Becoming a better writer is not as easy as taking a walk in the park or buying some goods off Amazon. It takes more.

When I started out writing intentionally, every resource I saw and answer to the question “How can I become a better writer?” came with the sharp rebuff, “Just write.”

I liken this advice to giving breast-milk to babies, but there comes a time when the child will no longer be satisfied with milk. Strong food is needed.

Telling someone to “Just write” to become a better writer can be likened to telling a Primary school student to appear for a Job Interview just because there is a vacancy.

If you’re going to ever be an exceptional writer, you have to go for the long run and not the short run.

The advice to “Just write” will only get you so far before you give up.

When you are told, “Just write,” the next question should be “Write what?”

A young aspiring writer asked me a couple of weeks ago, “How can I become a writer?” In that moment, I knew what he needed wasn’t to simply tell him to go home and start writing whatever comes to his mind.

I schooled him in less than 10–15 minutes on the fundamentals of writing.

Telling someone to “Just write” to become a better writer can be likened to telling a Primary school student to appear for a Job Interview just because there is a vacancy.

So, what should you be doing instead?

1. Find your message:

Do you have something you are passionate about? If you could talk about something endlessly with much enthusiasm and grit, what would that be?

Every great writer has a message. There is something that resonates with them. In their writings, you’d see a flow, feel their heartbeat and sense what they are most passionate about. It may be fiction, or non-fiction. It may simply be humor, jokes and fun talk about everyday happening. Our very own Linda Ikeji built her niche around gossips.

Your message fuels you, drives your writing and makes you outstanding in an ocean full of other writers.

I started out talking about Talent. I realized that many people underestimated what they had and overestimated what others had. So, I eventually wrote my first Ebook titled “I got just one talent…” I’ve written others since then. Today, I write to inspire, to teach, and instruct my audience in areas of business, relationship and faith. I want people to read my posts and get up to do something or at least to have an alteration in their perspective -for good.

What is your core message?

You are not a writer just because you write. You are one because you always have something to write about. You can never run out of what to write when you write from what is deep within you.

“No one cares how great your writing is until they know how great you are.”

2. Live out your message:

When you’ve found that which resonates with you strongly, you must live it out. What are your values? What are the principles that hold your life together? In the application of these principles you will have even more to share with the world. When you write about the ongoings in your life, it endears people to you and helps to connect to you and you message more easily.

You know, a quote says, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” I say “No one cares how great your writing is until they know how great you are.”

Do you get the drift?

3. Treasure your experiences:

Ever read that line of scripture that says, “Wisdom cries out in the streets”? I’ve not ceased to be intrigued by that scripture.

It says a lot.

Do you know every of our life’s experience is loaded with wisdom waiting to be found by us?

I picture that there are acres of diamonds in every place we go and in every thing we do. We only need to see it. Some of the scenes we read about in fiction novels were borne out of experiences of the writers. They only wove their experiences into beautiful stories that captivates our minds today.

Treasure everything you go through.

“Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there’ll always be better writers than you and there’ll always be smarter writers than you. There will always be people who are much better at doing this or doing that — but you are the only you” says ― Neil Gaiman.

You should ask yourself (as you reflect on your daily life): What can I use this for? What can I make out of this?

Remember the post I made on “Policeguns and whatever it has to do with writing”?

That’s how it came and several chapters in books I’m currently developing.

4. READ:

You’ve heard that “Leaders are readers” right? If you are ever going to be a writer, you have to read, read and read. Stephen King (A veteran writer and published author of several classics and Best Sellers) said “If you are going to be a great writer, you have to read a lot and write a lot.” Sadly, he also said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time — or the tools — to write. Simple as that.”

We learn to write by reading. Do you have a library? How many books do you read in a year? Just a few? You may be far from becoming better in the craft.

You can’t just write when you have not yet read. Now may just be the time to start taking a book everywhere you go to. I take a book with me everywhere I go. I read in the toilet too

When you read the works of other writers, it is a mark of honor, reverence and appreciation for their craft. Your mind, perspective and world view is altered and widened by the books you read.

The more informed and inspired your mind is, the better your writing becomes.

5. Then, write it. Keep writing it and never stop

Now, you can write non-stop.

