5 Reasons Why You’re Not Reaching Your Creative Writing Potential

All of us are capable of being highly creative, it’s the way we were born, our natural state.
Think about how curious a child is in its early years, how much it wants to explore and find out and investigate.
Unfortunately the majority of us have lost these creativity and curiosity tendencies by the time we become adults.
But it’s never too late to regain them.
Through creative writing we can go a long way to explore our creative potential and express the ideas we have.
But even if you’re a regular creative writer yourself, it’s unlikely you’re actually achieving anywhere near your potential.
Why?
Here are 5 reasons why you may not be reaching YOUR creative writing potential:
1. You’re afraid of being left out or excluded. Being part of a social group or community is a very strong human need. If for example you’re in a creative writing class and your writing is obviously on a different level to everyone else’s, there’s the fear you might be seen as “having it easy” and be resented by others in the class. So you tone down your writing and write well within your capabilities.
2. You just don’t believe you’re very creative. Even if you’re the most naturally gifted writer in the world, unless you have a strong belief in yourself and your abilities, you’ll always hold yourself back. Even if you have encouragement from others, you’ll never achieve more than you BELIEVE you can achieve. So to achieve more, work on those beliefs.
3. You haven’t found the right form of expression. If you’re more naturally inclined to be a novelist and all you’ve written is poetry, you might have always struggled in your writing. Experiment with different forms of creative writing, give each time to develop, and find the ones that you feel most comfortable and most expressive in.
4. You don’t know what it’s like to achieve. Maybe in your life you’ve never had a role model or example of what it’s like to push yourself, to stretch yourself towards achieving your natural creative potential. So for you, underachieving, and playing it safe, is the only way you know how to be.
5. You’re scared of failing. On the surface you tell yourself you don’t have time to write more, or you don’t have the correct set up, and other excuses. But really, you’re just scared of writing more, and exploring your creative writing abilities, because you don’t want to fail. The only true failure is not giving it your best shot in the first place.
These are 5 common reasons why we don’t achieve our creative writing potential.
Which do you most relate to? Be completely honest with yourself, which of them can you recognise in yourself?
The next step, once you’ve recognised why you’re not reaching your creative potential, is to start taking action to get you closer to it.