Your Q-Blog Needs You
If you are reading this, must be, you’ve been following Quandoo blog from the time of its inception. That is, from as early as May or, rather, September 2018. 80 articles have been published on Q-Blog since then, and most of them have been written by yours truly. And, I’m so thankful to Steven Langbroek, Marcello Galhardo and Nikita Belokopytov for contributing to the blog and for sharing precious pieces of their unique personalities in writing.
As you read this, you might have thought to yourself: “So… are you implying that these guys are in any way special or what?” and my answer is: “What I’m implying is that you are uniquely special, in your own way, and the precious gems of your personality and of your creative professional — or maybe even personal — life are begging you to put them out into this world, and this blog will welcome your writing!”
If your reaction to my answer is similar to this:
…there’s something else I’d like to tell you. Many of us are humble and uncertain about our talents and/or capabilities until there comes a time, when we are actually overprepared to do what we’ve been circling on around for so long, and it’s only our own fears and insecurities that keep blocking our power (the Dunning-Krueger effect, of which I wrote in one of my stories, has to be kept in mind here).
Some Common Fears and Insecurities about Writing
Fear #1: Many people, who are smarter than me, have already written on the subject that I want to write about. There are soo many articles/videos out there. And, I am... who am I? And who cares what I’m working on or what I’m excited about? I’m just overwhelmed with the volume of “content” out there on the web, and… it feels like I have shackles on my wrists whenever I attempt to sit down and to write my first (or **-th, or **-nd) article. “
How to Kill Fear #1: Easier said than done, but if you’re prone to this fear… try to create an environment that would encourage you to write. Put yourself on an information detox and block the reads/videos— and maybe even the contacts and conversations in social media and in life — that make you feel lost about yourself. Only focus on what you want to say and go with it. If you’ve ever watched an equestrian competition, you’ve seen how they put the blinders on horses, because with no blinders on, the horse loses focus and direction. In this era, we have to invent some sort of custom “blinders” for ourselves as well, if we want to finally let our own creative genius out into the world.
Fear #2: “I’m never certain if my writing skills are perfect enough. I’ve been honing them for years, and I’ve invested quite some effort, but I’m still not sure if I’m competent enough.” — or — “I’m totally not ready to write because I’m a non-native speaker of English. And, I’ve never had time and chance to perfect my writing and speaking skills. How do I go about this?”
How to Kill Fear #2: If you have perfected your skills and invested effort, the good news is that with 99% probability you do actually have those skills. Those prone to this fear catapult from misery to blossoming in an instant as they receive tokens of appreciation and support from their friends/mentors/teammates. For non-native speakers of English, it would be a good idea to get feedback from those who only speak English (or from those whose native language is not the same as yours) and see what they say. I’ve been there: some of my well-meaning friends, out of the goodness of their hearts, shared with me their criticism of how “not too perfectly English” my writing is… and such feedback has been a bummer to me. I am a perfectionist, and I’m the one who is usually overprepared for everything… and the point is, I am aware by myself how not-too-English my way with words sometimes looks, even to myself. So.. if you want to help your friend who is a non-native English speaker, help them find a way to get their writing appraised by those who don’t speak the language that you both speak. Check out what a seasoned lexicographer has to say on Quora in an answer to the question: “Can a non-native English speaker become an English writer?”:
“Absolutely! Non-native speakers actually have an important edge on native speakers, because they pay attention to English in a way that native speakers never, ever do. (This is coming from a native speaker of English who spent years writing a dictionary for non-native speakers of English.) That sort of attention will make you appreciate the different ways that language can be used even more.” — Kory Stamper
Fear #3: I have no idea what to write about. How do I find inspiration for writing?
How to kill Fear #3: On Q-Blog, you can write about anything that you find interesting about your work or about the subject areas which are related to your work indirectly. Do you have a challenge that you’re currently solving? Whether you’re a junior or a senior developer, or a UX designer, or a data cruncher, or an HR specialist, or a C-level exec, or a Big Picture pragmatist, there’s always this one perspective, this one bit of knowledge that you and you alone, no one else, can share with the whole wide world. All things product, technology, soft skills, leadership — there’s a vast array of topics relevant for software development professionals in one way or another. Have you read an article that struck a string with you? Go ahead and start your blog post with these words: “I just read an article about this and this, and here’s what I think about it”. Or, you saw a tweet that triggered some reaction in you. Instead of retweeting the tweet, use it as an inspiration to say what you have to say on the subject, and… write a blog post! Then, it’s common that people post comments in response to articles. Try not to do that. Take a post, make a reference to it, and instead of a comment write a short piece that would make you an author, not just one of those who comments. Another option: put together a digest of articles/posts that you’ve read and found interesting — and wrap them up into one piece, mentioning why you picked those articles, and what you find interesting about them! The keyword here is you, as a live human being (and I’ve already written on my distrust of media algorithms).
I might have put together a bulleted listicle with the possible options on what & how to write about… but I prefer to leave it up to you :) Go ahead, put your own list together, and we will be happy to publish this listicle on Q-Blog (this being said, it’s not unlikely that I actually will put together one such listicle myself some day:)! My preferred style of giving hints or tips — and you might have noticed that based on those ~80 articles published on Q-blog so far — is the opposite of giving finite how-to’s, because we are overwhelmed with them to no visible effect (as shown in my on-going Becoming a Leader series). I want to encourage the anti-how-to exploratory way with learning. And there’s a reason for that->
You might recall how in September 2018 those of you who are Quandoorians received the following email:
Hi, Quandoo people!
I hope you’re enjoying your day in the office, or wherever you happen to be working :)
As you know, we at Quandoo encourage learning in every possible way. There’s hardly any need to go into truisms to outline how vital the culture of learning is, in general, and for our company in particular. And, as a part of this initiative, we’re starting a learning/knowledge/experience sharing blog.
This blog is going to be a publication on Medium, which will syndicate posts from multiple contributors/writers. If you feel like sharing/writing something — you’re invited to have your say! Just register an account with Medium, write your stories, and submit them here for publishing. Not only will your posts appear on the Quandoo blog. You’ll also be able to build your personal brand with a staying power, reaching out to a wider audience.
You might think to yourself: there are lots of blogs out there, why do we have to run a blog of our own?
We’re looking to build a collection of stories created by humans, people who we work with, and not by AI algorithms. As our perspectives blend, the blog will evolve into a vibrant online community. Any stories from which you believe others can learn something, as a person and/or as a professional, are encouraged. All of you must have been reading posts/articles/blogs by folks about work & life… so why not step out on your own?
Happy writing ! :)
80 articles on Q-blog and 7 months later we are back at square one, reaching out again to those many “what, me?” folks out there :). And, I’m so profoundly thankful to Alesia Braga for her on-going support and for inspiration in this “one-person band” blogging journey of mine. My hope is that this journey transitions to another leg where many of you folks will spread your wings — or your fingers :) — and … write! Or fly :)
This TED presentation by Derek Sivers is forever one of my favourites, because it tells a story of a crazy loner who was dancing all by himself, and then, as he persevered and kept dancing to his own beat… he was joined first by a few, and then by many, and.. that’s how a movement started!
Your Q-Blog needs you not like Uncle Sam would need whoever he needs by pointing his finger at them. The Q-Blog needs you because it’s going to help in your learning and professional journey big time. Where else will you be able to write & publish your stories with the support and encouragement from your teammates? This really is a precious opportunity, and it is not available to just anyone. So, by all means, I encourage you to pick it up.
