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Writers are weird people.

They are low-maintenace, don’t require much sleep, write in weird places with weird thoughts and almost always have day-jobs to earn because writing almost never helps them financially.

Writers are smartasses, corny, embarrassingly shy sometimes and need constant validation because they don’t have faith in their talent and skill.

Writers are grammar geniuses and probably read the dictionary for fun.

Writers have their low moments when they lock themselves up in their rooms and wait for the devil named Writer’s Block to dismount form their shoulders.

Phew. So many misconceptions about writing. So many writing myths I’ve got to bust.

There are so many misconceptions regarding the art of writing that people believe in, that this is actually preventing the actual true writers from pursuing this career because they just feel that there are “too many obstacles in our way of becoming a published author.”

As I proceeded with my writing career, met new people and learnt their opinions about the craft of writing, I grew surer of the fact day-by-day that writing was hugely misunderstood.

People seemed to have many perceptions about writing and writers and there was someone who was supposed to break them all. Even though writing myths don’t really affect the outsiders (the non-writers), they affect the writers so much more.

So many writers or wannabe-writers out there probably have their own opinions regarding this craft, and are waiting for someone to correct them.

These are the 13 myths about writing that I have seen around myself, and that I don’t believe in, and that I think people should now learn about.

WRITING MYTH NO. 1 Writers Don’t Earn Much

(Unless they’re JK Rowling or James Patterson or Stephen King)

Hah.

This myth has been around since so long that people don’t consider it a myth anymore. Who’re you kidding, it’s a faact.

History and classic stories have almost always shown writers as those people who lived on the third floor of the cheap apartment building and worked the day for a rich man at a mediocre salary, just to spend the whole night scribbling the idea in their head that somehow magically gets published at the end of the story and everything’s good and everyone’s happy.

I probably don’t need to say that reality is far different than this exaggerated version of an ideal fiction that I just talked about.

There are writers who’re hesitant to pursue this career because they feel that it just hasn’t got the exposure, because there have been countless examples when even great authors have had to look for other sources of income to earn a living.

Myth-buster: The dark ages have gone by.

We’re in the ages of Instagram and Facebook and Wattpad and Pinterest. We have ways of talking about our stories with the world. We have the necessary means to make a living out of writing.

Are we willing to take up that option, though?

WRITING MYTH NO. 2 Writers are Vocab Nerds and Grammer Geeks

(Tell me about it)

Yeah, okay, I get it. Some people are excessive vocal while using their extensively knowledgeable and intelligent vocabulary, or while correcting others in their “can/may go to the washroom” mistakes.

But that doesn’t mean that all the writers all over the world are fluent and know-it-alls in their languages.

Writing is not about using high-tech and long words to say a simple thing. It’s actually only about using the minium necessary words to say the necessary thing.

In fact, the most difficult thing for an affluent and motivated writer is to actually write a a short, concluding paragraph in just fifty words. They always want to say more. I, for one, always exceed the word limit while writing my English school reports.

It’s never that easy.

Myth-buster: writers are not know-it-alls. Although, they do dream of being.

WRITING MYTH NO. 3 Traditional Publishing is the Only Way to Go Big and Global

This law of the universe has been amazingly defied by retail platforms like Amazon, IngramSpark, etc. Now, it’s no longer required to find a publisher who likes your work (even if it can only be made possible after ten requests and ten rejections), who accepts it and is willing to publish it in their house.

Even though all the old, classic, major writers were a result of big publishing houses, there is no need to worry.

The social media marketing tools and methods have advanced more than they once had when…let’s say, JK Rowling was looking for a publisher.

Publishers used to be gods for the writers. But now you don’t need such gods anymore.

Myth-buster: Self-publishing is already popular among the writers and they are making good and profitable use of it.

I myself published my debut book at the age of sixteen with Amazon Kindle direct publishing program. You’re welcome to check out my book, I know you want to. Come on, your fingers are itching to click. Here you go: Say Something 😉

Writers are now able to make use of these wide array of tools and technologies that will take them up the stairs of writing success.

WRITING MYTH NO. 4 Writing a Good Book Takes Years

There’s this widely-common misconception among the various myths about writing that if you start writing your book when you’re in diapers, then you’ll get through to publishing it successfully and earning from it only until after you’ve sent your kids to preschool.

