I understand a lot of things about writing, mostly because I’ve always enjoyed it and I’ve done it for so long. But I have to let you in on a little secret, really bare my soul to you if you’ll let me. Seriously, just indulge me for a moment and we’ll both benefit.
After years or studying the craft and toiling as a professional writer and editor, ahhh, sorry, give me a moment … the secret is this: I still find it difficult.
Writing is hard.
Writing is work.
That’s why when I hear people say, “I’m not a writer,” or “I’ve never been good at writing,” or simply “I can’t write” I often respond, “how much have you actually done it?”
The truth is, very few people have “no” ability to write. Most people simply aren’t comfortable with the writing process because they haven’t done it enough.
No matter where you begin as a writer – from the bottom, middle or at a high level – the beauty of this craft is you can always get better.
Always fine-tune.
Always improve.
That should not only give hope to those who lack confidence in their writing skills but it should also push everyone that they can get better at the craft.
The difference between professional writers and those who think they can’t write is writers recognize how hard it is but trust themselves and endure the process.
And that’s the secret: There is no secret. It takes work and it takes experience. Talent is nice but you can still be decent through simply honing the skill by writing on a regular basis.
I’ve never considered Stephen King an amazing writer – storyteller, probably – but his book On Writing had a fairly profound effect on me as a young writer.
One of the points he makes that I agree with is through hard, regular work, the vast majority of us can improve their writing a great deal. But what exactly should we all be doing for that?
1) Read … a lot
We’ve made this point a lot throughout our content creation series, but reading is so critical. It lays the foundation to your own writing. It shows you what’s good, what’s bad and what’s average. Plus, your mind gets comfortable with words, how to use them, how to mesh them together. That allows you to come to writing in a much more comfortable way.
2) Write … a lot
According to his book, Stephen King writes 2,000 words every morning. Guess what, it’s not as ridiculous as it sounds. The key is he sat down every morning at the same time and worked at it for maybe an hour, hour and a half. If you sit down for a solid hour or so at the same time each day, you’ll be amazed how much you get done. You’ll also be amazed at how much better you get over time. Seriously, that work adds up.
Whether you use that time to blog, write social media posts, write a book, write articles or content for whatever you need, you’ll be stunned at how much you get done on a regular basis.
3) Rewrite, fine tune
You absolutely have to make friends with editing and re-writing. If you think that first draft is good enough, you’re wrong. I don’t even need to see it. There’s a reason why in school you had to do a rough draft, second draft and third and that’s because the final product – no matter if it’s a quickie blog or a book – should be fine-tuned as thoroughly as possible. Get comfortable with that process and rip yourself apart now before the public is able to later.
– Your first draft is mainly for getting an outline and your thoughts on paper.
– Your second draft is where the article really starts to shape up.
– Your third draft is where you trim it up and put your best product out for everyone to see.
Writing is an art and a skill. You won’t get good at it if you don’t work at it. The secret, not that there is one, is as simple as sitting down and doing it. Every day.
So set your goals, set your regimen and push yourself each day to attack your work schedule. Little by little, those days will add up. And before you know, you’ll be setting a pace others admire.
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