Before I started this blogging journey, I had no idea what I was doing, I just started. I was somewhat of a reader, blogs and some books. But the closest thing in my life to writing was lengthy emails that I would send. I had no idea where to start, so I just did.
I knew that I wanted to write a book someday and it would be pretty difficult to do so cold turkey. If I didn’t have any writing experience, it would be hard to articulate the story I want to tell. However, if I practiced on my blog I could get a lot of benefit from it.
I would be able to practice consistently sitting down to write. I would be able to practice editing and reshaping story-lines. I would learn to build an audience. And if I practiced enough, I could get people excited about my book.
On that note, many people have approached me to talk about writing and their own take on it. Not necessarily my work, but their own longing to write. These conversations usually amuse me because all the things people tell me, I used to believe as well. I’m here to tell you they don’t matter. Here is a list of 17 myths about writers:
They all Know What They’re Going to Write Before They Write It
They all Dedicate 40 Hours Per Week to Their Writing
They all Write Only When They are Inspired
They all have Something Deep to Say
They all Have Their Lives Together
They all Have Neat Handwriting
They all Have Perfect Grammar
They all Have Time to Write
They are all Good Writers
They are all Intellectual
They are all Troubled
They are all Creatives
They all Have a Blog
They all Type Well
They are all Smart
They are all Poor
They are all Rich
I know all of these to be absolutely false. A writer is anyone that puts their thoughts onto a canvas, digital or physical. I am a writer and you can be as well, if you want to be. You don’t have to tell the world that you write. In fact, you don’t have to tell a soul. You don’t have to write for an audience, you can write just to clear your head (which I do quite frequently).
I used to write lengthy weekly emails for work to my team, it helped me articulate what was going on in the company. I wish I would have stuck with that more, it could have led to greater communication. Can you incorporate writing into your business? Most people don’t know what you think they know. How about your personal life? I’m sure someone is in need of a ‘thank-you’ or a ‘get well soon’ card, this is the perfect time to get on it.
I encourage you to pick up a pen and paper or just a word doc on your computer and write. It helps you sort things through, especially things like goals and aspirations that require us to concentrate on them. Just take 20 minutes and begin to let the ink bleed from the pen onto paper and see what happens. It may not be for you, but then again you may fall in love with it.
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Do you write? How often and what for? Leave me a comment below or chat with me on Twitter.
Thanks for reading, now it’s your turn.
Have a great day!
