Are you a writer? If the answer is yes, but was followed by a deep sigh, don’t worry. We know how you feel.
Writers worldwide struggle with the same writing problems: procrastination, insecurity, and the famous writer’s block.
As usual, every writer feels like it’s only happening to them. But before you give up on the project you’re working on or convince yourself that you don’t know how to write, why not laugh at a few writing memes?
And before you reject the idea, you should know that there are some really good ones out there. Stepping into the world of writing memes will remind you not to take yourself too seriously and could even help snap you out of the writing funk you’re in.
In this article, we’re going to tell you more about memes in general and even give you a step-by-step guide on how to create your own writing meme.
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What Is a Writing Meme?
Despite still being a point of major confusion to some people, memes are one of the purest forms of entertainment.
A good meme won’t need a marketing gimmick to succeed, and it will reach people’s screens, just through organic sharing. A writing meme, just like all other memes, contains an image and bold, large text.
The context of writing memes usually conveys messages like “You should be writing,” or funny gifs of cats frantically typing on keyboards. Writing memes often provide a much-deserved break to writers who are stuck in their heads a little too much.
And they should be obvious enough that you don’t need to rely on a writing tool like Grammarly to uncover the subtlety.
The “Writer’s Block” meme, for example, is a firm favorite that often manages to transform a scary concept into something that’s natural.
How to Create Your Own Writing Memes
The idea behind creating memes is somewhat controversial. And that’s because most people believe that memes aren’t “created” in the first place.
A new viral meme usually pops up when there’s particularly interesting content that people want to quickly share with others. But you can create your own meme if you want.
There are online meme generators, like Canva, that already have millions of images at your disposal. But that’s only the technical part.
Knowing how to create a meme, and especially a writing meme, takes a little bit of preparation.
Here’s a step-by-step guide…
1. Do the research
Choosing your meme’s niche comes first, and since you already know that writing memes are your subject, it’s onto the research. You have to get acquainted with what’s out there and try to catch what the trends are and how they change.
2. Create the content
This step implies that you find a suitable image or video that you’ll use for your writing meme. When you have something that speaks to you personally, it’s time to create original content.
While drawing inspiration from existing writing memes is acceptable, using text generators can help you infuse a unique and creative twist into your content. Also, make sure you keep it as short as possible.
As a writer, you might be tempted to use more words than necessary in order to “decorate” your point, but that’s usually a recipe for a meme to fail.
You can even write these in something simple like Google Docs, or a little more professional like Scrivener.
3. Use the right tools
You don’t need to be a Photoshop expert to create a meme, but some editing skills will be required. It’s perfectly fine to keep things basic and even silly.
The beauty of a meme lies in its simplicity and almost innocent charm. As mentioned, meme generators are useful tools that will get the job done quickly too.
4. Share it
When you’re creating your first writing meme, you’ll probably be eager to share it. You can send it directly to your writer friends or post it to your social media platforms. The rest is up to the internet. The harder you try to make a meme happen, the more likely it won’t land as you’d hoped.
Writing Memes FAQ
What are the Most Popular Types of Writing Memes?
The internet is swimming in writing memes with images of Severus Snape glaring at you disapprovingly. The text attached reminds you that you should go back to writing.
But you also have a plethora of grammar memes, procrastination memes, and well-known writer’s block memes. A special subcategory is the “reading a book” meme that’s all about being too busy for anything else because you love to read so much.
How Do Writing Memes Spread?
Like any other type of meme, no one can predict how a writing meme will do once it’s released into the wild.
You can do your best to push a writing meme you love, but not everyone will share the same opinion. The most successful writing memes are usually the ones that already use popular meme images and then add witty text.
What is a Forced Meme?
This question is directly linked to the previous. A forced meme takes an extra step because it turns into spam.
You start seeing it too often on Twitter or Instagram, but it doesn’t seem to generate genuine excitement. However, on rare occasions, a forced meme will eventually manage to generate an audience.
What Is the Difference Between a Viral Video and Meme?
The simplest way to explain this difference is to highlight the fact that a viral image or a video doesn’t have to be a meme.
But a meme is, by definition, viral. Also, from one meme, you can create other memes, which isn’t the case with the viral image or video phenomenon.
What Is Astroturfing?
This is a forced meme gone corporate, which makes it extra fake. For example, if a big publishing company uses a successful writing meme format to promote books and raise sales, that’s astroturfing.
The egregious move here is that they don’t mention they’re using the writing meme for advertisement, and that’s a big no-no.
Writing Memes Are Good for You
And this applies in both directions. Browsing through writing memes on the internet will remind you that you’re not a machine and that writing requires you to reboot from time to time.
But also, writing your own memes will perhaps jumpstart that momentary lack of creativity. In any case, use the writing memes as a tool to become a better, and more importantly, less stressed writer.
When you find a writing meme that speaks to you directly, you can frame it and keep it above your desk as a reminder that your writer’s block will pass and that you won’t miss the deadline.
