On Writing

A friend of mine asked me to share my writing tips and thoughts.

What better way to do it than to write about it?

Understand if and Why Do You Want to Write

1. Do you want to learn to express yourself?
2. Experiment with a potential hobby?
3. Have more visibility on social media?
4. Get some ego boost?
5. Maybe even become (somewhat) famous?

Writing Is an Art

1. It requires some kind of spark and ingenuity.
2. Some people are natural, some are not.
3. You don’t have to be a writer to write, much like you don’t have to be a painter to draw.

Writing Is Also a Skill

1. It gets better with time and practice: writing becomes easier, it gets more fluent, the content you produce becomes of higher quality.
2. If you are not a natural writer, you can become much better by practicing.
3. Even if you are a natural writer, you still need to practice.

Getting Started

1. Read before you write: to be a good writer, you need to start reading first. Read a lot, pay attention and understand what makes some writings better than others.
2. Write: you learn by doing. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just good enough.
3. Get feedback: ask for colleagues, friends, and other people you trust to give you feedback. Try to get feedback from unbiased people you don’t know, who won’t mind telling you the whole truth.
4. Reflect: the feedback you get on your writing is key to getting better.
5. Repeat: go back to step 1 :)

Being Realistic

1. Most of us won’t become well-known writers.
2. Your writing will likely reach a narrow audience.
3. Your writing will probably be mediocre at best.
4. It’s OK! You don’t have to do it for a living.
5. Enjoy the ride: most often, the process of writing is a rewarding journey by itself, no matter how well you do it or how many people have read and reacted to it.

One final thing: I’m on my personal writing journey and would appreciate your feedback.

Was this article useful to you? Do you have some ideas to make it better? Can you share some additional writing tips to help me and others?