Newsletter #6 Demotivation and Recovering From It
Notes on feeling hopeless and demotivated but learning to lift yourself up afterwards.
Hi, it’s great to have you here!
Let me be honest with you. This week I’m facing a little hopelessness about my prospects as a freelance writer.
Sometimes whatever I do, it doesn’t seem to work for me. My declining stats on Medium showcased this proof and left me clueless on how to turn things around.
At the beginning of July, I couldn’t write because of my vacation and subsequent pharyngitis - I talked about these in my previous newsletter issues -.
Yet I quickly buckled up and started to write at the speed of light, with so many ideas circling in my mind.
Towards the end of July, I produced pieces that I’m proud of, yet very few people than I expected seemed to lay eyes on them. It is disheartening; when you think about all the effort and emotions you pour into your pieces.
Writing on a platform like Medium inevitably faces you with consequences like this. You don’t know what piece of yours will be perceived as worthy or unworthy of your readers’ time.
You just put out your best bet and hope for the best.
With the tanked views I got on almost all of my articles in July, I also questioned whether the quality of my pieces dropped. Yet I know by heart that the quality of my pieces only reached higher with time.
I see it when I read them after I publish them, and thanks to the feedback of some of my writer friends, and loyal readers.
No, it’s something else. It’s rather the algorithm or the multitude of writers on Medium that my work gets lost in all the content that is being shoved daily on Medium. But these are factors I cannot control.
Whatever it is, I know small obstacles like these won’t make me give up on my writing career completely, rather fire me up to become better with changed strategies.
It’s also a reminder that I cannot control all the elements, especially when I’m dependent on a platform and algorithm as a writer.
That’s why I’m also back reconsidering the idea of getting my work published in magazines, pitching to places, and having multiple income streams as a writer.
I’m planning on simultaneously working towards this goal while I continue to write on Medium.
What I wrote this week?
Medium is full of surprises and fast changes, but writers need some stability as well.
That’s why I compiled an exciting list of magazines and publications you can submit your work to as a writer, and that pays well. This piece isn’t published yet but you heard it here first! So wait for it, it’s going to be good.
Since last week’s newsletter, I’ve got 3 pieces published. I’m presenting you them:
4 Mediterranean Concepts To Lead a Balanced and Joyful Life
This was one of the pieces I hoped will do very well, yet it didn’t. It still did better than my other pieces this month, but nowhere near what I originally expected of it.
As a resident of a Mediterranean country and a traveler that has been to the Mediterranean coasts and countries before, I came to notice some traits and common mindset Mediterranean people seem to have that make them savor life.
I was inspired by the thought of this and wanted to share these common “concepts” or mindsets or whatever you may want to call it, and how you can adapt these concepts into your life yourself to live a more fulfilling life.
I think it’s a short, refreshing read especially in a sweltering summer month like this.
The Summer of Writing: Here’s How You Can Make the Best of It
Again, a summer-themed piece. This time it’s about how you can make summer a fertile, productive season for you as a writer.
It has all the tips from arranging your summer writing setup and summer writing routine, writing on a vacation, while traveling, or at your hometown, and chasing the writing opportunities the summer season bestows you with.
21 Valuable Life Lessons I’ve Learned at the Age of 21
This was my third piece published this week - a productive week, huh? - Actually, I started to write this piece a long time ago, yet pieced it up and finished it while I was working on my incomplete drafts this past week.
I’m going to be 22 in December, so that still makes me a 21-year-old; 21 and a little over a half, to be exact.
At this turning point of an age, I wanted to share the lessons and insights I extracted through my life experiences. From what I lived, saw, watched, observed, heard so far.
I think these lessons can be applied by anyone at any age, it involves some general life wisdom strengthened with experience.
This week’s highlights
The Bayram holiday has come to an end, it was fun while it lasted. We cruised down the Bosphorus with my family, went to many locations in Istanbul with them and with friends, and ate some good food.
Now it’s time to return to my regular routine and organize my life.
What I’m reading? I’m halfway into the Undoing Project by Michael Lewis and I’m loving it so far. The book is a wonderful mix of biography, journalistic piece, and psychology research and it never once gets boring.
I already feel like I know the outstanding psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky personally.
I also read this New Yorker article which was a good take on deadlines and procrastination: What Deadlines Do to Lifetimes
What I’m watching? Yesterday I finished watching Sex and the City. I don’t normally watch many tv series or movies. But when I do, I find myself watching some comfort, feel-happy type of series.
Sex and the City was a comfort watch for me and I finished the whole 6 seasons likely in the span of a year and watching it felt like some kind of therapy.
I love the friendship element in the series, the nostalgic feel to it, the character development, life in New York, and Carrie’s adventures as a writer. I plan to rewatch the series whenever I feel bored or even depressed.
This was it for this week, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. See you next week!
Do you know ? Sex And The City is like therapy for me. I think and watch like you. :)