Student Question
Master Chi, I’ve been running a self-media side hustle for about a month now. The problem I keep running into is this: I need to write articles and post regularly, but I feel like my insight isn’t sharp enough — and sometimes negative emotions creep in. Sometimes I feel like I can’t write anything at all. And when I do manage to write something, it doesn’t feel good enough. How do I solve this?
Master Chi’s Response
When people first start out in self-media, it’s almost inevitable to run into negative emotions or feel like your insight isn’t there.
Sometimes inspiration strikes, you pick up your phone, and once you start writing, you can’t stop. That’s great, of course. But what happens when inspiration doesn’t come?
A lot of people set goals like writing 1,000 words a day, only to find they can’t sustain it for more than a few days. They give up.
So when it comes to writing, you need a boundary.
Without boundaries, without direction, you end up thinking aimlessly — and nothing gets written.
My advice for beginners: start with your niche. If your content is about writing, for example, go online and search. Look on Zhihu (China’s leading Q&A platform) for questions about writing.
Collect those topics, then work through them one by one.
The insight you’ve already accumulated through life — things you’ve noticed without realizing it — will naturally start to surface. And as it does, your negative emotions will quietly fade.
Whatever the situation, take action first. Think about it from the worst-case angle: if you can’t write well, can you really write badly? Bad writing is the foundation of good writing.
As you write, engage with people. Post your content and pay attention to what generates interaction — those responses build on what you’ve started, and gradually your voice takes shape.
So don’t expect what you write to be perfect right away.
First, complete. Then refine — step by step.
Your content also needs a theme. Finding a clear theme helps your writing get discovered by the right people.
We can never have everything perfectly prepared before we begin. Start writing anyway.