Get this one?

It’s exaggerated by me and probably doesn’t exist with the same terminology, but the basic idea is that writing a good book that sells and has a clear and loyal audience is a long and tiresome process and takes years—probably not decades, though—to master.

Myth-buster: not true. Like, it solely depends upon you, and your combination of talent and skill, and how you implement it, and your luck streak, and the external factors playing out near you.

Stephen King said that he writes six pages a day, and by this method he’s able to finish writing a book in just three months.

If he takes a break of a couple months after that, and then revisits the book again, the maximum time he’ll take to furnish it and edit it completely for publication is a couple years.

It’s not long, guys, seriously, have faith in the journey and know that the destination is near.

WRITING MYTH NO. 5 Writers Are Always Inspired and Motivated to Write

No, they’re not.

I spend half my day in school and the half of the other half watching TV and regaining the energy I spent mindlessly while studying. (Fun fact: I hate studying).

The time I’ve got left is spent in doing homework, writing a few more lines of my book, and checking my website stats to see that they’ve still not gone up.

Do you see writing anywhere in that? Productive, major writing? That’s why I have to make time for it in the mornings, at five-thirty when there’s no one around to bug me about my social life.

Myth-buster: finding inspiration to write is hard. Extremely, painfully hard. Sometimes all that the writer does is stare at the blank screen/paper and think about pulling their hair out in frustration. Needless to say, this probably won’t make you look attractive when you go on interviews regarding the launch of your new book. (This is called manifestation, people.)

You won’t always be high on inspiration (even if you’re high on caffeine), so you should probably start getting disciplined.

WRITING MYTH NO. 6 Writers Write Daily

Stephen king does. He writes four hours a day, and gets through about 1000 words. But he’s Stephen King, so, no arguments there.

People think that writers write daily, and are always writing and writing and writing that is what you should do too if you want to become a good writer.

Myth-buster: of course, writers don’t write daily. Though it’s a good advice to do so, many of us just don’t get through it.

Sometimes we’re tired, sometimes we’ve got work, sometimes we’re binging a TV show, sometimes our neighbour’s dog has died, sometimes we just aren’t feeling like it, and sometimes “there’s an itch in my shoulder that doesn’t go away when I scratch, and I don’t know I’m not feeling like typing much today”.

And it’s okay if you miss one day or two. It’s fine, you gotta take care of yourself. Just don’t make a habit out of it.

WRITING MYTH NO. 7 Writers Isolate Themsleves

People think that writers have to isolate themselves to actually create good stories and get good ideas.

People think that to create a masterpiece, you’re required to lock yourself up in a room and face the wall to get the big epic idea that’s going to change the world. I just don’t think this is particularly true at all. I usually get my big, massive, I’m-proud-of-them ideas while doing the most random thing ever.

In fact, I got the idea for my blog My Formula for Changing the World one evening when I was refilling my water bottle in the kitchen. Like, how crazy is that?

Myth-buster: so the truth is, you might just end up getting the thought-provoking ideas while performing the ordinary tasks of life.

Doing laundry? Hey, how about a new superhero character—Laundryman? (Though, this idea feels not epic but kinda completly stupid.) Cleaning your house? Great way to get an idea. Picking someone up from the bus-stop? Maybe. Zoning out in a classroom? My favourite, since I do that a lot.

WRITING MYTH NO. 8 Writer’s Block Exists

Good news it doesn’t.

Bad news, you probably still won’t believe me.

This is a myth. Plainly, honestly a myth. When writers are low on inspiration, or are not equipped with the correct knowledge, or just don’t want to write yet, they give themselves this explanation: I’m suffering from writer’s block.

You know, I wanna write, but I just can’t. The itch in my shoulder hasn’t gone away yet. I wish someone would just scratch it until I’m relieved. But no—hey, that would mean a end of my writer’s block. Then I’ll have to go back to the same story and pretend that I like it and that it’s interesting and that it will be my big break.

Stop that. When writers are suffering from writer’s block, it’s probably just that their story has gotten too boring for them and they have no idea what to write anymore.

In fact, writers block is like a temporary vacation that the writers gift themselves with. This is curable, don’t worry.

Myth-buster: got “writer’s block”? Examine the story.

