Write Things: On the Key to Success & Failure

I don’t think there’s anything more important for a writer to understand than uncertainty. 

Specifically, your relationship with it.  I think this is the biggest determinant of exceptional success or spectacular failure for a writer.

And that’s not an overstatement.

Idea: On Uncertainty
This is why 90%+ of all writers never finish their stories—and even fewer actually publish them.

Somewhere along their journey, uncertainty slips in through an unlocked window and the writer freezes. Pardon the irony, but they literally don’t know what to do.

Sometimes it creeps into their self-perception. They’re not sure if they’re good enough, if anyone will want to read their stories, or if anyone will take them seriously. They don’t know how others will respond to their work.

For others, it localizes in the story itself. The writer isn’t sure if anyone will be interested in the story—if it’s exciting, scary, interesting, insightful, or powerful enough. If it’s well-crafted, relevant, or done “right.”

Other writers will find uncertainty in the process itself. They don’t know how to tie together their chapters, end the story, or go about the revision process. Formatting and finding an editor are just more opportunities for uncertainty to seep in.

And while an ounce of uncertainty may be tolerated, it’s often the culmination of litres of it that drowns a writer. Too much “I don’t know” and “I’m not sure” overwhelms them, and so they quit moving forward.

Some don’t completely abandon ship. They’ll tell themselves they just need to do more research, revise it a little more, or they’ll start a new project.

But the result is the same—they quit moving forward. They never, ever finish their final draft, let alone publish.

This is 100% caused by their relationship to this phenomenon—or in other words, the story they tell themselves about what this uncertainty means.

The most unaware writers won’t even recognize that it was uncertainty they were up against. They just experience a feeling of dread or anxiety. A deep-seated fear that causes them to flee from the source of uncertainty—the manuscript, the scene, the editor, or the seemingly impossible number of revisions they’ve been given.

How ironic that all creativity, all new, revolutionary words, works, and ideas are born in this same uncertainty. Nothing truly creative and original can come from anything but the unknown.

The artist who delays, stalls, and avoids committing to finishing a work sees fear in uncertainty.

The artist who creates powerful, original, revolutionary works sees opportunity in it.

Uncertainty isn’t a stop sign. It’s the edge of something new. The writers who do great things aren’t fearless—they just get curious.

Want to hear more about this—and ask your own questions?
Join me and editor/consultant Rachel Small live on Tuesday, May 6th at 6pm CST as we unpack the three biggest challenges writers face on the road from first draft to final edits. We’ll talk about what stalls writers, what gets them unstuck, and how to move from uncertainty to momentum.

Bring your questions—this isn’t a lecture, it’s a conversation.
Come live, get coached, and walk away with real next steps.

👉 Reserve your spot here (free).

Inspiration: “What is one thing I can do today that will move me closer to my goal?”

Set a timer for four minutes and write continuously on the prompt above. Then, take your own advice. 

Not sure if the idea(s) that come to you will actually help you move forward? Try and see. At the very least, you’ll learn something new. 

Have you tried out Trevor Assistant, my personally programmed writing coach yet?

You can get a free credit here. (first-time users only)

Next, go to www.ihelpyouwritethings.com/trevor-assistant and get customized feedback, based upon my personal perspective and understanding of writing. 

Invitation: Live on the Edge

You can 100% change your relationship with uncertainty. And all it takes is allowing yourself to spend a little time at the edge of it.

Take a story you’re currently working on and ask yourself a “what if” question about a scene, a character’s motivations, choices, or actions.

“What if he doesn’t walk through that door?”

“What if something completely unexpected happens next?”

“What if she’s wrong?”

Then start writing. Maybe you find an important shift in your story. Maybe you discover what doesn’t happen and gain a better understanding of your character or plot.

Rule number one of uncertainty: failure is possible, and mistakes are probable. And both are okay. In fact, they’re the only way we truly learn anything in this life.

So stop running from uncertainty and give yourself permission to dip a toe in. I promise—you’re going to get a kick out of whatever sinks its teeth into it.

Wishing you and your stories the very best,

Trevor Martens
Founder, I Help You Write Things