Writing Is Not Difficult
I had an interesting chat on Twitter today.
Long term friend of the project and guy I called out yesterday, James Holt, has been looking for some writers for hire in order to expand his content business empire.
And he’s not been having much luck.
He hired a couple of writers to do a single project for him, and neither of them delivered on time.
I guess they didn’t read any of my numerous articles on not being a total freelance failure. Let’s run it through again for the benefit of the newbies.
There are three things you need in order to succeed at freelancing:
- An in demand service which meets a commercial need
- The ability to do that work to a professional standard
- The ability to do that work, no excuses, to a schedule and with a smile. (Or at least not being a pain in the arse for the person who hired you.)
If you can do those three things, you will succeed at freelancing in whatever skill you develop.
How can I guarantee that?
Because most “freelancers” are utterly hopeless at doing the above.
And the above three prerequisites are not hard.
This brings me to my Twitter conversation.
Is Writing Articles Hard?
Check out this tweet:
And here’s my honest reply:
I’m posting this not to rag on the guy who was responded to me. After all, it’s a conversation and all.
That said…
I’ll just say it.
If your idea of a “harrowing ordeal” is writing an article about something you don’t care about, then I honestly don’t understand how easy your life must be.
Christ.
Writing is not difficult. There are a million things that could go wrong in your life, billions of bad things that could happen to you… and sitting and typing some words is by no means one of them.
The same guy referred to me as a “Twitter veteran mercenary writer.”
That makes me sound a lot more interesting than I actually am, so naturally I’m stealing it.
As a “Twitter veteran mercenary writer,” I can tell you this:
Writing for a living isn’t difficult.
Just a couple of generations back, males in my family had the pleasure of getting conscripted, shot at in repeated battles, some interred in prison camps and then made to death march.
Give it a couple more generations, and males in nearly every family had the pleasure of a life of hard, manual labour with little reward and much turmoil.
In comparison, you can get paid to type words onto a screen and then send it off to some guy somewhere.
And sometimes, maybe you don’t like what you’re typing.
In no way is that an “ordeal.”
And if it is…
Your Life Needs A Little More Difficulty
Humans are the dominant animal on the planet because they’re the best at adapting to their surroundings. You are an adaptation machine.
And the way you adapt is by putting yourself in uncomfortable situations.
If writing a few hundred words on a topic you don’t especially care about is something harrowing for you, then you are weak.
This isn’t writing an in depth essay on philosophy or something.
It isn’t writing a book.
And it’s not completing some super-technical feat.
If the idea of doing something as mildly unpleasant as writing an article is tough for you, then life is going to be a very tough ride. It doesn’t have to be, but you need to get over your phobia of doing simple yet uncomfortable stuff.
Evolution And You
I used an example on Twitter:
If a room full of people can’t do a single push up, it doesn’t make a single push up a hard task.
I cannot comprehend how writing an article about something you’re not interested in is a hard task.
And I was met with this reply:
A single push-up is not just hard but p much impossible if you’re 400 pounds and never lifted in your life. Whether it’s hard or not is relative. twitter veteran mercenary writers are not a good way to gauge how hard it is for the average person
And look… I’m not a superhero when it comes to fitness. But this is important for your life and well-being.
If you are 400lbs and can’t do a single push up, then remember – you’re an adaptation machine.
And you have adapted to the environment you’ve created: One that has made you slow, weak and fat. And you are going to suffer the consequences. You will probably die of complications from your weight.
Either that, or it’s a slow, drawn out life full of misery.
And this is preventable in all but the rarest of circumstances.
And it’s your duty and responsibility to yourself to ensure that you aren’t 400lbs, aren’t incapable of a push up, and aren’t going to die a slow and drawn out death.
On The Bright Side…
I hesitated to write the above, but only a little.
It’s not right to dispense feel good stuff when people are in need of real, tangible help.
Let’s get back to the writing thing.
If you can’t write a few hundred words on any given subject, then you are in that danger zone mentally that the obese person is physically.
Being able to endure some discomfort, do a little research (and learn something new,) and write up coherent thoughts on what you’ve learned is not some superhuman feat.
It’s not difficult.
And if you can’t do it, it’s because your brain has been fried by too much internet stimulation and weakened by too much comfort.
It’s within your power to change this, and you must.