Get a journal, a diary or something you can always write in. For me, I write every single day -not only because that’s my job as a Ghostwriter, but because it is a means of distilling the many thoughts in my mind. When a book is out of reach, I flip out the Google Keep app on my phone or Tablet and write quotes that come to mind, write titles of blog posts, or story ideas for books I’m currently working on.

I’m always writing something.

So,

The reason why you may not have improved in your writing is because you have only been writing and not doing the other 4 things listed above.

What will you begin to do from today?

Share in the comment section

Why following the advice to “just write” won’t make you a better writer. Do these 5 things instead was originally published in Ghostwriting Universe on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The other day, I had almost a 2 hour conversation with a thought leader I met. I shared with him how I was able to ghostwrite scores of books in the past few months for my clients. He was amazed by the things I shared with him and took them to practice. In less than 5 days he completed two books which he had been writing like forever.

There are certain books I’ve read that seem to flow with the mind like a bowl of spaghetti slips through the lips. You pick them up and it seems you are glued to the pages and don’t want to stop reading. Some that stand out for me are From College Dropout to Corporate sellout, Half of a Yellow Sun, How Laziness Saved my Life, How Stupidity saved my Life, and all the books ever written by John C. Maxwell. There are countless others too (Can you name some in the comment section?)

Now, how do you write content that flows freely from start to finish without veering off course like the book I mentioned earlier.

It starts here:

1. Get yourself immersed in content:

I’ve learned that “Out of the abundance the mouth speaks,” even so “Out of the abundance of content a writer writes endlessly.” As readily available as Google is, it can be the very distraction that prevents a writer from writing creatively, endlessly and confidently too. So, what do I do?

a. I engage my mind: the mind is like a universe of content. It’s much larger than Google. Right within your mind dwells experiences from the day you were born till now and with deja vu, you may even have the future right there. This is where I start from. If I’m to write an article for instance, say on Dealing with stress, I start by looking at experiences in my life where I’ve been stressed. With imagination, I can find the right words to describe how bad it was and what I did to get out of it. The experience I had becomes a framework for the kind of content I’d be writing out. Guess what? I could write 1000 words about this and Google search anything extra. I simply use my mind. This reminds me of the quote by the famous Napoleon Hill, he said, “More gold have been mined from the minds of men than have been taken from the earth.” Have you started to mine the valuable content within you? Even if you do not have that experience, you can remember something you’ve read somewhere, heard at a particular time, or perhaps something that happened to someone you know.

b. Read a lot of quotes: when I write books for people, I start by getting a title and subtitle (This happens when the client has no idea in mind or needs further clarity) and then I pick the keywords and read up several quotes from different people. If the title of the book had something like “Determination” in it, I would search for “Quotes on determination” on Google. I would read up on these quotes till I can see all the perspectives people have about that same idea. This begins to link up with other thoughts, ideas, and content I may have generated by engaging my mind.

c. Refer to your library: readers read 80% of the time and write 20% of the time (Don’t ask me where I got that from o… laughs). If you’re serious about your writing, then you must become serious about your reading. Have you read a book or bought a book in the past one month? I have a routine and regimen every morning. I read chapters from the Bible and different books depending on the areas I’m focusing on from my work. For few days now, I flipped out books from my library to feed my mind on a particular ghostwriting project I’m about finishing. I’ve been reading Awaken the Giant by Tony Robbins, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Developing the Leader within you by John C. Maxwell. Reading more opens up your imagination for much more.

2. Write like you’re telling a story:

Stories always have a way they start and end. As a writer, you need to think deeply, more like an engineer cutting things into pieces and arranging them together.

a. Use mind-maps: take out plain sheets of paper and outline your thoughts in chapters, subtitles, arrange the stories you’d like to share in each section. Each part should have a general theme you’d like to discuss. Find out the quotes you’d like to include, stories, and other references to buttress what you have to share.

Writing will be a stress-less exercise when you are swimming in an ocean of content and ideas to write about. The other day I shared a post on my wall “3 Reasons why I absolutely love ghostwriting” (you can read it on my wall) there I shared how my hands seem not to be able to match up to the speed at which thoughts flow through my head when I write.

Have you used any of these strategies before? Do you have challenges putting content together? (Please share in the comment section)

#Dontwriteabadbook
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How to curate and create irresistible content for your books and blog posts was originally published in Ghostwriting Universe on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.