I wish someone told me this
Writing has always been something I’m passionate about since I was a kid. While other kids would be playing soccer or something that they derive pleasure in, I’ll be writing stories in my notebook.
Imagine how I felt when I found out that they are people who make a living doing what I presumed to be a hobby. As a kid, it blew my mind. I would write stories every other day and submit them to my brother for him to tell me his opinion on it.
All I wanted, was for me to do something I enjoyed doing rather than working in a place where I make the boss rich.
To be completely honest, it hasn’t been easy.
So today, I decided to share with you things I wish someone had told me before I choose this as a career.
Branch Out:
You probably must have heard of this but, if you want to work full time in any profession, it is advisable to have multiple streams of income. Because, they are many quirks of depending on a sole source of income. They are going to be days where you have no money coming, those are the times where other streams of income are needed.
I have this friend, who started a YouTube channel while working as a writer. He also does affiliate and digital marketing. It’s been almost a year since he started and I can confidently tell you that he is reaping the fruit of his labor daily.
Writer’s Block:
I remember the time I had my first writer’s block. For a full week, I couldn’t come up with anything to write about. I was straight up unmotivated. Considering, at that time I had no idea what I was experiencing, I forced myself to come up with ideas and this action almost made me give up on writing entirely. But after taking a few days off the pen and paper, I regained the writing juice.
Fast forward to now, whenever I know I’m experiencing writer’s block, I go for a walk, or I hang out with family and friends. I’ve found this to be very helpful time and time again.
Do not take Opinions of your Work from your Loved one:
This is the caveat of them all. I wish someone told me this when I started my writing journey.
Remember how I said when I was little I always give my stories to my brother to read and give me feedback. Well, it wasn’t only him I met. I sometimes give my friends at school, my mum, my sister. And they will all feed me with words I want to hear.
The reason why this is not good for a writer, because it stumps your growth. Family and friends love you and pretty much do not want to hurt your feelings. So their judgment is biased.
Whereas someone who doesn’t know you would tell you exactly what is wrong with what you wrote, where you should improve on, and what you missed. They don’t care about your feelings, they only want to see you grow considering your effort.
Now I’m not saying family and friends don’t want you to grow, they just consider your feelings and relationship more valuable to them.
Final Thoughts
Writing is a journey that you never get to see the destination. Improving as a writer takes hard work and consistency. I’m glad I figured that out sooner.
Sometimes you might feel unmotivated and it may not be writer’s block, do your best to read other writer’s work and read-only what you enjoy. I believe the motivation will return.
I’ve found out that the more and more I read, I learn new things and this has helped me improve much faster in my writing technique. Thanks for reading.
