They say, write about your expertise—what you’re good at, blah blah blah…and I wanted to, but the problem is, I honestly do not know what am good at. I am aware of my flaws, lack of confidence, and all the things that are broken in every aspect of myself, but when it comes to strengths, I have little to zero belief in myself.
But here we are, feeling good about ourselves–like a guru at something. Someone asked for writing advice lately. I stopped momentarily and thought about the world, the universe, and the connections that bind us, and nothing about writing has struck my mind as of the moment. I wanted to say that I am not the right person to give anything grand such as an advice, but I just shut up and analyzed the person’s level in writing for now.
After that day, I had two whole nights thinking about what I could share about writing. Not an advice per se, but something–anything–that I could share, based on experience or the lack thereof. Here’s goes nothing…
“The more you read, the more you write.” – a piece of advice from my Campus Journ professor. And ever since that day in 2017, I have read more and more books than ever, and that has boosted my desire to write more and more. Say, 70% reading and 30% writing would do. And if you’re afraid you might be copying the style of the author you’re reading, no worries. It might feel that way at first, but you’ll eventually find your own voice.
Don’t wait for inspiration to come, it will never come, just start NOW. And I know you’ve heard or read that everywhere, but resharing it here just in case. Waiting for inspiration is like waiting for the apple to fall from the tree instead of plucking it out already.
That goes with…Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect paper or the perfect pen. Great ideas sometimes come from cafe table napkins and worn-out pencils. It’s the thoughts that make you whole, not the materials that you carefully picked from the shelf. Having that perfection is rare, and most of the time, writers don’t use the perfect paper cause it’s too perfect or the perfect pen cause it might go out of ink. So, just write whenever, wherever, on whatever, with whatever.
Do not overthink. I got this from work, not writing related, but placing it in the Writing World, I’d say this is a perfect mantra. If you do not know where to start, simply write–ANYTHING. Yes, anything. One sentence. Then another. Even if the second one is not related to the first sentence. Just write whatever. You don’t even have to think about what to write, the goal is to DO IT NOW WITHOUT OVERTHINKING IT.
Forget the rules and write however you want. Knowing too much and doing it by the book only limits your writing. Am saying this, cause I don’t know any grammatical rules by heart, or any writing rules for that matter. My instructors might want to pull my hair right now if they’re reading this, but yes, I learned them, and then I learned to forget them. Simple steps for a simple life. Harhar.
Write like your life depends on it. Like you’re going to die if you did not write a single line today. Cause writing is like breathing, and the lack of oxygen only puts us in Emergency Rooms. Who would want that, right?
Hit the publish button. This is more for bloggers out there. When you’re starting, I know some of you fear the “PUBLISH” button. I know that feeling very well. I’m still afraid of it, sometimes. That being seen feeling, being vulnerable, with a piece of your soul, out in the open for people to see, and you won’t even know who passed by to take a peek. This is one of the reasons why I don’t read what I write and publish it right away, with all the typos and errors. Because if I did, I might never hit that publish button.
There you go. A few pointers, from the clumsy me, hoping that the clumsiness will not be contagious enough for your writing. Pick one and experiment, or pick a few if you dare. Happy Writing, writers!
