Writer’s Journey — The Right Way To Do It
Am I the only one that keeps wondering whether I’m doing it right when my post doesn’t perform as I hoped? Every writer has bad days — but what’s important is being able to stay motivated and heed feedbacks while thinking out of the box.
When I say think out of the box, it’s not just about you being smart — you need to restructure and craft your ideas to suit what readers are looking for. My advice is to look at the comments or feedback from your audience as that will help you learn how to meet their expectation in your future posts.
Do you write but don’t know how to grab the attention of readers? Then you are missing something crucial because every piece a writer creates should be informational. Always stick to the topic you are writing about without adding unnecessary information from other sources.
Do you want to write but don’t know where to begin? This is what a lot of people are going through today. They have the idea but lack the motivation of writing it out for people to read because they are afraid of being humiliated with bad feedback.
Let me give you a short story on how I started as a writer:
How my journey as a writer started
When I started writing in 2011, I wrote a lot of content that will get me laughing as I read them today. The content I created was full of mistakes and errors, but that didn’t stop me from writing because I stayed motivated by knowing what my aim is.
I got criticized by family members and friends because they think that writing won’t get me anywhere in the future. I received lots of feedback that someone from a third-world country like Nigeria cannot write well which got me to strive harder and read anything that will be useful in sharpening my writing skills.
However, based on my experience, writers don’t stop learning because there’s always something new for you to learn. Also, your writings being criticized by someone might never stop, so it’s something you should learn to deal with.
So, I understand the feeling of someone’s work being criticized — but what’s interesting is that all of this humiliation and criticism got me to work hard and be better in what I do. And if I was able to reach where I’m today writing without the fear of my work being criticized — then you can do it too!
If you are from a Non-native English-speaking country — read, learn, write, and get better at writing because someone will likely be inspired by your story.
Steps for achieving success as a writer
Below I have explained what I feel is the right way a writer should take to achieve success along with what I regret not doing during my journey as a writer.
1. Get prepared for the journey
Becoming a successful writer is a journey that you should get prepared for before starting. Just because you wrote a couple of posts that didn’t grab the attention of readers, doesn’t mean you’re a failure. Be willing to write and publish whenever the adrenaline kicks in because a post you write in 2015 might get popular in 2025.
When I started writing, I have the aim of writing to make money and pay my bills without the aim of building my audience and connection — which I deeply regret today — because I could have done it earlier.
Your journey as a writer is not complete with readers who are eager to read your posts. I indeed had the opportunity to work with lots of individuals and brands earning a couple of bucks but that’s not all I should have done.
So, if you are starting as a new writer to make money as I did — Take a moment to start building your audience as you write to make money. Let people know that a writer like you exist in this world.
2. Read and Learn
It’s hard to find people who want to write reading writer’s posts today. You are indeed aspiring to start writing better as soon as possible, but if you don’t read other writers’ posts and learn from them, how will you be able to do it the right way?
You should spend your time reading trending articles of other writers and learn how they interact with their audience through the piece they create. The trick to becoming a good writer is having the ability to make people read your writings. Read people’s to publications to learn from them.
For the past 10 years, I have implemented the strategy of reaching out to other fellow writers because I know there’s something I would be able to learn from them.
Take good and bad feedback wholeheartedly and craft content that’s better than your previous piece.
3. Write only when your mind is clear
Every writer should have a clear area like a room or an alcove where they should be able to write without being distracted because clear mind matters. You don’t want to be writing in a place where noises will be distracting you from focusing on your initial idea.
I implement the strategy of jotting down my ideas as a draft whenever I’m in a place I can’t write without being distracted until I’m able to write comfortably.
4. Connect with other professional writers
As a writer starting your journey, you need to take your writing career seriously by implementing a professional writer’s mindset. Join writing classes and conferences arranged by professional writers to get in touch with people and receive feedback about your writings.
I remember back in 2019 when I joined a writers conference, which didn’t end up as I hoped because it turned out that they only wanted to sell their writings.
For privacy, I’m not going to mention their name but I’m sure other writers who joined the conference were also disappointed like me because they learned nothing at the end of it.
But I didn’t give up, at the end of the conference, I didn’t want to let my effort go to waste because I admire one of the Authors who arranged the conference and wanted to get feedback about my writings. I picked up the courage and reached out to the author via email with my writings asking for feedback.
Interestingly, it didn’t reach a week, and I got a reply from the author giving me amazing feedback about my writings.
So, the purpose of this story is don’t be afraid to ask for feedback. Reach out to writers and editors with your writings and ask for feedback. Don’t be rude with the reply you may get if it’s bad but work harder by incorporating the guides you receive in your writings.
For example, I had to go back to reading the fourth edition The Elements of Style by William Strunk JR. and E.B White after it was recommended by one of my clients last month.
5. Only write what you know
As a writer, you should only write about what you know, feel, or have experienced because that’s the only way you can reach the soul of your readers. Don’t write an article on a certain topic because you saw that someone wrote a trending article on the same topic.
This is one of the issues most writers have today — they fail to create something unique because they feel that the previous ideas are still worth writing over and over again.
Nothing make’s an article more unique than when you write from experience because that’s what people want to read. Whether you are writing a blogpost or company page, write in a manner that would inspire and impress you — if you are reading your writing from somewhere else.
There are tons of ways for you to start your journey of becoming a successful writer — and the above steps are my experience and advice to new writers to avoid making a mistake.
