I not only write a lot, but I also read a lot. And, unsurprisingly, I read a lot about writing.
There is just SO MUCH information online and in books, about how to write and what to write. And for years I lapped up all this information and tried just about every piece of advice to see if it worked.
What I discovered was that some of it worked and some of it didn't. But that's not to say that the advice was wrong. It was just wrong for me.
You see all writers are different and we all want to write different things, so not all writing advice will be useful to everyone, so it's just a matter of taking what works for you and letting the rest go.
For example, I read that the best way to write is to make-believe you're writing to just one person. The usual advice about this is to picture in your mind the person you are writing to and just write for them.
This advice can be useful if you're writing non-fiction or online articles because you want to make sure that what you're saying is useful to the right person (or people).
But for me, it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, I've noticed that over the years, my most popular online articles, are the ones I wrote without anyone in mind. I was just writing about what I knew or imparting what I thought was useful information. I didn't have any particular avatar in mind, which is what they tell you to do to make sure you're writing to the right audience.
So eventually, I went back to writing just for me and not for anyone else and now more people than ever read my online articles and my books. They also share my marketing articles online more too.
And what I've learned from this is that I can write better, and more freely, if I don't try and write for some other person and instead I just write. And it works whether I'm writing fiction or non-fiction.
For instance, I was once writing about seaweed. I wrote about its culinary uses, medicinal uses and the different oceans that seaweed can be found in, amongst other things And I knew that each of the topics wouldn't be of interest to the same person, but they would perhaps appeal to a chef, a herbalist or a student, depending what they wanted the information for.
Another thing that I've noticed over time is that my writing always finds readers, even if not now, it becomes popular at some point.
And what I've learned most of all is that writing just for me is so much more enjoyable. I just write, hit publish and write some more. Not only that but because I enjoy it more I also write more.
So it's a win-win.
If you find that you don't enjoy writing, maybe writing just for you will work too.
There is just SO MUCH information online and in books, about how to write and what to write. And for years I lapped up all this information and tried just about every piece of advice to see if it worked.
What I discovered was that some of it worked and some of it didn't. But that's not to say that the advice was wrong. It was just wrong for me.
You see all writers are different and we all want to write different things, so not all writing advice will be useful to everyone, so it's just a matter of taking what works for you and letting the rest go.
For example, I read that the best way to write is to make-believe you're writing to just one person. The usual advice about this is to picture in your mind the person you are writing to and just write for them.
This advice can be useful if you're writing non-fiction or online articles because you want to make sure that what you're saying is useful to the right person (or people).
But for me, it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, I've noticed that over the years, my most popular online articles, are the ones I wrote without anyone in mind. I was just writing about what I knew or imparting what I thought was useful information. I didn't have any particular avatar in mind, which is what they tell you to do to make sure you're writing to the right audience.
So eventually, I went back to writing just for me and not for anyone else and now more people than ever read my online articles and my books. They also share my marketing articles online more too.
And what I've learned from this is that I can write better, and more freely, if I don't try and write for some other person and instead I just write. And it works whether I'm writing fiction or non-fiction.
For instance, I was once writing about seaweed. I wrote about its culinary uses, medicinal uses and the different oceans that seaweed can be found in, amongst other things And I knew that each of the topics wouldn't be of interest to the same person, but they would perhaps appeal to a chef, a herbalist or a student, depending what they wanted the information for.
Another thing that I've noticed over time is that my writing always finds readers, even if not now, it becomes popular at some point.
And what I've learned most of all is that writing just for me is so much more enjoyable. I just write, hit publish and write some more. Not only that but because I enjoy it more I also write more.
So it's a win-win.
If you find that you don't enjoy writing, maybe writing just for you will work too.
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