What I Learned Writing for 100 Weeks of Weekly Articles
Making the most of what you learn and sharing with others
This week marks 100 weeks of writing and publishing a new article every single week in my spare time. 100 weeks! That’s crazy to think about. It’s basically become a habit at this point so I forget just how much effort I put into these articles.
I absolutely love writing and don’t plan on stopping these any time soon. I love that I’ve been able to comfortably branch out in terms of content (balancing design, music, development, business, life, etc) and have had nothing but positive feedback on my writing. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my thoughts and perspectives, it means a lot! I’m sure I’ll be writing for years to come and can’t wait to see what else comes to this little blog of mine.
Anyways, I’ve learned quite a bit about myself, writing, the realities of blogging, and audiences that I want to share with you for this milestone! Here’s a list of the most important things that stand out for me, helpful for those that are interested in doing this and/or pursuing a side project of their own:
- Write for yourself, not other people.
- No one cares about proper grammar, but it’s a nice thing to practice.
- Set aside 1–2 hours at the same time each week to write (or work on whatever) so it becomes part of your routine and easy to maintain. I personally wake up a little earlier on Saturdays and go to a coffee shop for a bit to write. Then it’s done and out of the way for the week.
- Write about what interests you, not what gets you the clicks. Being able to pour your passion and interests into your writing helps it be a positive and enjoyable experience, rather than a race to popularity.
- I make little to no money from writing and I don’t care. I write because I enjoy it, have a safe place to share my perspectives, I get to meet new people, and help others on their own journey. I leave my income to side projects and full-time work so I can purely enjoy writing.
- People can see disingenuous writing from a mile away, honesty over popularity.
- Reply to every single response, tweet, and share of your posts. Tell people you are genuinely thankful for their support.
- Put your preference at the top of your priorities, but topics that satisfy what you want to write about and benefit others are a great sweet spot to find.
- It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Start writing small and release articles when it makes sense for you, even just once a month to start with.
- Articles don’t need to be giant masterpieces. Better a small, rough article than none at all trying to perfect a giant one. A reader compared my articles to “shower thoughts” that are short and sweet gems to read which I like to keep in mind when writing now.
- Keep a list of topics to pull from, whenever I think of one randomly during the week I write it down with some bullet points so I can reference when I sit down to write a new article.
- If you want to start writing, don’t overthink it. Like anything, you might suck at first but practice will help that. Write about literally anything (even just 1–2 paragraphs) and start producing. It’s the only way to start making it a habit you can depend on.
That’s a great overview from what I’ve learned! Thanks again for reading these articles and I really appreciate the support. Let me know what you’d like to see me write more of for the next 100 weeks!
Cheers to many more articles 🍻
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Dennis Cortés
Designer that also codes, illustrates, writes weekly articles, and produces music. Hispanic. Pokémon Master.
www.cortes.us
