The Journey So Far
My Writing Journey/What Writing Has Done For Me
I considered writing a mid-year review of sorts but as I recounted the events of the past six months, I realized that writing has been a huge part of this year.
Easy reading is damn hard writing — Nathaniel Hawthorne
Writing is hard work, especially when it’s not only for your personal use. Whether as a hobby or a job/gig, the process of stringing words together to communicate an opinion or an idea can be mentally tasking. It can also be rewarding but that aside, it is somewhat therapeutic for me. Penning down my thoughts quells the whirlwind that is my mind.
Someone recently asked me why I started writing. The simple answer is that at the time, I was looking for an out— something that was entirely for me (not to pay my bills or climb the career ladder or anything like that) and did not have to follow any rules per se, an escape of sorts. However, it has now become a large part of my life and I honestly don’t see that changing any time soon.
I have actually been writing stuff for as long as I can remember, I just never had the courage to put it out for other people to see. When I first started publishing here on Medium, I used to be so nervous that I would refresh my stats page so many times and get genuinely worried if the stats were low or did not improve over time. These days, I am not so bothered anymore. I am more comfortable with the work I have done so far and so proud of my growth.
One major thing writing has helped me achieve is to express myself better. Before now, I would try to say something in so many words and still end up falling short and failing to pass my intended message across. The process of organizing thoughts that comes with writing has largely contributed to my ability to say what I want to say properly and increased my confidence. Also, whenever I catch myself overthinking, I just look for a notepad and write everything down. Even with myself, writing helps to articulate everything.
In January, Stephanie and I started a publication here on Medium. The plan was to edit her articles and then add one or two more writers over time. She would be more committed to writing and I could sharpen my editing skills. Win-Win. We have now grown to a team of 5 writers and published over 20 articles to date. Writing gave me the courage to do this with my friend.
This is an article on the books that have improved my writing.
With my increased confidence and sharpened editing skills, I have been getting some editing gigs. This took me on a ride of learning to put myself out there professionally and so far, so good. One of my first few projects was published recently and seeing it in it’s final form actually brought tears to my eyes. It’s also nice to make money from something that did not quite start out as a business venture. I also started editing articles for a column of the publication I was writing for.
Putting yourself out there is an important part of this kind of work. You just have to do it. I’ve always been a let my work speak for me person but I have learnt that does not particularly work until a good number of people have seen what you can do. This newsletter I read last month can be helpful.
EDIT: I was a guest on Queen Raffy’s podcast. You can listen to the episode here:
At the beginning of this year, I had a random idea of taking the pictures I would use for all my articles and so far, I have used my photos for 10 out of the 12 articles I have published this year. I have a list of possible topics so I’ve had to think of what photos I could take that would go well with whatever I was planning to write and that has somewhat improved my photography and editing skills.
The main thing that has helped me on this journey is reminding myself that I have to show up for myself. I owe myself that much. There is still so much for me to explore and of course, you’re welcome to follow me all the way.✌🏽😎
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