I’ve been meaning to write this for days now. The dread that washes over me each time I come to do this has become overly familiar and boring.
We’ve all felt the uneasiness that comes with a blank page.
Prior to the creation of this piece, I had trawled the internet for hours on end, looking for inspiration and a metaphorical thumbs up from successful writers telling me the time is right to write.
The problem was, there were a few questions blocking my path and the only way forward was to find the answers.
Question number 1 — Do you use punctuation inside or outside the bracket?
Question number 2 — What is the difference between an active voice and passive voice?
Question number 3 — What am I going to write about?
Question number 4 — What niche can I become an expert in?
Question 5 — Will anyone read my work?
Question 6 — Can I even write?
There were more, a lot more. It seemed each time one question was answered, ten more were born requiring my attention and energy before I could move forward.
If you’re reading this, I can take an educated guess and assume you’re either a writer or a general creative person who has something to contribute to this space, whether that’s to be hosted on the internet or a tangible creation.
Like myself, you have probably done a whole lot of research on the matter, sifting through the pros and cons of doing what you want to do. Some articles confirm why you should start writing/creating whilst dozens of posts warn you off, waving a giant red flag and telling you if you choose this path you will rue the day you ever started.
There are 4 million blog posts published every single day on the internet which is enough to make any budding writer roll their eyes and proclaim there’s no point trying when everyone else is doing it.
So here we go:
You should do it.
Firstly, let’s address something undeniable which should hopefully quash a few doubts off the bat.
From the moment we’re born, we experience life in a completely original way to anyone else on this earth. As we all know, there are millions of ways our experiences crossover with other people’s but not one situation is exactly the same. The way we perceive the world through our own eyes and the pictures we paint in our heads regarding imagination, ideas, language and relationships are beautifully unique.
Imagine how we dreamt up our own particular worlds as children, full of excitement and adventure. Remember projecting that vision to the tangible space around you, jumping over chairs and tables to avoid the carpet of lava below? What each child saw was different to the next.
Remember the pain you’ve gone through, whether it was deep trauma or a short sharp scrape that has made you the person you are today. No one has had the exact same experience as you, not a single being.
Whichever way you look at it, we all have individual perspectives on life, shaped by both good and bad experiences to create who you are today. With this uniqueness comes a voice, a pure voice that only you can share.
The majority of the questions I had whizzing around my head before I started related to the acceptance, quality and value of this voice. Would people hate what I wrote? What if it wasn’t good enough? Who cares what I have to say anyway?
The problem with all these questions is that there is very little you can do to change the outcome of the answers. You can read up on grammar and punctuation (still reading, still learning) and create an air-tight structure to your writing, making it flow and move elegantly for the reader. You can connect with your audience so they care about who you are and what you have to say because they recognise a part of themselves in you. You can sit on the fence on every matter and never truly communicate your thoughts on any topic of substance so you don’t offend anyone.
You can do all the above but the chances are you will still p**s someone off.
That’s the reality.
That’s what happens when we all have our own individual voices. We connect with certain people, we distance ourselves from others. We agree on certain matters, we argue about others. There is no hack or cheat that will give you the golden answer to the questions above because, for the majority of them, they are out of your control.
So why do it?
If you know there is a chance that your work may be met with disagreement, discourse or boredom — why bother?
The reason for this is the same reason you are reading this article, the same reason you’ve probably looked, or thought about staring down the barrel of a blank document.
Your reason is because you have a voice that should be shared. It can provide people with knowledge, expertise and insight. Our individual experiences mean we are perfectly built to teach, which brings me to my second point.
You don’t need to be an expert.
There is absolutely no application that requires you to have read the complete works of Shakespeare, swallowed a dictionary and have a PhD on a topic to make you qualified for the role of writer.
We live in a day and age where resources are at our fingertips. You can literally Google the words ‘Writing resources’ or ‘What should I write to be a successful writer?’. You have a wealth of knowledge at this very moment whether it’s about managing people, health and fitness, overcoming an eating disorder, battling mental health or working in finance. You know things! The stats and research can come in later, the important thing is your perspective on life that has been slowly building your since you were born.
Imagine if your blog post or article helped someone discover which career they should go into, or what side hustle could help a single working parent who doesn’t have much spare income but wants a solid future for their children?
The information and angles we carry around with us everyday could change people’s lives, but we get stuck in a black hole of “what-ifs” that paralyse our creativity from reaching the outside world. The key to free ourselves from those burning doubts is to just do it. I hate how cliche it is, but it’s true. If your writing career starts out because you Googled “Things I should write”, then power to you because you’ve taken more action than most people do and it provided you the space to find your voice.
To finish up, there is no right or wrong way to start. The key point is to just begin. To write, create and imagine boldly.
The world needs creativity, not just for escapism but to understand each other on a deeper level. We can help each other gain insight into other ways of thinking, alternative methods of doing and exciting ways of living!
Your creativity is an incredible tool. The way we view the world is beautiful and the world deserves to hear your voice, so be fearless with your creativity and give us something to be inspired about.
