What if I have nothing worth saying as a writer?
Let's tackle another common fear that holds too many writers back
If something feels important to you, it’s worth saying.
Strictly speaking, the worth of someone’s writing also shouldn’t be judged by the value it has to others.
Mind you, this does depend on what you hope to achieve.
If you want to write things that strike universal chords and speak of the human condition, then okay, you may need an outlook and a voice that at least flirts with the mainstream consciousness and hasn’t already been done to death.
That said, I think some of the best writing in history came from people who wrote to please themselves, drawing on their own peculiar interests, obsessions and/or idiosyncrasies.
When Chuck Palahniuk dreamt up Fight Club, I can’t imagine that he paused to fret over whether it was worth saying and how many people would get it.
I suspect that this story was simply Chuck’s view of the world, or rather his reaction to it, which practically poured out of him onto those pages.
Charlie Kaufman’s Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind isn’t what you might call a mainstream movie that’s going to appeal to everyone, but people who love that film really love it.
Best to judge the worth of what you want to say on your own terms. That’s the only way. Otherwise you might freeze like a startled rabbit in the imagined glare of the world’s spotlight.
And we can’t have that.
So once again, here’s the only rule that matters: if something feels worth saying to you, then go ahead and say it.
Sometimes you only really discover what you’re saying by writing.
Or weeks, months, later, when you read it again and the true meaning rises to the surface.
You might only realise, in fact, when a reviewer or a reader points it out.
You don’t always have to decide what you’re trying to say in advance. Writers like Russell T Davies have poured scorn on those who grandly set out to write about Subject X, with more than a whiff of pretention about them.
With that in mind, then, you could trust yourself to become a creature of instinct - there’s bound to be some reason why you want to tell this story.
That reason may lurk deep in your subconscious mind and, as you go, it will emerge from the cave. Sometimes the reason will come to you in a blinding epiphany. Other times, it will come drip by drip until it dawns on you.
Or you may never know.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that not every piece of entertainment has to ‘say’ something.
A slapstick comedy might only exist to make you roll around laughing.
An action movie might only exist to make you raise your fist and yell.
A brutal slasher movie might only exist to make you jump and gross you out.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with either.
So don’t get too hung up on what you’re trying to say.
Your message might be nothing at all and that could well be fine.
Chances are, though, that if you’re driven to tell a story that comes from within, you’ll say something worthwhile along the way, whether you realise that or not.
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I have now left Substack, as of Jan 2024, due to the founders’ stance on platforming Nazi content.
My content for newer writers now takes video form at my new YouTube channel Write Like Hell and free Skool community form at The Phantasia Lounge.
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I can't emphasize exactly how much I needed to hear this right now. I don't remember when I first encountered it, but I once read that "Real writers don't write because they want to be writers, real writers write because they have something to say and can't hold it in anymore" and it's made me feel like if I decide in a specific moment that I want to write a story or novel and then have to spend any time figuring out what I want to write about, then I shouldn't bother because a good idea worth reading about will come to me first. It's hard to unlearn even though it sounds ridiculous!