I have been writing for 30 days now. 5 ways you can get started as a beginner.
I am not an expert writer and I have been writing for just about 30 days. So whatever I tell you next is not coming from an expert writer. A lot of times we read articles by professional writers and get demotivated. “Can I ever write like them?” In my case you don’t have to worry about that!
While I have been writing briefs and a little bit of social copies for my job, I’ve never explored doing anything more than that. This time I have decided to go for it and give myself 6 months time to become a better writer and figure out where I want to go with my writing. Another thing I am learning is to sit with an article, read more and learn editing. I am used to writing and publishing to get the dose of instant gratification.
1.Talk about topics you love — It is extremely difficult maintaining consistency or interest if you don’t like the topics that you are writing about. I want to write about Tech, SaaS, Fintech but I know it takes a lot of research, speaking to people and spending hours perfecting the articles. I would have given up sooner in that case.
Instead I have started with lighter topics, such as my work life and how to balance it, talking about my experiences as a corporate and digging into topics that have been a pain point for me. Now, I am excited about these topics and can talk about them for hours. So it makes complete sense that in 30 days I have about 10 blogs and 20 Linkedin posts published. (some scheduled)
2.Know your “WHY” — I know it sounds cliche and what the internet gurus might tell but I am not kidding. It is absolutely true. Knowing why you have started this and your purpose helps you stay on track. For me it was expressing what was going on in my mind. I felt like I was getting really anxious and worried about things and needed an outlet. Office politics, stress at home, pressure from all over. I felt like there are a lot of things that are not discussed and I needed to have the courage to discuss them. That is my — Why. While I can research and write on any topic as a solopreneur, I write things that matter to me on my personal blog.
3.Stacking up habits — If you are not in the habit of writing, trust me it’s going to take a long time to get in the groove. Even now, I am planning to write 10–12 blogs only for next month as well and nothing more than that. I can’t write every day and hence publish once every 2–3 days. Now how does stacking up my habits help? I journal almost everyday at night. That is a habit for me. Now I have started carrying an extra notepad with my journal. I write down the topics for my Blog or Linkedin and if I really like the idea, I expand it into bullet points with the structure. Nothing else, just good old pen and paper (I prefer an ink pen, gives me more purpose!). I sit up early in the morning and convert that into a blog, after that. Some days I am not motivated and I don’t blame myself for it and get off track!
4.Reading as much as I can — I have noticed something, whenever I have not ideas to write or talk about, I have done a small analysis then. It is usually because I have spent most of time doing office work and/or watching television. Completely blocks out my ideas. But on the other hand, when I am reading books, articles, even posts and tweets, I can get ideas on what I can write about.
I am often inspired by people who write on a certain topic and publish my take on it as well. So you see, the idea is to consume as much reading as you can, at least for the first few months. Ensure you always keep a diary with you and note down any ideas coming to you. An idea written is an idea executed, what doesn’t get noted is forgotten!
5.I publish immediately after completing my first edit — I know this is a mistake, but let me try and explain my point. Most writers would never let out an article in its first draft because they know the power of editing. But in my case, I felt if I let the article site for a couple of days I might judge myself and end up not publishing it at all. I might criticise myself and my work and try writing something else that I think might be worth my efforts or standards.So instead of putting so much pressure on me, I simply read through the article a couple of times, put it through grammarly checks and I am good to go.
There are drawbacks to this I understand. But for the next few months I plan to continue this to build up my writing habit. Another reason I do it, is I also work Just In Time, meaning that if an article has to be published today I end up writing it today. I need to build my plans better and write and keep buffer articles to ensure it never happens. Everything is a part of my learning process!
While I don’t want to add this as a separate point, the most important thing is you start writing because that’s what your heart wants to do and it’s not The Shiny Object syndrome where you are picking up activities because you saw someone make a lot of money out of it. You cannot make a million dollars out of this as soon as you start! I had this habit of starting and doing multiple things. It did not work for me and burnt me out to a point where I did not want to do anything at all! So, keep clear expectations and continue writing.
