The benefits of writing online….

In my ENG 101 writing class, we started a writing journey. During this time, we were instructed to write two weekly atomic essays (150–200 words). We had the freedom to choose whatever topic interest us. When finalized, we posted these essays on different media such as Twitter, medium, type share, etc.

We find ourselves writing online more than it seems, this includes posting on Snapchat, writing a caption for Instagram, and even updating our feed on Facebook. Why not use writing on social media as an advantage?

Although this sounds like a lot, and it is at first, it becomes easier along the way. I’m not a big fan of sharing my writing, simply because I know that it is my biggest struggle in academia, but there are so many benefits. Before this semester, I never shared my work with anyone, except my instructors. When I finally had the chance to get feedback, I realized it was not as bad as it seems, I actually enjoyed having a wider audience. Writing online, frequently, can have so many advantages, below are some benefits I took away this semester……

Ability to write to satisfaction with limited time

When I began this class, it would take me 30–45 minutes to write a decent atomic essay. Now at the end of the semester, I can positively say it would only take me 20 minutes tops.

If you’re struggling to write quickly, you should try to write more frequently. As a student with never-ending papers/writing assignments, I procrastinate entirely too much. Writing frequently allowed me to pump out good writing in a short period of time.

Think of writing as a muscle the more you train the more defined, stronger, and faster your writing becomes. This being said, set aside a couple of moments during the week to blog, you can even post a thread on Twitter, make it a habit. I promise you will see improvement.

Getting straight to the point

Introducing students to online writing, helps them to arrange their stories more efficiently. The word count forces students to incorporate only the most important elements of the story.

Many times on papers, I find myself, well below the minimum word count, thinking im finished. I try to solve this problem, by rewriting sentences making them wordy, which ultimately leads to a weak essay.

This semester held a new challenge, I found myself struggling to reduce my essay to our word count (200 words). I’ve trained my mind over the years of academic writing to word dump, causing my writing to become unclear and messy. When I look at my writing now, I can clearly tell the purpose of the essay.

Developing an audience/platform

One of the most obvious benefits of writing online is that it provides you with a platform, with a variety of people to share your work. This can be a great way to connect with like-minded people and get support and feedback from your peers. When writing online you have the ability to look at your analytics, this allows you to see what type of work is best for you.

Creating an audience online can also be a great way to generate income. If you have a large enough following, you may be able to monetize your work through advertising.

Although none of my work generated money this semester, one of my blogs did get published on Medium. This may not seem like a big accomplishment for others, but this is the first step to creating an audience with a large number of people.

Using writing as a destresser

I never thought I would be saying this, but many times this semester I resulted to writing when I felt stressed. It’s so much easier to write down what you are thinking and share it with others than it is face to face.

Writing about our negative experiences can allow you to put these experiences into perspective, and also look at the positives.

Online writing can help you to document your journey and to track your progress. This can be a very motivating and inspiring way to manage stress, and it can help you to see how far you have come.

Overall, online writing gives us room to be creative, it eliminates the pressure around writing. You can write about whatever you desire and someone will be interested. There are many benefits to using online writing in a classroom setting. It can help students to improve their writing skills, to develop their ideas better, and increase collaboration with their classmates.

Even if you aren’t a student, writing online still provides many benefits, these are just a few, that I found the most important. I challenge you to start writing online more look at your analytics, and see what works best for you. You will see a big improvement in your writing.