When are you ready to write?
Disclaimer: We do not guarantee that you will become the next Shakespeare. Proceed at your own risk
“How can I be a writer?” This question, albeit a strange one, has been asked often considering that I run a content writing agency, and I should probably have the answer. However, the conundrum here is that is ‘writing’ a trick that can be taught or is it an innate talent?
I have been fortunate to have a family filled with writers. All their qualities have merged and made me a decent writer who loves the art form and the world around it. However, it was more than the inherited written skills that helped me become a writer.
1. Read anything and everything
Writing starts where reading commences.
Reading is the first step in the process of creation. As it is said, “let it come, let it be, and let it go.” The more you read, the more you have to tell the world. I have subscribed to a hundred newsletters, spent a lot of time on Medium, read as many books that I could get my hands on. Reading about writing too will work wonders but reading, in general, will help the most. Once you read substantially, you will start writing yourself. It is the next phase of evolution.
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead,” said Mark Twain. It shows there are no rules in picking up topics for you to write or how to start or end what you want to write. There is only one way: write!
2. Write every day, without fail
To be good at writing, keep writing and editing. I am good at writing and bad with the latter. I need people who can tell me what I did wrong.
Writing can include putting a novel together, creating your own world or just writing that one word that can make you stop and wonder about life. Well, some people named it copywriting and it is just another vertical of writing. Until you find that specific niche of writing, keep trying every form of writing. Be honest to yourself and it will give you the uniqueness.
Jason Fried said it is important to know how you can write one topic in three pages, one page, a few paragraphs, a single paragraph, and a line. It is a great practice. I agree with it.
3. Observe and unravel
Someone very smart said that creativity is just connecting things. If that is true, observing the world around you can help you the most. When we consult a person with their Statement of Purpose we tell them, “if you have lived on this planet for 24 hours, you have enough to tell people about it.” The urge of telling people your story makes you a good writer. Telling them the way you know is most interesting makes you a great writer.
“What’s obvious to you is amazing to others.” — Derek Sivers
Wherever you are in your journey, you know things that others don’t. When you start writing, believe in yourself. Believe in what you have read, observed, consumed, and want to tell. There may be a lot of self-doubt, some critics might question your ideas, but you will have your audience who will be eager to be blown away by what you know. These are the people we always write for.
