why is writing so hard?!

No one wants to do hard things. We'd all rather eat a burrito and put our feet up.
But we do hard things because it's good for us. We are addicted to the warm glow of accomplishment. That's how we've survived and endured as a species. If we didn't have that stunning and gratifying sense of achievement, we wouldn't have Romeo and Juliet, physicians, or national body-building competitions.

Let's all take a peek into four reasons why writing is so hard:

1. Overthinking

Thinking is good. Overthinking is how you make a mess of things.
Instead, start writing it all out.

As Hemingway once said, "Sit down at a typewriter and bleed." Let perfection go, and focus on getting all those thoughts out. Worry about sifting through and seeing if you actually have a gem afterward— but first, you must write. Try not to get bogged down with proper spelling and correct comma usage.

Sometimes I get stuck thinking of a word. I'll open a new tab for a thesaurus, get distracted, and BOOM, suddenly I'm shopping for a cheese knife.

To keep from incidental digression, I've learned to use the parenthesis instead. I'll make a note to myself to come back to a word later: i.e., (find another word for sweaty).
This keeps my momentum going and lets me write for longer. All hail the parenthesis.

2. Organization

"Hard writing makes easy reading. Easy writing makes hard reading." -Willam Zinsser

Writing requires mental organization. You have to tap your thoughts in order like an unfettered stack of papers. For most people, this is difficult. Hi, it me.

Writing depends on clarity of thought. You have to know where you stand on a subject to write about it. No one is going to want to read a flippy floppy essay on why you love and hate Crocs. Hang on… *jots "crocs hate/love" down in ideas journal*
You need a point of view, and to have a point of view you, need to spend time considering your thoughts.

"Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it is so hard."
David McCullough

To help you organize your brains into less of a goo into more of a Jello consistency, start with writing your thoughts down. This can be done by taking notes, brainstorm, or just start writing. Write down any and all words that come to mind. You can edit later; it's a first pass.
After you get the words out, draft up an outline. This will help you go somewhere in your writing.
If you've done some good work before the outline, drag paragraphs or zingy one-liners into your outline, make notes, move things around, research.
Isn't organizing is fun!

"Write drunk, edit sober."
-Ernest Hemingway

Ahh, Ernest, you disciplined, yet feisty alcoholic visionary, you.

3. Insecurities

Overcome your insecurities.
Simple, right? BAM. You're cured.
Writing is difficult because it's unnerving seeing your words and thoughts on paper. Maybe you start a line with something dark or depressing, and you think, "huh, that's sad." Or you don't like the way reading it back to yourself sounds. This is normal. It's like listening to a recording of yourself. Am I always this nasally? Yes you are, get over it. It's cringy, I know. You want to curl up and die a little bit. But let some of that go.
Ahh, that's better.
Now, you're on to the first step of not taking yourself too seriously.

"Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere." -Anne Lamott

It's okay to be a beginner at something. We always want to skip the beginning steps and just be awesome at stuff. I know I do. But here is where you can get in touch with the messy business of being you. Sort through all that head trash like the sassy raccoon you are.
Be bold and confident and a little wild. It all makes for good content.

4. Discipline

"This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard, and you put one word after another until it's done. It's that easy, and that hard." -Neil Gaiman

Writing is a discipline.
We're all a bunch of peanut butter and jelly heads. Our minds are simple and soft. We get distracted but shiny objects, the refrigerator, or our thumbs that want to scroll. I get it.
But try to stand firm. Carve out 30 minutes a day, 15, 60, whatever, just be disciplined about your time, boundaries, and the space to write.
You can do it.
OK write!

"Perhaps I write for no one. Perhaps for the same person children are writing for when they scroll their names in the snow." -Margaret Atwood