Be A Bad Writer

And other encouraging thoughts.

You’re new to writing. Like, very new. Can everyone tell? Probably.

That’s okay because, well…You’re new. You’re sure you’re making all kinds of rookie mistakes. You know you are. And that’s okay too.

I’m here, telling you, that it’s okay to be a bad writer. Do it. Write badly. Just keep doing it. You will get better.

Trying Something New

One day you looked around and decided it was time for something new. Frankly, you had gotten bored with how life has been trucking along. You don’t want to watch Netflix anymore. And you’ve exhausted every book that sounded remotely interesting from your bookshelves.

During a bout of mindless social media scrolling, something catches your eye. An online writing course. You have no idea why you decided to read about it, but you did. And you have no idea what sparked you to purchase the course, but you did. You took the leap. Now you are once again a student. Embarking on a new adventure.

New to Writing

You’ve never thought of writing before. I mean you write all the time, but more like a journal. Previous to this course you hadn’t put a whole lot of thought into what others might think of your writing. You had never heard of Grammarly or paid any attention to SEO before.

Feeling Groovy

Now you’re feeling pretty incredible actually. And doing something new. Your brain is making new connections. New neural pathways are forming, and it’s super! Finally, you feel like you’re getting into your flow.

Then just when you’re feelin groovy, you suddenly get bogged down with the rules you see online. Not to mention all you’re learning in the course. Having never taken any classes online, and having never paid much attention to it either, you have entered into a whole new world.

You might say You have a lot to learn.

Yes, yes you do.

This Is A Gift

Being new at something is an opportunity to be free to be completely terrible at it. That’s one of the perks at being new to something. There is so much freedom in that.

Embrace It

Take your time and learn the tricks of the trade. You’re writing. You’re having fun. You might even get this SEO thing under your belt if you keep at it.

Support System

You’re loving all the built-in support you get from this online course. You have a new network of resources and humans that check your work for you. And you get to help check their work as well.

Imposter Syndrome

You feel like an imposter because even with all the resources, you still manage to make mistakes. The downloaded apps correcting all your errors. Still, you seem to have some go unseen until you hit the publish button.

Seriously!?

Ugh.

Just Keep Going

Hours on your computer writing and rewriting. Learning and growing. Vaguely following the rules. You’re reading out loud, and taking in feedback. Crafting and recrafting. All this after finally figuring out what to write in the first place.

Then a week later You’re ready to publish.

You do it.

Eeekkk!

You step away.

Then wouldn’t you know it?

More Mistakes

Coming back, you take a look at your poured over written work and you see it. Three more mistakes jump right out at you!

Don’t beat yourself up. Even the most seasoned writers find mistakes in their work.

Focus on what’s working.

Practice, Practice, Practice

It’s exciting to be learning a new skill. One that will no doubt enhance all that you do. Being able to accurately write out what one is thinking takes practice. Being able to emote feelings. To have another connection with that feeling through your words is magic.

Everything about writing sounds terrific. Writing is connecting, and that’s what we all want right? To connect?

Stretching Yourself

You’re walking a new path. One that you have no idea where it will go. You’ve been down many other paths in your life, and some are very familiar. Even with the bumps and potholes sometimes it can be challenging to turn onto a new path.

But you did it!

Travel Down A New Path

You jump in your writing car and start the engine. You find it’s not as bumpy as you thought it would be. There are actually a lot of signposts along the route helping to guide you. The community you’ve found online in this course has been great. A set of passengers to learn with you. Together you take turns driving and learning from each other’s stories.

Sometimes you’re full speed in one area of your life, and sometimes you get lost. There is always an opportunity to change the path you’re on. You might not even know when it will come.

Freedom In The New

You might be like me, sitting on the couch bored and anxious to learn something new. I love the freedom of being new at something. Did I mention I’m new to writing too? My ego hasn’t arrived here yet, so I am free to play on this path. Play until I grow enough, learn enough and form this new path to make it into a highway.

Network

If you haven’t started forming a network with other writers I encourage you to do so. I too felt like an imposter when I first said hello to others in my writing course. I too felt silly publishing my first piece of writing on Medium. I think it got two reads, and probably from staff members.

If you want to improve you have to keep on writing. If you want to grow you need a network. I find I’m always more successful when I go join a group. Like minds think alike.

Haters Gonna Hate

You will encounter haters. That’s what haters do, they hate.

You will encounter trolls. For this I got nothing. View trolls as your worst inner-voices manifesting. Just awful, but they are there, and they spend their time trying to knock others down. Feel sorry for them. Then keep building your skills.

Fun fact, Trolls can’t climb higher than the bridges they sleep under.

Enjoy The Ride

You are new. Don’t expect yourself to go pro overnight. Be on the journey. Keep going. Build that foundation.

Everyone reads tones and expressions differently, so trust your own style. Be bad at it. Learn the rules so you know when and where to break them.

Writing is art. And at the end of the day it’s about expression.

I congratulate you on taking the leap. For sharing your words with the world. Together we can help each other. To grow into the writers of the future.