You Know You’re a Writer When… These 10 Struggles Are Way Too Real!
Writing is a wild, wonderful, slightly unhinged adventure.
It’s equal parts inspiration and procrastination, fueled by caffeine, existential dread, and the thrill of just one more idea.
If you’ve ever questioned your sanity because of your love for words, congratulations – you’re probably a writer!
And if any of these sound painfully familiar, well… welcome to the club.
You Know You’re a Writer When…
1. Your Search History Could Get You Arrested
We all joke about it, but let’s be honest—if law enforcement ever checked your Google searches, you’d have some explaining to do.
“How to dispose of a body (asking for a book)”
“Fastest-acting poisons that look like natural causes”
“How much blood loss before unconsciousness?”
It’s all in the name of research, right? RIGHT?
Writers don’t think twice about looking up the most suspicious things, but explaining it to a non-writer? Yeah, good luck.
2. Every Life Event Becomes ‘Book Material’
Your friend vents about their dramatic breakup, and instead of offering emotional support, your brain goes: Hmm… this would make an amazing subplot.
Someone says a weird phrase in passing? Instant dialogue inspiration. You hear about an unsolved mystery? That’s your next novel’s plot twist.
Writers don’t just experience life—we mine it for ideas. And yes, that means your friends and family should assume that anything they say might end up in a book someday.
(Sorry, not sorry.)
3. You Have 57 Unfinished Drafts and Still Start a New One
It’s a universal writer problem: you get a brilliant new idea, and suddenly, your current project? Dead to you.
Who cares if you have half-finished novels gathering metaphorical dust? This new idea is The One.
…Until next week, when an even better idea pops up.
At this point, your Google Docs or Scrivener files look like a graveyard of abandoned WIPs. But hey, maybe one day you’ll actually finish one. (Right?)
4. You Talk About Your Characters Like They’re Real People
To the outside world, it sounds like you’re gossiping about your friends:
“I can’t believe she just did that!”
“Oh, he would NEVER say that.”
“I swear, they keep ignoring my outline and doing whatever they want.”
But these aren’t real people. They’re fictional characters living rent-free in your brain. And yet, you’re emotionally attached to them like they’re part of your family.
When a character dies? It’s a personal loss. When they finally confess their love after 300 pages of angst? Tears. Literal tears.
It’s fine. You’re fine. Everything’s fine.
5. ‘Just One More Chapter’ Turns Into 3AM
Whether you’re writing or reading, time does not exist when you’re in the zone.
You tell yourself you’ll stop after one more paragraph. One more page. Just one more chapter.
Next thing you know? The birds are chirping, your eyes are burning, and the sun is rising.
Oops.
Will you do it again tomorrow? Absolutely.
6. You Get Your Best Ideas at the Worst Times
In the shower. Driving down the highway. Lying in bed, just about to fall asleep.
Your brain refuses to deliver inspiration when you’re actually at your desk, ready to write.
Instead, it waits until you have zero way of writing it down. You tell yourself you’ll remember, but deep down? You know that idea is already vanishing into the void.
(Shoutout to every writer who’s ever pulled over to frantically type a note into their phone.)
7. You Emotionally Torture Your Own Characters (And Love It!)
You create them. You love them. And then? You make them suffer.
Give them tragic backstories? ✅
Kill their loved ones? ✅
Make them go through complete emotional devastation before finally giving them happiness (maybe)? ✅✅✅
And yet, if anyone else hurts them (looking at you, fanfiction writers), you will fight.
8. You Procrastinate Writing… By Thinking About Writing
You love writing. You live for storytelling. But when it’s actually time to sit down and type? Suddenly, everything else is more important.
Researching obscure historical facts you’ll never use.
Making a new playlist for your novel.
“Building your world” (a.k.a. spiraling into a three-hour Wikipedia deep dive).
Staring dramatically at your screen as if the words will type themselves.
You technically spent the whole day thinking about your book, so it still counts… right?
9. A Minor Plot Hole Keeps You Up at Night
You’re 50,000 words in. The story is flowing. And then—you realize something doesn’t quite make sense.
Maybe it’s a timeline inconsistency. Maybe your character suddenly has blue eyes when they were brown three chapters ago. Maybe the plot twist technically wouldn’t work in real life.
Either way, you’re obsessed. Can you fix it? Should you rewrite the whole thing? Can you pretend no one will notice??
(Spoiler: You won’t sleep until you figure it out.)
10. You Can’t Imagine Not Writing
Writing is hard. Sometimes it’s frustrating. Sometimes you swear you’ll quit forever.
And yet… you always come back.
Because at the end of the day, storytelling is part of who you are. You can’t turn off the ideas. You can’t stop dreaming up characters.
No matter how chaotic the process is, you wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Love writing? Check out these great articles!
Writers vs. Non-Writers: The Struggles Only We Understand!
7 Underrated Creative Writing Techniques That Deserve More Love
10 Writer’s Block Mistakes That Keep You Stuck (And What to Do Instead!)
