#15: Becoming a Writer: 5 Things No One Told Me

I'd be lying if I say I didn't ask myself who the hell am I to write on such topic. Oh yes, I did ask myself. And you, as in you, must be wondering why I'm writing about this topic.

See, the thing is, I have this belief that everyone has a story to share with the world. To make the world a better place. To create an impact that will have an ever lasting effect on the lives of people.

With this belief, I do think there's something you can learn if I write this instead of just keeping my ideas to myself.

Throughout my one and half year as a writer, I've learned quite a lot, however, not everything. I am still learning, and for sure I'll keep learning till I eventually have an encounter with the angel of death.

Sigh. 

I've been at a point where writing was an abstract thing to me. Nothing made sense out of what I wrote. It was all nothing but crap.

I also came across challenges here and there which I certainly don't want you to face head-on without prior knowledge—I want you to be multiple times better than me. 

That said, you'd be able to handle the challenges faced by people chasing a career in writing in a better way.

Are you ready? Alright, let's dive in straight.

1. NO ONE GIVES A FUCK FOR NOW

Let me guess.

You're a writer or you want to be a writer. You've read countless writing tips on how to perfect your art. You've also asked others in other to tap from their experience.

You've done all you think that is needful to start a writing career. And now you're damn ready to sit before that keyboard to pop and punch all the words running through your mind. 

You're ready to write, write and write till you can't write no more. 

And boom! You wrote a couple of articles here and there and you're getting comfortable being identified as a writer. 

But sad to say, you've been publishing your work but it seems to get no traction. No one seems to care you wrote a ten thousand words article. Most people are scrolling passed it like nothing ever happened. 

That's not funny and you're starting to get pissed off. You even go on to blaming people for not being interested in reading. 

You're starting to feel entitled that yes, people should read your work. But that's you shit talking yourself. That's your ego messing you up. As bestselling author Ryan Holiday once told me, “to whatever you aspire, ego is the enemy.”

My friend, it truly is the fucking enemy! Get rid of it. 

Don't have this sense of entitlement that people must read your work. It's not good. It'll take you to nowhere. It'll just make you to keep inflating your ego and before you know it, you'll burst like a balloon full of anger everywhere. 

But you don't have to worry yourself too much. I've been there too. I've felt how you feel. And perhaps I'm still feeling so.

Anyway, I'm working on it because I surely know that to be successful at anything, one needs to always be a work in progress. One needs to pay the price of success—which includes: patience, determination, hardwork and consistency.

My advice to you is to forget success for now. Forget being famous. Forget wanting to have many people reading your work. Just write, write and write. Learn the art very well and someday success will come to you. 

As I said, just write!

2. YOU'LL BE MISUNDERSTOOD 

If you're a writer, you'd be misunderstood. In fact I read somewhere that to be a writer is to be misunderstood. You might think I'm making this up, but that's just it. 

There are times that you'll share your ideas with the world and someone out there will misunderstand what you are saying. Someone out there will give a different interpretation to what you wrote.

I know you think if ones ideas are misunderstood or misinterpreted, then it's as a result of lack of clarity or poorly expressed ideas. But NO! That's not it. 

Here, I'm talking to you about people misinterpreting or not getting what you've said because you both share different views about the world. Or, because the person is not just interested in reasoning with you. It happens. And when it does, it's often not funny especially for someone who's new in the game.

In some cases, it's the effect of confirmation bias that comes into play. Such people stick to their previously held beliefs and whenever a new idea is presented or aired, they tend to outrightly find it not okay—fucking confirmation bias messes the whole thing up. 

Ever written something and then someone completely disagrees with you even though you're right? 

If you haven't, then brace yourself. It'll soon come your way. And when it comes, be ready to respond responsibly. 

Be ready!  Being misunderstood is part of the profession. 

Nevertheless, that doesn't mean you have a guarantee to write stupid or mawkish statements. It also doesn't mean you should go on telling yourself being misunderstood is part of the profession all the time. If you're doing that, my friend, I advice you to quit being an asshole. 

Because that's not the point. The point here is all about understanding that being a writer who shares his opinion with the world, you stand a chance to say something with a different intention and then someone else will interprete it in a different way. 

This is often where the problem starts. 

The golden truth is you should try as much as possible not to be misunderstood. Always try to clarify your statements if need be. And if the person fails to understand despite all efforts, let the person be. You mustn't impose your views on others. 

But it is important to note that sometimes you get to learn when you're misunderstood. Besides, you can't be right all the time. Whatever the case may be, have it at the back of your mind that it's all part of the process. 

A few weeks ago, bestselling author Mark Manson made a post on facebook during his visit to Australia where, currently, the amazon forest is still burning ever since it started some months ago. Sadly, it has led to the loss of lives and properties.

But the thing with Mark is that he lamented the way the news media exaggerates issues. The way they keep replaying issues over and over by making it sound as though the world is about to end. 

For example, when Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian top general was killed by an American drone airstrike some weeks ago, BBC, CNN, in fact all the news media, both international and local kept deliberating on the issue for over two weeks. Making it sound as though the world was going to end today. For heaven's sake, isn't that exxageration?

Yeah, we know things are fucking messed up to the core, but it's not as messed as the way the media is presenting it to us. 

Now, as I was saying...

Mark talked about how the news media exaggerates the bushfires in Australia. 

Did I just hear him use the word exaggerate? 

That was really bold of him. To say such amidst this fire still burning is not an easy thing to do. I cherish his boldness. 

Truth is, many people misunderstood him. Some found him to be insensitive. Some where really angry. Some said they lost the respect they had for him.

