Why can’t I write the masterpiece I imagine? Utsudo sees two reasons. First, your skills aren’t there yet, so you can’t organize the vivid scenes in your head into coherent prose. Second, perfectionism: you set the bar so high from the start that you never dare begin, or you doubt yourself soon after starting. She suggests finding meaning in your own unique experiences and passions to write what only you can write—while continually sharpening your craft so you can fully capture inspiration when it arrives.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

You want a masterpiece, but it never turns out as hoped

We all have high hopes for what we write, don’t we?

We wish we could write something people savor again and again, or a gem that surpasses countless works on the market. But every time we start, it doesn’t quite match what we imagined, and the more we write, the less confident we feel, wondering what garbage we’ve just produced. What’s going on?

I think the main reason is that your skills aren’t there yet, so you can’t organize the plot and images in your head coherently. It’s like imagining a wonderful scene, but when someone hands you a brush and blank paper, all you can draw is a stick figure.

The picture in your imagination is rich, no doubt, but because your skills aren’t mature yet, you can’t faithfully render something so beautiful. The same goes for other fields: people whose writing flows effortlessly or whose brushstrokes become poetry all went through a lot of practice to gain the ability to turn imagination into reality.

Perfectionism gets in the way

Besides a lack of skill, I think there’s another reason.

—Perfectionism!

You’ve only just started planning a novel, yet you set a very high bar from the start. You imagine it will cause a sensation in the literary world, be adapted into all kinds of media, bring nonstop interview invitations, and let you live a lavish life on licensing fees.

But for that to happen, it has to be ultra-perfect, ultra-original—something no ordinary person could think of. Then what comes next? No, wait—could the plot I just came up with win everyone over? No way! It has to be even better—

So you let the idea keep bouncing around in your head, trying to spark a concept that will bring billions of people on Earth to their knees. Days go by, and you haven’t written a single word—or you wrote just a little opening and never touched it again.

Or maybe you started writing, but before long, voices in your head say things like, “Isn’t this boring?” or “I thought this was great before—what happened?” Then you sink into deep self-doubt and gradually can’t keep going. Your so-called “masterpiece” is left unfinished for days, months, even years, and it never grows beyond that little bit.

Put that way, did I hit a sore spot?

Why is most work so ordinary?

Fellow humans, we’re all part of this global village. Even if we work in different fields and come from different families, our worldview is basically the same—our thought patterns should be pretty similar too, unless you’ve had a very special experience or been blessed with a bolt of inspiration from the blue.

Since we’re so alike, unless we’re geniuses, it’s hard for what we come up with to transcend our everyday lives. That’s why the vast majority of work is “ordinary.” But don’t lose heart—what we need to do is dig out what makes us “special.”

Write what only you can write

Only by writing what you alone can write do you have a chance to be the exception. Ultimately, you have to look within for the meaning of your creative work. Weave a unique subject that only “you” could write from experiences and passions that set you apart, pour a great deal of passion and love into finishing it, and then you as a “person” will be seen.

It makes your uniqueness shine, so your work naturally becomes “different”—and a masterpiece that lasts.

And the amazing thing is, this kind of work doesn’t need a shocking plot or premise, nor do you need to rack your brain for ages to squeeze out a few words. On the contrary, because it reflects the real you and is so close to you, writing it usually isn’t much effort—it just flows naturally.

Sharpen your pen first

As for how to unearth this treasure, I’m still searching myself. If you haven’t found it yet, don’t rush. I think you just haven’t experienced enough of the world yet. Look up and see the world more, live your own life well, and pay attention to your encounters with the people around you. Maybe one day it’ll land in your mind.

But just passively waiting for inspiration won’t do either. Before then, you need to sharpen your pen, so that when it arrives, you can fully write out what you envision.

FAQ

Further reading

• Previous: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #222: Why Hobbies Matter
• Start from the beginning: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #01: Utsudo’s Debut — A Road to the Dream Covered in Frost
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.