choice is going to influence whether or not you have a purposeful life. Leisure time lets us do anything we want, and if we acknowledge its role in helping find meaning in life, we’re going to make wiser decisions about how we spend free time.”

Keep Writing If It Brings Meaning To Your Life

So the question then becomes: Is the time you spend on writing and writing-related activities helping you to find meaning in your life?

I may be holding the activity to a high standard here. After all, loving what you do could be as simple as finding writing to be enjoyable, challenging, or a rewarding mode of self-expression. But why not put it to the ultimate test?

I’ve heard enough comments from readers to believe that for many writers, “finding meaning” is something they crave from their writing. We seek to find our purpose in what we produce on the page, a reason to be here and be devoting ourselves to the work.

When we find that, writing becomes a deeply fulfilling and rewarding activity regardless of whether we succeed on the marketplace or not.

Should You Keep Writing?

Too often, when we’re trying to decide if we love what we do, we put far too much emphasis on whether we’re having a good time.

That can be confusing, though, because anything you love can be challenging and even downright difficult at times. That doesn’t mean you don’t love it.

Truly loving what you do goes deeper than that. For that love to last, the endeavor needs to provide you with more than just a few hours of fun. It needs to provide you with a source of meaning.

To put your feelings to the test when it comes to your writing, we’ll use Iwasaki’s five factors as a guide. Ask yourself if your writing is fulfilling the following five requirements for producing meaningful experiences in your life.

1. Does writing bring you joy?

Iwasaki said: “A joyful life is about reducing negative emotions and increasing positive emotions.” Simple enough.

Does writing bring you more joyful emotions than negative emotions?

No doubt you’ve experienced the discouragements and disappointments. But when you look back over the time you’ve spend on the page, is it more happy than sad? Do you find the rewards outweigh the difficulties?

“Few joys could possibly compare to opening a book and seeing your words on the printed page,” says author Melissa Rae.

“Bottom line—enjoy,” says author Abbie Williams. “Writing is a poignant, meaningful, creative outlet, and one that I could not live without.”

2. Does writing make you feel more connected to the world?

Iwasaki said: “It’s important for any individual to see that they are part of the whole world.”

When we become more connected and feel a greater sense of belonging, we tend to feel less isolated and different. The question is: Does writing help you do that?

Scientists have found that reading certainly does. In a 2013 study, researchers randomly assigned about 1,000 participants to read either extracts of popular fiction such as books by Danielle Steele or Gillian Flynn, or more literary texts by Téa Obreht and Anton Chekov.

Results showed that those who read literary fiction scored consistently higher on the empathy tests than those reading popular fiction or non-fiction.

Study author and psychologist David Comer Kidd stated, “What great writers do is to turn you into the writer. In literary fiction, the incompleteness of the characters turns your mind to trying to understand the minds of others.”

If we can gain such benefits from reading, how many more must we gain from writing? From inhabiting all the various characters we create and seeing things from their points of view? Don’t we become more understanding of others through this process?

That’s a question for you to ask yourself. Do you?

3. Does writing help you discover who you are?

Iwasaki noted that creative leisure time activities help boost self-esteem and bolster identity. So the question is, does writing help you feel more like you? Does it give you a way to discover yourself and thereby become more fully yourself?

“That’s the thing about writing,” says writer Carl Towns in his Writing and Wellness feature. “It’s grounded me and made me a better person to be around….It’s given me, more importantly, my sense of me, of being me, and of living how I want to live. For that, I’m so grateful.”

I’ve heard many writers say that when they write, they feel most authentically likely themselves. Many of us find our true voices through writing, and thereby start to gain confidence and a truer sense of self.

“If you feel good about yourself, you can discover the meaning of life,” Iwasaki said.

Does writing do that for you?

4. Does writing help you feel more in control of your life?

Sometimes everything else in your life can feel like it’s out of control. There may be things happening at work and in your family that make you feel helpless in response.

But on the page, the question is: do you feel a sense of control?

Most writers love this feeling—that they control the worlds on the page and the people in them. For that short amount of time, we get to decide what happens and who it happens to, and we can make our stories come out the way we think they should.

“Naturally, people want to control their destiny,” Iwasaki said. For you, writing may provide a source of hope that no matter what you may have to go through at work or what you may have to endure in other areas of your life, you can at least control what stories you write and publish, and how you fashion your own writing career.

If writing helps you build a stronger sense of autonomy, it’s helping you to find not only a sense of control, but a deeper meaning, too.

5. Does writing empower you?

Do writing help you feel like you can change your life for the better if you want to?

Does it give you a stronger sense of confidence that you can become who you want to become?

“Leisure provides the opportunity for people to grow,” Iwasaki says. “When you test your skill levels by challenging yourself, you get an optimal level of experience—and that leads to transformation.”

Has your writing helped transform you into a better, more confident person? Have you allowed it to lure you into increasingly difficult challenges, just so you could learn to overcome them? And in so doing, have you felt yourself growing and expanding?

“To me,” says writer Katie M. McLaughlin, “the connection between writing and empowerment has always been an obvious one. Through writing, we find our unique voices. The simple act of journaling helped me learn about myself and feel confident in living authentically. Talk about empowering!”

Keep Writing If…

Every writer goes through a period where they wonder, “Is it worth it? All this time I’m spending, does it matter?”

If you find meaning in your writing, you’re likely to answer “yes” to those questions, because it gives you something nothing else can give you.

American inventor Steven Wozniak said, “If you love what you do and are willing to do what it takes, it’s within your reach. And it’ll be worth every minute you spend alone at night, thinking and thinking about what it is you want to design or build. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

Writer, do you love what you do? What is your answer?

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Sources:

Betkowski, B. (2018, January 12). 5 ways to bring meaning to your free time. Retrieved from https://www.folio.ca/5-ways-to-bring-meaning-to-your-free-time/

Bury, L. (2018, February 22). Reading literary fiction improves empathy, study finds. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/oct/08/literary-fiction-improves-empathy-study

Iwasaki, Y., Messina, E. S., & Hopper, T. (2017). The role of leisure in meaning-making and engagement with life. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(1), 29-35. doi:10.1080/17439760.2017.1374443

McLaughlin, K. M. (2014, April 21). Empowering Women and Girls Through Writing – Pick Any Two. Retrieved from https://pickanytwo.net/empowering-women-girls-writing/

Oatley, K. (2016). Fiction: Simulation of Social Worlds. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(8), 618-628. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2016.06.002