Sometimes our expectations of ourselves as writers (whether we write to build business, express ourselves, or as a way to make a living) are way too high. It’s good to hold aspirations to be a highly-skilled, prolific writer. But what’s not good is when we allow our lofty hopes and goals to dwarf our small, daily achievements. If you let them, high expectations can even prevent you from writing at all.

Book on a tortoise

Author Malcolm Gladwell describes his experience like this: “I deal with writer’s block by lowering my expectations. I think the trouble starts when you sit down to write and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent — and when you don’t, panic sets in.”

A student of mine reluctantly shared that every time she thought about writing the book she had in her head, she longed for it to be brilliant. But when she looked at her words on the page, they never measured up. There was a gem here and there, but some of what she wrote was just plain dull. Eventually, she stopped writing.

Malcolm has an answer for her, and writers like her: “The solution is never to sit down and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent.

“I write a little bit, almost every day, and if it results in two or three or (on a good day) four good paragraphs, I consider myself a lucky man.

“Never try to be the hare. All hail the tortoise.”

Malcolm has written seven books, five of them New York Times bestsellers. If he says a handful of good paragraphs are enough to make a writing day worthwhile, I believe him.

Writing a book, or a blog post, or a home-study course doesn’t have to look like a race to produce perfect prose at breakneck speed. You can write tortoise-style and produce really good stuff, step by step.

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