10 Lessons I Learned About Writing After Doing It Daily For 30 Days

When I was in my school, I spoke very little. It was obvious to assume that I was intimidated, shy and diffident in nature because I never spoke about the variety of thoughts that ran through my mind. I still have no concrete reason to argue why I was that way as a kid. But, I wanna stress on the fact that the urge to share my ideas has built inside me for years. Once I started to open up myself through writing, I realized people are way more engrossed in writing. It was then, I decided to pour my heart out and pen down all my thoughts, giving people the x-ray vision to see right through my mind.

Deep inside we all believe that we are someone special and worthy, not to be taken for granted, crave for someone to listen to our thoughts and want people to care. I profess, only writing has that power to prove to us that indeed we are special. People start to imitate your way of living, they dance on the rhythm you set, sympathize with your feelings, look up to you, understand you better, lay their ears, praise your work, offer their condolences and best wishes to a stranger and that my friend, indeed feels worthy. I didn’t realize when writing became so important part of my life. The way it has connected me to the world is just enormous. Writing surely has made me a better person and taught me few very important lessons which I wish to share with you all.

Writing has made me wittier — Earlier, when someone used to offer me sweets or chocolates, I’d furtively say ‘thank you’ with an awkward face and focus on eating, moving away from the crowd. Now, I’d rather say — “Do you mind if I try both the flavors. I just find myself helpless in front of sweets.” Writing has helped me to acknowledge and unveil my taste, preferences and liking of things without hesitation. I find myself witty, confident and communicative. Most of the time people generously offer more chocolates and in this manner I also take the opportunity to let them know about my liking and disliking.

I always inquire what kind of content, I would prefer to read — I apply just one rule in my writing — treat people the way you want to be treated. I usually end up writing something that I wish to read or find myself inclined to read. Something that ignites the fire within me, forces me to re-think and be the better person tomorrow. This simple analysis has always helped me produce better content. The more honest and organic my content is, the more attention it gets.

Loneliness has helped me grow as a writer — One thing that boosted my writing habit is my secludedness. I get to spend lots of time with myself because I haven’t made many friends in the new country yet. Sometimes, I sit almost alone the whole day reading and creating. I didn’t use to believe in the idea that artists are sad people but that damn thing is so true. I realized it the day I kept writing for entire day producing articles incessantly one after another because I was deeply hurt about something. However, it would be opposite to admit that writing has helped me cure my loneliness.

The message is more powerful than a mere collection of words — When I hadn’t started writing, I always feared what if I run out of content someday. But, after I started writing consistently, I realized that writing is a mere form of art. One needs to build something, create something around an idea. At the end what matters is the message you want to convey to the world, that you have a voice to inspire people, that you have something worth sharing with the world which will make difference. Once I started to look at my writing as a creative art, to play with words around a central idea, it became fun to write. I no more feel paralyzed by the scarcity of ideas rather I feel ideas are in abundance. All I need to do is weave them nicely with my words and bring them into existence.

The biggest motivation to write is writing itself — I could never appropriately answer my friend who always asked me what motivates me to write but, last night when I woke up at midnight to pen down an idea that just came to my mind, I realized the best motivation for anyone to write is writing itself. The more you write, the better you would want to become as a writer. The more you write, the better visibility you get, the better opportunities comes your way, the better rewards you enjoy and that is bound to motivate almost any human being.

Unless you are comfortable with your own feelings there is no way you will share it with others — Writing requires two valuable things; one is my commitment and other is acknowledgment of my own behavior. In order to be a good writer, you must be committed to your job. I do not publish articles daily but I do create something every day, even a draft version is sufficient to keep you in pace. Secondly and most importantly, If I hadn’t taught myself how to honestly express my feelings, even if it’s nasty, I wouldn’t have connected with thousands of strangers. I needed to make this inner connection with myself and feel no more discomfort about my feelings to connect with my readers.

I keep my critics closer — Come what may, my close friends always appreciate my work but few of my friends constantly point out my mistakes. I may forget to answer to the good ones but I ensure writing back to my critics. Escaping your critics or being defensive about your mistakes is never a good idea. I do not necessarily apply everything they offer, neither do I argue with them but, there is no harm in listening. I have observed that some of my critics ideas were indeed a hit and once I applied them in my writings, the difference was apparent. I always keep my door open for criticism and correction so much so that my close friends do not hesitate to suggest edits and changes without me asking for it. I learn through my mistakes, always seek advice on how to further improve my writing, not explicitly though sometimes merely embracing the suggested change does the trick.

I never try to change their opinion — Writing is like a roller coaster ride from feeling unconquerable to feeling devastated if you unintentionally hurt someone’s feeling. But, over the time, I realized everyone has an opinion. If I let everyone’s opinion affect my writing, I’d end up feeling suffocated by my turbulent state of mind. When I share my ideas with the world, I do not expect everyone to align with them. Writing has helped me become nonchalant and composed. I listen to other’s opinion intently without passing any judgment but, I never let them reach to my inner world without my consent.

Writing requires me to be more mature than I am —One of my close friend said — “You should take care of the responsibility that people are about to put on you.” For a moment, I was afraid thinking about it. I felt burdened because I consider myself an amateur writer, still dabbling. Writing is not supposed to weight me down. To inspire others and share my life’s journey is my passion. I want to meet new people, learn from them, share my ideas with them because I thrive to create more and consume less. I want to make you feel better if you are fighting. I want to show you that journey to success is never easy. I am trying to build a better life and I just wanna make you part of it. The responsibility is indeed big but I’d never allow that feeling take a toll over me.

I gained more followers when I stopped caring about getting followed — I rather focused on publishing more contents repeatedly and consistently. I get most of my ideas almost instantly and no matter what I am doing at that moment, I’d open my laptop and start typing my thoughts as soon as the idea crosses my mind. I have learned to implement my ideas and take immediate action. As a result of this, I have started to feel wanted in the writers’ community. I have been invited to the writers festival. I have received numerous amount of appreciation and all of that happened because I wrote for thirty days continuously, without slacking off. It feels good to be committed to something so valuable and rewarding.

Writing has deeply influenced my life. I needed to write. I needed to put my thoughts on paper. I needed to get clarity in my vision. I needed to have this self-talk. Writing has anchored me back to my place. It is helping me survive the most difficult phase of my life. The magic of writing is just baffling and the early you start writing, the better you will get over the time.