“Marketing is such a chore!” That’s what I hear a lot in my full-time job, working with creators. I also procrastinated for years on writing content to build my own creator brand. But now I’m enjoying writing again. That’s why I launched my newsletter at mitropat.com/ Feel free to join if this resonates!

Writing is built on a terrible trade for your brain: effort now, payoff later. Months of work, then crickets. That's the Valley of Disappointment. Present bias tells you it isn't working. Most people quit exactly there, right before it pays.

Four pieces of advice that can kill a writing habit: 1. Keep it brief (no room for personality) 2. Be clear, not clever (a false choice) 3. Humor has no place in content 4. Don't try to reinvent the wheel, replicate what worked for others

Once you judge every idea by search volume, headline conversion, and virality, you've stopped writing and started optimizing. Optimizing a boring practice is not a renewable energy source. It burns out fast.

Perfectionism is fear. A draft that's still being tweaked can't be judged, so you polish and polish and never ship. The unfinished piece is the only one that never gets to hurt you.

You can't outsource your way into a writing habit. Every shortcut you hand off confirms the internal story that you aren't really a writer.

You start dreading your writing habit when your question flips from 'what do I want to say?' to 'what will perform?'

If writing bores you, try writing something that would be fun to read.

Creators are obsessed with efficiency. Batch your content! Optimize your workflow! Cut writing time in half! I mean, who doesn't want to save time? But this obsession with efficiency is killing your content. Because when you're hyper-focused on speed and output, you strip away the exact things that make content stand out. The rambling thoughts that lead somewhere interesting. The personal tangent that makes people feel connected to you. The time to sit with an idea until it becomes something original instead of reheated. You end up with content that's... fine. Perfectly formatted. Posted on schedule. Completely forgettable. Meanwhile, the creator who spent an extra hour noodling with an idea, following a weird tangent, or rewriting the same paragraph five times... Using their creativity, I mean! They wrote something that actually sticks. So how about embracing creative inefficiency? It involves rabbit holes, deleted drafts, and time spent staring at the ceiling. It requires you to care more about the work than the productivity metrics.

Some creators write with discipline and gritted teeth. Others have fun writing. Which one do you want to be? I mean, sure, writing can be grueling at times. But it can bring you joy if you just let it.

It feeds the side of you that sees writing as a chore, not as fun. By "it," I mean using AI to write. One of the biggest downsides to AI writing that nobody talks about.

Procrastinating creators don't hate writing. They hate that uncomfortable feeling between wanting to write and having something written.

Your audience craves human perspective, personality, and connection. Treat AI as your replacement, and you get slop. It’s a productivity lever, not a replacement for creative, high-trust work.

Just finished reading Big Magic. This is exactly the kind of book creators need now (when AI is so prevalent). It’s about ”creative living.” Here’s just one idea that stood out to me: The differences between ”a martyr” and ”a trickster.” Martyr says, ”Writing is pain.” Trickster says, ”I write to entertain myself.” Martyr says, ”The system is rigged against all that is good (good = me)” Trickster says, ”The system is in constant play, and it wants to play with me.” Martyr says, ”People just don’t understand me.” Trickster says, ”I write to understand, and aren’t entitled to be understood.” Martyrs are serious, angry, and rigid. Tricksters are lighthearted, sly, and endlessly shapeshifting. Definitely worth a read!