An open letter to all the people who want to write but feel that they aren’t good at writing:
Hellooo there!
Swat away that Self-doubt fly buzzing in your ear that you are not good at writing.
When you read other peoples articles or books, do you feel like wish I could write like that. Or sometimes you are forced to write letters and you end up in anxiety?
Ideas just pop into your head and you are like, wish I could write my ideas and thoughts for the world to read. Does this happen to you?
It does to me. I get all these amazing ideas and then when I finally sit down to write I can’t put my thoughts into words anymore. I use to tell myself.. I am not a writer ( that’s my go to excuse).
But, there is this desire to write. So, I had to ditch the idea that I can’t write, and tell myself that I can try, to give it a go.
As soon as I wanted to write, there is this fear—this self doubt fly that buzzes in my head—would people read what I write? Who cares what I have to say? Do I have anything worth saying? Am I funny enough? I have limited vocabulary, are my sentences clever enough?? Can I write with power and purpose to make a change in the world?
Just because I can’t write an award winning novel doesn’t mean I can’t write. I am not a chef but I can still make Biryani. ( don’t know if this sentence makes sense – I’m still keeping it and not editing it out). Just like a doctor can misdiagnose and a chef ruins a dish by adding too much salt, and they learn through their mistakes, I will learn too.. I will attempt. I will write my ideas in the way I see them.. and read and learn from what others have to say.
….I had to work through all these fears and shut them up before I started writing.
So here is what I do..
I start writing by putting all my thoughts in, it’s a mess.. a chaos.. all tangled up.
I don’t worry about perfect words. Then I pick up the key idea and build on it and finally edit it. ( okay, not that easy.. but, read on).
This helps me to think deeper and forces my creativity. It helps me discover my voice. This is how I write when I’m writing personal posts. Also, to be honest.. sometimes by the time I finish, it would have turned out completely different to what I started with. I just start and see where I end up and it does need a lots of revising. It still might not be perfect at the end and That’s okay! ( My rules)
Other times, I know what specifically I want to write. So, I create a rough frame an imperfect frame. I don’t really care if it’s not in an order and if i don’t follow all the writing rules. And then my idea is to work on that imperfect frame and to improve it.
I heard about experienced writers who edit each part to perfection before they go to the next section. They evaluate and edit as they go. I don’t have that kind of patience. I guess these are professional experienced writers. ( Like real chefs and Top Doctors).
I get it though.. sometimes editing each part helps especially when you are stuck as you read and edit what you wrote you might end up getting a new idea on how to write the remaining parts.
Writing is like stepping into the unknown. It is sometimes hard to think and to communicate with clarity. I use mixed strategies depending on what I write and how the writing goes.
I write using simple words. Everyone’s style is different. We are all different.
Don’t stress about everything being perfect.
You are writing, You are in charge.. You can write however you want, if you want to write in detail or not is your decision. What style you pick is your decision. You make up the rules.
What’s important is what works for you? Don’t need to over think and over plan. You just need passion about an idea and an open mind. If you over plan then you will restrict your creativity. So you need an open mind and Surprise yourself with new ideas. And discover the Joy of writing.
To summarise:
•Start with something you are passionate about, what inspires you.
•Pour in all your thoughts. Don’t worry about the perfect words. Don’t worry about a rough frame yet. Don’t care about grammar, punctuation and structure yet. You can always go back and Revise. Again, remember, this is your article.
•Now, Revise whatever you have written. It’s more like cleaning up a messy room. Read out loud if that helps for the thoughts to flow and to see how to organise this jumbled up thoughts that you have written. As you read everything that you have written— You will be able to see what should go where.
•Untangle the mess one sentence at a time, Rearrange the words, sentences paragraphs like puzzle pieces. Now, you have a rough frame but hopefully a bit clear than before.
•If you have more creative and critical thoughts to add, do it now and finally edit it. And ..there you have it— your very own master piece!!
If you have made it this far.. I am proud of you, you will become a writer soon.
—So as a bonus, I will throw in some more pearls of wisdom.
More free advice:
- Write every single day, keep practicing. Set a time to write, and show up.
- Good writers are Readers. so read. research. Learn. ( Advantage: You can piggyback on some ideas and make it your own)
- Start with something small, even if it’s a journal, letters to your friends and family. Bore them. Doesn’t matter! I know I did, I write long letters. I still do. Write small stories doesn’t matter how bad they are. You got to crawl before you stand up and walk. So write write write. Allow yourself room to grow.
- Don’t just be a dreamer, Start writing. eventually you will swat that self doubt fly and be able to write for the world to read your voice, the message that you want to share with the world. Give yourself a chance. Let the writing begin! Let your creativity flow!
Regards
Hima