3 Steps To Go From “I Want To Write” To “I Am A Writer” When You Don’t Know Where to Start
Don’t worry! “Just start writing” isn’t one of them.
This is how I became a practicing writer after being curious about writing (but not actually writing much).
First things first! At the time of writing this, I am not making any money from my writing. So I can’t offer advice there yet. But I did create a sustainable writing practice over the past year and published work online. And as I build my practice, I can see the pieces of my writing puzzle come together.
Unfortunately, I didn’t write much before this past year because I didn’t know where to start. They say before you learn how to walk, you need to learn how to crawl.
So how do you learn to crawl?
What prevented me from crawling in my writing practice?
- Uncertainty about what to do first/where to focus my energy
- Difficulty building a writing habit
- Fear of rejection
Thankfully, I found a way to overcome these challenges. Here’s how I did it:
Step 1: Try everything! Learn from different writing formats.
Is it counterproductive to spread your energy wide by trying a bunch of different formats? No! Exposure will help you understand what you like about writing.
I took group writing courses on everything from short fiction to copywriting to personal essays to screenwriting. I noted what resonated with me. Skillshare is another great resource to learn from, as are books and Medium articles.
Step 2: Build accountability.
Writing can be isolating, which is not a great mindset to be in when building a new habit.
To combat this, I joined a virtual writing group that met weekly and daily. This gave me external motivation to show up and write. Accountability could also look like having a weekly text chain or call with a friend to share your progress.
Step 3: Share your work.
After experimenting with different formats and strengthening your writing habit, you must practice releasing your work. Trust me; your work will be ignored and rejected. But normalizing the feeling made it less painful for me.
These are the steps that moved me from “I want to write” to “I’m a writer, and here is some of my work.” What else holds you back? Drop a comment, I’d love to know.
