{"id":9559,"date":"2023-04-18T15:09:21","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T20:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/perell.com\/?post_type=note&p=9559"},"modified":"2023-04-18T15:09:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T20:09:23","slug":"i-hate-writing","status":"publish","type":"note","link":"https:\/\/perell.com\/note\/i-hate-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"I Hate Writing (and So Will You)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThe opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.\u201d \u2014 Ellie Wiesel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To commit to loving something is to commit to sometimes hating it. It\u2019s easy to love your daily writing routine when you\u2019re feeling motivated and inspired and just as easy to hate it when you\u2019re tired, busy at work, or crushed by the burdens of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For writers, the question isn\u2019t: \u201cHow do I stay committed when I\u2019m in love with my work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is: \u201cHow do I stay committed when I temporarily hate it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temporary is the key word there. If you\u2019re indifferent about a piece of writing or it feels like busy work to you, stop working on it. And if you permanently hate writing, don\u2019t write. Cut the masochism and do something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I hate writing, it\u2019s because I love it so much. An experienced writer is somebody who knows when the hatred is temporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The week I spent putting finishing touches on Peter Thiel\u2019s Religion<\/em><\/a> was one of the most grueling weeks of my career. I cared so much about that piece. It drove me nuts \u2014 every word, every sentence, every anecdote. At times, the flames of frustration burned so brightly that I wondered why I even tried to write it in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because I needed<\/em> to write it. That\u2019s why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobody had really connected the dots between Thiel\u2019s faith and his business philosophy, and I felt called to do it. I loved<\/em> and hated<\/em> writing that piece, but I was never indifferent about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It taught me a lesson too. The difference between a \u201cwriter\u201d and \u201csomebody who writes\u201d is the difference between showing up on a schedule and only showing up when you\u2019re inspired. If you insist on always loving the craft, you\u2019ll quit in the face of turmoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greatness isn\u2019t always rainbows and butterflies. Great musicians practice their scales even when their fingers are calloused. Great writers<\/a> get their daily words in even when it means waking up at 5 am to get some alone time before the kids wake up. Great bodybuilders<\/a> push through their final set even when their muscles are screaming and their veins are about to explode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be disciplined<\/a> is to resist your short-term emotional whims in service of your long-term goals. Let everlasting love triumph over the temptress of temporary hate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Cover photo by\u00a0Joshua Hoehne<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I hate writing, it\u2019s because I love it so much. An experienced writer is somebody who knows when the hatred is temporary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9560,"template":"","tags":[198],"class_list":["post-9559","note","type-note","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-writing","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/note\/9559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/note"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/perell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/note\/9559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9562,"href":"https:\/\/perell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/note\/9559\/revisions\/9562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}