But I’m not a writer!

By Joy Yu-Rong Liu, PhD.

November 14^th, 2025

Joy loves to work at coffee shops because of the relaxed atmosphere and background ambiance.

By the time I entered graduate school, I had only a few writing experiences under my belt. Whether they were a painstaking project from a college professor on a topic I had no interest in or a passion project that consumed me for more than a few weeks, nobody prepared me for the volume of writing that I was going to encounter in grad school, let alone learning about how to get feedback, edit my own work repeatedly, and write for other “academics.” “But I’m not a writer!” I screamed inside my brain, hoping that it would allow me to avoid jumping through the multiple writing hoops in front of me. But I jumped through them with much support, like writing coaches and writing groups, and never regretted it.

No Pain, No Gain!

I learned how to take on a multi-year writing project that went through different phases and produced various products such as research proposals, research statements, technical reports, and the “beast” of them all – the dissertation! The first thing that nobody told me about writing at the graduate level is how to sustain a long-term writing project that lasts for more than a few months. I learned from a few colleagues and mentors that the key is to learn how to reset and learn to rest. Do not expect outcomes in 20 minutes or even an hour. Just engage with the work and return to it in a few days. Treating writing as a sport was so enlightening that it gave me the freedom to explore and practice different writing styles, not worrying about the result in the moment. Like any other sport, we need downtime to adjust and regroup. This can mean going away from your writing for a while and then coming back and doing it again. We are not our writing; we are still human beings who write and rest. The second thing that nobody told me was that writing is both personal and a technical skill. This meant I needed to find a balance between writing from my own perspective and writing for a public audience, or at least for a few other professors. In the end, writing has become more than just a hoop I had to jump through. I found a sense of empowerment through writing!

Connecting with Myself

Writing has helped me explore parts of my brain that I had not previously discovered through talking and thinking. I am not an inherently talkative or expressive person. But writing gave me a voice I did not have before. I felt like I was engaging with a part of myself I rarely had the chance to talk to, and I had the opportunity to create something new. I let her (my subconscious, I assume) speak freely and openly without the fear of judgment. I have shared what I have learned from research and put it into words. I expressed myself through bouncing off ideas with the articles I read. When I started making writing part of my weekly routine, I felt more at ease with it. The process has become less of a task I need to perform and more of a healthy brain exercise that helps me relax. In a world of constant noise and distraction, writing becomes a bit of refuge and wonder!

Practice Celebration

Lastly, I have learned to reward myself through big and tiny celebrations. Celebration has never been a common theme in my life, but now I make it a habit, just like building one. Whenever I engage with my writing through reading related articles or papers or encountering new words that I then end up using in my writing shortly after, I would give myself the permission to celebrate by listening to my favorite podcast, talking about it with a friend, go for a walk, or simply eating an ice-cream sandwich. These are not the only ways to sustain and complete the writing project, but they are definitely a tried-and-true formula for crossing the finish line. I hope these snippets of my writing journey make sense. When in doubt, always ask for help, because writing is like a sport; you grow and learn with others through receiving feedback and learning from their experiences.