What you can do to match up to your favorite writer. My blogging advice.
I never was a great writer — from the start. The very first blog I wrote made no sense and confused everyone, even myself (after re-reading it). Since then, I shunned myself from spilling my thoughts onto the screen, for fear that people would judge my horrible writing.
If only I could write like some of my favorite writers: Jason Fried, Jeff Goins, James Clear, James Altucher, Nat Eliason. But I knew that wouldn’t happen if I never tried. So I made a contract with myself — to write everyday. Day or night. Mentally exhausted or sleepy. Even on my weekend getaways. If I couldn’t finish an entire post, that was okay. As long as I wrote something new that added more depth into the story, that was good enough for me to call it a day.
But to tell you the truth, that wasn’t the only thing that helped me write better. In fact, most of my success came from reading other people’s great stories.
To be a writer, you should read, write and talk to people, hear their knowledge, hear their problems. Be a good listener. The rest will come.
~Jean Craighead George
By putting yourself in other people’s shoes and feeling the emotions and thoughts behind the black and white letters of their story, you start to pick up what sounds good and what does not. And so the more you read, the more styles you can add to your voice. It’s not before long until you write something so powerful and so deep that people actually start looking up to you (as you initially did with your favorite writers).
Now, I’m not sure which writers you follow, but there are a few I want to point out who have definitely inspired me to become a greater writer.
Warning: Their words may push you to your writing limits. 😉
So who are these writers?
From no particular order:
Remember this one thing:
Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.
~Anne Lamott
For me, that’s pushing myself to write everyday (at least 30 minutes) and learning from the many great writers of Medium.
Everything I've ever written on Medium - Startups, Self-improvement, Love & Relationships, Medium Hacks, Writing Tips.rbt.is
Btw, if you want people to see your older stories (like what I have above), you can set yours up for free at Rabbut. Nice way to put all your stories into one place. :)
