5 things I wish I had known when I started writing seriously
Writing is scary. Especially to someone who’s just starting out to write. To makes things easy for aspiring writers, we’ve put together a list of things we wish we’d known when we started out to write seriously. At Warhorse, there’s always something to write — proposal letters, blogs, lectures, copywriting and trainer manuals. Two years into running this company, we’ve come to realise how important writing is. So, without any further ado, the following are the five important takeaways for beginner writers.
- Quality doesn’t matter initially
Thinking about how good your writing is and trying to write at the same time is a recipe for disaster. When you’re starting out, all you should be focusing on is getting as much writing practice as you can; the quality of your writing will begin to improve automatically. There was once a high school pottery teacher who split his class in half. To one half of the students he told them to produce one perfect at the end of the term. To the other, he told them to produce as many as they could and it didn’t matter whether the pots were good or not. Who do you think produced the best pot? The quantity people or the quality people? Has to be the quality people right? They have all the time in the world to produce the best pot. But as it turned out, none of them made a perfect pot. The quantity people, on the other hand, made so many in a short period of time that they figured out the pot making process. Their pots were of much better quality. This principle applies to writing as well. Many people go through a writer’s block because they think too much about how good their writing is and that impedes them from writing anything.
2. Don’t skip the pre-writing process
Most people don’t see a writing as a process. They think of writers as people who simply think of an idea and type it out on a document and it’s over. They couldn’t be more farther away from reality. Writers universally go through a pre-writing process and a editing process. Pre-writing is critical for any writer as it helps her get to the bottom of what the piece is going to be about. It usually involves brainstorming (making a list of all possible ideas related to the central idea), clustering (grouping similar items on the brainstorm list) and free-writing (roughly writing for quantity about each individual cluster). Then comes quality control. It’s easier now to think about how good your writing is and make edits as you have something solid on paper.
3. Clearly defined topic sentences helps you write great paragraphs
Every paragraph of any piece you read will have a topic sentence. A topic sentence, usually the first line, helps the reader understand the main idea in that paragraph. The rest of the paragraph either contains supporting details or explains the topic sentence better. Knowing this helps any aspiring writer organise their ideas well. It also helps in deciding whether a sentence belongs in a particular paragraph.
For instance, consider the following topic sentence:
Dogs make wonderful pets because they help you to live longer.
As a reader, I immediately know what to expect from this paragraph. Any sentence that doesn’t involve dogs or their contribution to a longer life doesn’t belong in this paragraph.
4. It’s okay to show your work to others
One of the scariest things about being an aspiring writer is getting feedback from other people. But feedback is also one of the best ways to improve your writing ability. Quite a conundrum, isn’t it?
I know, I know, you’re writing for yourself and it isn’t for the world to read. You’d still want to write for yourself better, right? Even if you can’t make your piece public, your work can still be shown to trusted friends or family members who you think are better writers than you. As someone who is just starting out, you’re bound to make mistakes. It’s completely normal. Feedback is a way to fix those mistakes. There’s also a sense of accountability when we let others read our work, you’d put in your best effort.
5. Set Writing Goals
Before you make a list of things you want to write about, ask yourself why you want to write. Do you want to write for leisure? Manage a blog? Write a book one day? All your writing goals have to be aligned to your Why.
Once you know why you’re writing, you’ll have to figure out realistically how much time you’re willing to allocate for writing. Writing is just like learning anything else, with time you’ll get better. But you have to put in the time. Anywhere between 2–6 hours a week is a good place to start if you have no experience in writing. Then breakdown how much time it takes for you to write a 250-word piece (pre-writing, first draft and editing time) and experiment with different forms (short fiction, argumentative essay, review of a book or movie) and you’ll have an idea of how much time you need to allocate to meet your goals.
Remember that you’re going to face a lot of internal resistance when you’re starting out and it’s completely normal. Spend 2–6 hours a week initially for a 3-month period and see how you feel. Compare the first piece you wrote to the latest one and you’ll see a significant improvement in both your skill and process. Good luck!
