Writers: Why It’s Important to Always Write Your Best

From Writerslife.org:

Writers are often told it’s important not to put too much pressure on themselves. This is good advice.

Many writers struggle to do they very things they love because they are crippled with self-doubt and fear that they will never be good enough.

We should all take steps to banish our self-critics and learn to write more freely and more joyfully.

However, there is a difference between doing so and using this as an excuse not to try our best!

It can be easy to try and fool ourselves that if we don’t give our writing our all, it doesn’t matter if we don't succeed because ‘we weren’t really trying anyway.’ It can also be dangerous to write with an attitude of ‘no one else has to see this,’ as it can make us lazy and distracted instead of doing what we should be doing, which is putting every effort into our writing, each and every time we sit down to do it.

Always writing as well as you can has a big impact on how you learn and grow as a writer.

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why this is so important

Pride & Self esteem

Writers need to take pride in their work, and if you never try as hard as you know you can, how can you feel this way? If you always push yourself, always try to focus, and always try to make your writing the best it can be, you can finish the day knowing that you did everything you could to realise your dreams. The better you write the more your confidence will grow and the less you’ll put yourself down, so it’s great for your writing confidence and self-esteem too. 

Time wasting

Bad writing wastes time. While you can always go back and edit your work when you are done, the better your first draft is the less you’ll have to do! Don’t waste your own time by slipping into sloppy, lazy writing patterns. Make your first draft is the best it can be and you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you get to the editing stage. 

A bad reputation

Of course, if you are a freelance writer, or you write an author blog, writing your very best also applies! If you continue to push out work that isn’t as good as it should be you’ll soon develop a bad reputation, lose work and put potential readers off too. 

You’ll never improve

Writing as well as you can means you are always striving to improve, to better yourself, and to learn and develop as a writer. If you never try, you’ll stay stagnant and stuck and you can never expect to get any better.

You owe it to yourself to bring your A game each and every time you write. So next time you sit down to do so make sure you try as hard as you can to produce the best work possible - it’s so worth it if you do.

Yes, all this is very true. One of the things I was told in my recent memoir writing class is to write every day, even if it's just writing in a journal or something.  I'm still editing my memoir and and considering writing an afterword.  I may even expand my prologue just a little.  Just how much farther can I go, I ask myself each day. I did plenty yesterday, enough to make me feel I'm really putting my best effort into my work, and enough to leave me feeling exhausted!  I'm now trying to decide what to do next.