Shit! He was really misunderstood. As a result, he made a post the next day in which he clarified his statement. He even went on to donate $5 to the local fire brigade for every pissed off comment, making a total of $530AUD (Australian Dollar).

He even went further to make us understand that his main intention when he made the post was to let people know how the news media usually exxagerates things and leaves us with the lasting impression that everything is completely fucked up and there's no way out. 

Here's the link to the post, you can go see for yourself:

 https://www.facebook.com/349841488478164/posts/2470775479718077/

You see right? Even a bestselling author gets misunderstood. You of all people should know that in one way or the other you'll be misunderstood also. Peradventure such happens, try as much as possible to respond subtly.

You chose writing. You should be ready for all this. It's part of the profession. 

3. COMPLEX WORDS SUCK

When I started writing, I really enjoyed using flowery language. I loved using words I learned while going through books. Besides, it's a good thing right? To use all the words you learned whenever you want to write. 

I know you'd say yes. But the truth is, NO. 

It's not a good thing. It's only a good thing if you're using the words within limits. 

If you use all the words you learn, of which I know most are complex and unfamiliar words to most people, then you're indirectly writing for yourself, not for others to read.  

Who's willing to read an awesome piece of shit that will cause nothing but confusion? 

Put yourself in the readers shoe whenever you write, try as much as possible to write in the most and simple and straightforward manner. 

I know you've read somewhere that you should practice those complex words you've learned when you write, but It's a bad advice. I'm begging you not to.

What you ought to do is to identify your target audience and know what kind of people they are. When I say audience, I mean the people who you're writing for. Those people whom you specifically want to them to read work. 

If they are young people, you should stick to words that are average. Intermediate words. Words that are not too hard and are not too easy. 

And if they are highly educated. That is, people who have gone far in the field of knowledge, then you can use complex words fully. They will likely understand the meaning behind those words.

As for me, I write with milennials at heart. They are my target audience. And that's why I write using profanity—using words like damn, shit and fuck. 

I'm not just using these words for no reason. I'm using it for a purpose, which is to create my own kind of style. You can find ways to create your own style also.

But before then, don't you ever use complex words without identifying your target audience unless if you want your writing to suck.

4. COMPARISON IS BAD

Comparison is bad? Of course it is. But that's only if you do it in the wrong manner. If you do it in the right way, your writing will definitely suck less.

If you're the type who devours the books of bestsellers or those written by those who've been writing for many years, and then you're starting to wallow in pity because you are beginning to believe you can never be good as they are, then you're comparing in the wrong way.

On the other hand, if you're the type who compares, wallows in pity, but then you try to develop this mindset of I can do it if they can do it, then you're halfway there. 

Being halfway there, you'll be able to look in between texts and understand what differentiates this author from that author. You'd come to see different writing styles, different ways in which ideas are explained. 

It is then your responsibility as the person who is comparing different set of books to steal with perfection by imitating the works of the writers you admire. 

By doing so, you're not going down a rabbit hole, instead you're learning by devouring the works of experts and incorporating some of their styles and techniques of writing. 

If what I just said sounds puzzling, then you've not been paying attention. All I'm saying is you should read in between lines and start paying attention to the details of what you're reading.

Pay attention to the choice of words, mechanics, sentence structure and all other aspects of writing. That's what I meant by reading in between lines.

You'd learn a lot by doing so. However, I don't mean you should plagiarize their work. 

When I started writing, I admired John Maxwell so much that I started incorporating his writing style. 

How was I able to do that? By reading many of his books and paying close attention. Before I knew it, my writing started looking like his. It just happened! There and then!

I didn't even know how but one sure thing is I was paying attention to the way he writes as I was reading his books. 

Lo and behold, I started reading lots of articles by Mark Manson. Guess what? I fucking love the way he writes. If you're wondering who he is, well, he is the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. 

I also learned a thing or two from Robert Greene but trust me, I didn't really fancy his style that much because it sounds way too serious. 

There are other writers I've learned from also. As you can see, I'm still evolving. I might end up incorporating another person's style. However, that's not plagiarizing. That's me stealing with perfection—of course, stealing their writing style. 

Doing so might sound awkward but the truth is, it'll make you learn how to write faster and it'll help you in creating your own writing style. 

5. THE PROCESS MATTERS MORE

The process matters more? What process? 

I mean the writing process. It matters more than thinking of how hard it is to write a two thousand words article. 

Perhaps you're wondering how I managed to write this long article. Perhaps you think you can't. Well, you can. You just have to focus on the process. If I were to show you the behind the scenes of this article, you'd definitely be shocked! 

I spent a week preparing to write this article. I made an outline. Left it. Kept regurgitating the ideas on and on. And yes, I procrastinated a lot too.

I didn't just write this article at a go. It took me time. I also didn't bother myself about how to get to the end of the article. All I did is to focus on writing one word at a time. 

It's amazing how I've managed to write this long article using this process right? You can do it also. 

Stop thinking of how you'd be able to pull it off. Just plan well, have your outline and start writing.

That's it. Just WRITE.

One word at a time and you'll get there. There's a Greek parable known as sorietes paradox. It explains that ones actions can yield results if done repeatedly.

In this context, if you focus on writing a word, the next word and then the next one, you'll end up having an article without even knowing. That's how it works. 

WHAT TO DO NEXT? 

Now that you've read to this point, I want to tell you that you've tried. It's not easy. It's quite a long post and I hope you've learned a thing or two. 

So what next? 

The next thing to do now is to think through all I've said and pick what works for you and dump what doesn't works for you. In any way, just make sure you put into practice the one or two things you've learned here.

Alright. See you next time.