My Journey to 500+ Followers In 20 Months of Writing
With specific realizations at each milestone of the writing journey
You will not get any takeaway from this content.
Here, I narrate my short writing journey(20 months) and what I realized.
I started writing to avoid boredom during COVID.
- There was no reason behind the writing. It just made me feel good and relaxed
- I never knew the possibility of monetizing writing
- Writing techniques and newsletters were unknown to me
However, I still wrote.
The reason.
- It relaxed my mind
- I felt a joyful curiosity to explore the writing art
As I progressed in my writing journey, here are a few milestones with distinctive realizations that shaped my next writing step.
Followers count 0
Realization — I wanted to increase my follower count to 100.
At that point, I did not know about monetization.
All I knew was I wanted to connect with more like-minded people and experiment with different writing formats.
Followers count 100–200
Realization — I thought writing was not for me.
Many articles taught me that to stay in the writing game, I had to write and publish daily.
But, I did not get time to write after a hectic day. Also, I found editing was exhausting.
Three factors that demotivated me to write.
- The idea that I had to publish daily and the inability to do that
- The commitment to myself to writing a daily long-form
- Lack of knowledge to do editing(it took me 3–4 hours to edit a 1000-word article)
Then, I devised a new writing plan for me.
Followers count 200–300
Realization — I wanted to experiment with short-form content.
Instead of targeting to write long-form content, I started to write 150-word shortform content.
I wrote every topic as I did not discover my niche topics.
There were a few developments.
- Writing 150-word content was easy and fun(ahh! Finally, I felt the fun and spark of writing)
- Committing to daily writing was easy and motivating as I could nicely finish a 150-word content in one day no matter how hectic my day was
I believed I could write only when I had a peaceful time after late evening. So I continued to write post-dinner with countless yawning, tired eyes, an unclear mind, and a nagging voice wanting to quit writing.
Followers count 300–400
Realization — I found my niche topics after writing for a few weeks.( Online writing techniques and simple lifestyle tips).
Exploring and writing about my favourite topics brought magic to my writing routine.
I started learning a few writing techniques.
- Catchy headline
- Introduction
- Formatting
- Storytelling
- Copywriting
It was fun to learn. Also, I started reading books by that time. These are the few books that helped me a lot.
I could relate more as I read about the established authors and their struggling days.
I realized that doubt, hopelessness, dreaming, and chasing to follow soul calling despite countless distractions are all part of the journey.
Reading encouraged me a lot to write.
This motivation and curiosity inspired me to write in short sprints of 5–10 minutes whenever I got some free time during the day. When I started writing in the morning( 8–10), I realized that the words flow more effortlessly during the first half of the day than in the evening.
So, I targeted to finish all my writing before lunch.
- I felt accomplished to have written before starting the day
- Ideas were more fluid
It felt exhilarating to have found the technique that works for me to write daily.
By this time, I knew about monetization techniques through writing. I started creating ebooks on the lessons I learned in writing.
I still felt that nobody would want to read the ebook created by a new writer when there are other established writers.
However, I set aside doubt like somebody guards a candle’s flame from the wind.
I finished two ebooks.
Follower count 400–500
Realization — Writing felt fun.
I did not make any dollars through my first ebook.
The second ebook gave me my first dollar through online writing.
That was probably the best day of my whole life.
I felt ecstatic for two days. I felt blissful when someone paid for my ebook, for which I had so much doubt and confusion.
It was an infographic ebook. Since then, I have started transferring all my knowledge to infographic ebooks.
- I love to create colourful graphic designs.
- I wanted my readers to get maximum information in minimum time, considering everybody’s hectic schedule and still wanting to write.
These two points were pivotal in choosing an infographic template for ebooks.
Follower count 500+
Realization — I feel uneasy on days when I don’t write.Curiosity to explore monetization possibilities through writing that gel with my lifestyle runs my daily writing habit.
I don’t follow any writing routine. Whenever I have an idea about writing and lifestyle, I note the points to write later.
Writing has become effortless. Also, networking is fun, as I do it when I love to do it.
There was another twist.
Till yesterday, I believed that writing a lot would maintain the views count and subscribers. I targeted to publish about 4–5 articles weekly(most were short form).
It felt a bit hectic to edit during the weekend when the entire week had exhausted my energy.
Then, I found this article that completely changed my perspective.
- Quality writing precedes quantity
- Writing from your experience counts a lot
Last week, I mentioned in my weekly newsletter that you should have fun with writing and not make it a boring writing routine.
This article resonated with my thought process.
I found one more article that resonated with me.
Writing daily on fixed formats felt boring.
I wanted to share what I did that worked for me( which may not and will not work for everyone).
When you write content from your perspective, you create your niche. Writing becomes super fun because then you are expressing yourself.
I guess that is the purpose of art.
So, I have two perspectives that will guide me in my next writing journey.
- Writing from my experience
- Focusing to write a few articles weekly(maybe 2–3)
That’s it.
I don’t know what lies ahead in the upcoming phases of my writing journey. When I have something significant, I will create another content like this.
What is your writing journey, and what did you learn from it?
Thank you for reading! Below are a few FREE ebooks that I created.
Online writing guide for beginners (I earned my first dollar through this ebook)