Is there anything that you feel is too boring for the readers? Is there any part you don’t like? Or is the story going the wrong way? Do you even like this story? Ask someone else, since you’ll probably just sabotage yourself and nothing else.

Try writing exercises and prompts, try writing inspiration. Just don’t give up.

WRITING MYTH NO. 9 Good Writers Always Succeed

There’s this saying that if you write good, clear and better than everyone else, then success is guaranteed.

So many people just ask you to writer better and more and nicer, and magically a publisher will find you from somewhere and you’ll be handed fame and recognition.

Crap.

Good writers, the best writers don’t always succeed, or at least, don’t always get the amount of fame they deserve.

Even people who work really hard and write like natural masters of the craft sometimes don’t get the much-deserved recognition.

Wanna hear an example? How many of you have read Alex Scarrow’s novel series Timeriders? I’m gonna love you if you have, but you probably haven’t.

Myth-buster: writing good and nice is not always the key. It’s a major contributor to your success and dreams, but real world requires many more things.

You must know how to market your book the proper way, how to do smart work along with hard work and how to gather an audience that’s loyal and impressed with your craft.

WRITING MYTH NO. 10 You Need a University Degree

You need a university degree to write a good book. Uh, no. I don’t have a university degree, and come on, I am a good writer (okay, for those who don’t know me, I talk a lot about myself.)

There are countless people in the world who’ve transformed to writing from other professions and they didn’t have a writing degree.

This is something that prevents so many people from starting to write a book, because there’s always this fear that they’re gonna make a fool of themselves if they start without the proper knowledge.

Myth-buster: let go of the imposter syndrome. Not all great writers have university degrees that certify them to write a book.

You don’t need the university degree. You’re ready. Start.

WRITING MYTH NO. 11 Writing is Easy

Writing is easy and a cakewalk for the author-people. People have this misconception that writing is hella easy, especially for the authors, and they always have the ideas and the words ready at the tip of their tongues. Nada.

Writing is hard, okay? Ask the writers, not one finds it easy.

Myth-buster: Every writer I know has trouble writing, this is said by Joseph Heller.

Writing is hard especially for the writers, because they’ve got these huge expectations, both internal and external, and for them the most important thing is to live up to these expectations.

This shouldn’t depress you, though. Writing is hard because it matters.

WRITING MYTH NO. 12 Writers Read A Lot

This is mostly true. But exceptions exist.

Writers are always seen as the bookworms, the ones who get high on the smell of books. And this is a really attractive trait in the writers because it does help them during the process of writing.

But some writers are not bookworms. Some writers don’t get all their inspiration from other classic tales and famous books.

Some writers find inspiration in old TV shows, films, music, art, nature.

Myth-buster: most writers read a lot. Some don’t. So it’s not nice to take every writer immediately for someone who’s got the bookworm-reading habit.

WRITING MYTH NO. 13 Writers are Crazy and Live Alone with 7 Black Cats

This is probably not true and I have compeetly made this up.

Probably the actual myth is not so specific. (8 cats, maybe, who knows?)

This is universal, though, that writers are a little weird in their behaviours and suffer from mental health issues.

Myth-buster: but writers are crazy, sometimes, to some extent.

Ask my bestie about it; when I laugh hard and uncontrollable at random, not-even-that-funny things, she probably thinks I’m crazy too.

Not to worry, writing is a craft that has given us so much satisfaction and joy, and makes all of us so happy, so it’s only fair we fall a little head-over-heels for it.

These were the 13 writings myths that I collected and have seen over my writing career. True to the point misconceptions about writing, the sacred act.

Which of these myths do you connect to, though? Have you seen any around you? Have you experienced any?

Do you, maybe, possibly, disagree with any? Do comment below.

How Did This Blog Idea Come Up?

Just yesterday I was going crazy bored out of my mind because I hadn’t written out a single blog post since three weeks and I was worried about my rankings. And then I remembered this advice form Asutin Kloen in his book Steal Like an Artist.

Make lists.

So I made a list.

I took a pen and paper, did it the traditional way, and made a list of the thirteen wiring myths or misconceptions I had ever come across. It was fun.

It sparked my creativity, helped me get out this writing rut, find inspiration again, all by the process of making simple sober lists.

What’s your inspiration source as a writer? What keeps you moving ahead? What drives you forward? Comment.

…taking leave now.