Hey A. Nonymous,

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I can personally relate to what you’re saying here; I’ve spent many months/years writing before I started to gain traction with my work. But I think it’s also important to note that the people who brag about their success do so because their hard work is finally paying off. No one really talks about their failures or struggles as a writer, or an artist.

Many writers, including myself, also started off as amateurs. We certainly write to help other people, but it also comes from just loving to write.

And I think that’s the most important thing here, to write regardless of an audience. To make yourself proud. I think many people feel the need for validation in order to feel competent with writing, but some often forget that their own opinion matters the most.

Do you enjoy your own writing? If so, then keep writing. If not, then keep writing.

There is nothing “wrong” with you either. The uphill struggles of writing are often divided into two sections: the writing part (which only gets better with each new article/piece) and the marketing/back-end stuff; the latter of which, involves using the correct Medium tags, publishing your work to popular publications (such as The Ascent) and most importantly, to create a body of work. I heard somewhere once that “volume wins” when it comes to writing, and that couldn’t be more true.

Best of luck!

-tally