PERSONAL STORIES
Researching is Good Until This Happens
The hardships every technical writer faces while creating an absolute quality-enriched article
Well, you know, creating my previous article was quite challenging because I messed up the research part that I usually enjoy the most, as mentioned before.
Researching something is the joy of learning about the unknown and in this digital realm, information is a few keywords away from being learned and known.
So, the story goes like this
I was working on an article about SEO, and honestly, I had enough information to craft a decent piece
but my curiosity was restless, I wanted to explore more.
While I was reading those insightful articles, I was clipping (saving) those crucial paragraphs, data, and images via Evernote’s Chrome extension,
I guess most of you know about its usefulness and how handy it is for any avid reader like me
So far, so good, right?
I had collected all the necessary materials for my article, and it was time to start writing.
But here the problem emerged that I was really unaware of
I haven’t thought about my article’s outline
A blog or an article comes with a structured format
- an introduction
- a body
- and a conclusion
My writing style incorporates all these elements (not like those intros “in this digital transformative realm”) but with a unique blend of storytelling in a conversational tone
But that creative process requires time and thought which was short on that day due to my busy schedule filled with other tasks like studying and tutoring
Normally, I don’t inject personal opinions into thoroughly researched articles,
Instead, I just present the information by paraphrasing it slightly and framing it appropriately.
This approach usually makes the content shine.
However, the data I collected this time was so vast and massive, (despite everything concluding the same concept) I was puzzled and lost in a sea of information,
Staring at the blank screen for an hour
But instead of wasting my potential on overthinking, I decided to take a step back
Wait, are you thinking that I would stare at my laptop screen for an hour?
Nahh
I finally began my writing.
If you’re wondering about the outline, well, I managed to create one without any hectic
However, even with an outline in place, I was struggling to write properly, I was constantly hoping between thoughts
“Do I write just what’s inside my mind or do I include those paragraphs from the collected data into my article?”
I felt like an idiot, a rookie who just started writing online,
but you know what
“These mistakes are only guiding me in my writing journey”.
It’s just a starting phase, there are many yet to come, and my learning will never stop until and unless I write here.
What happened next?
Not much, just a few edits, and yeah, the article was ready to be published.
One valuable lesson that I learned was writing an article isn’t rocket science, and it shouldn’t be.
It’s all about expressing your thoughts in your own words and perspective
Even at the beginning of this article, I was unsure of what to write, but I started anyway and saw, that both of us had reached its finishing point.
I do have a bad habit I need to overcome
I have a very bad habit of rushing myself to finish my article on time, this approach detreats quality.
While consistency is crucial, so is quality
Your words should depict yourself in the mind of the reader while they are reading your piece, not someone who just prints a description out of ChatGPT.
I wish every beginner writer like me, would discard that mentality while it is in its early stages because you should enjoy expressing yourself
You aren’t rushing to meet a 9–5 deadline, aren’t you?
Here, on Medium, you’re connecting with a vibrant writing community and sharing your unique voice.
I devised a strategy to overcome this problem
Therefore, to avoid making same mistakes in research-related articles, I have made a strategy.
I will still conduct thorough research like before, but now I will keep a notebook on my lap so that I can jot down the important points that I learned while reading any article on Google.
This way, when I start drafting the actual article, I won’t face the “where do I even begin” problem again.
What do you think guys about this strategy? is it worth it?
If I was unclear, let me know in the comments, I’ll do my best to address your doubts
If you enjoyed reading this and find it resonating in some way, consider showing your affection by clapping and commenting
It would mean a lot to me 😁🤗
Bye ✋. Peace 👏
