5 Mistakes I Made as a New Writer (That Made Me Lose Years)
How to deliver, starting today
In 2016, I first had the idea of writing online.
Because so many things have positively changed my life, I was convinced others could change their lives for the better (I’m still convinced).
I started writing, had a blog, got some views, and quit because I lacked perspective. Three years later, I did the same on Medium. Another two years later, I failed my second attempt on Medium.
Every time, it was painful.
But all this failing and quitting made me realize it was never about the perspective. Instead, I was repeating the same pattern of mistakes.
Here are 5 mistakes I made as a new writer that made me lose years.
#1: Neglecting daily writing
As a writer, you write.
This means it becomes your second kind of breathing. Like in the gym, it’s about the reps.
It’s simple: the more you write, the better you get.
No, reading alone won’t get you anywhere.
I have been an avid reader since school and read, on average, more than 20 books every year. I thought I must be good at writing.
Well, I wasn’t. Not even close.
Writing is the only thing that improves your writing.
That’s why you want to sit down daily and write.
Start with your feelings and where they might come from, and expand on your fears, goals, dreams, hopes, and wishes.
When in doubt, write more.
#2: Focusing on perfection
There won’t be ever the perfect something.
Neither the perfect time to write nor the perfect story. Just hit the “Publish” button and get over it.
Dickie Bush once said:
“There’s no bad writer with 100 stories.”
Why?
Because you wrote and published 100 stories, which makes you an infinitely better writer than before. The first step towards all that?
Posting a story that isn’t as refined as white sugar.
You can still write a new story about the same topic if you need to expand further.
When I started writing, I thought I’d need to figure it all out. I read, read, and read even more, made plans, and never published what I wrote.
Online writers improve based on the daily feedback they get on the internet. Not by sitting around, writing, and never publishing.
Ship, even when you aren’t ready.
#3: Failing to set clear and realistic goals
What are you in for?
I’m not talking about the money and the fame. These are shallow goals.
Here’s the thing: when I first started writing, I wanted to help as many as possible. I still do.
But back then, I had false expectations.
I thought I’d get thousands of readers within a few days because so many people spend time on the internet.
It doesn’t work like that.
That’s why you should never focus on the outcome but the output.
In Stoicism, you shouldn’t worry about things outside your control. The outcome is one of them.
You can’t control what you’ll get, but you can control what you’ve produced.
See yourself as a farmer.
Over months, you sow many, many seeds. You know that not all of them will stick, but if you give your everything, there’ll be a few.
That’s writing.
You write, give your everything, and focus on your output.
Let’s say your goal is 30 texts a month.
You don’t know if you get 10 or 500 followers from it. You don’t know if you earn $0 or $500 from it. It doesn’t matter because you achieved your goal as long as you wrote and published your 30 texts and got better with each text.
With the feedback you get, you can adjust your goals and repeat the entire process.
This is the endless cycle of writing online.
#4: Neglecting regular outreach
Hear me out before you say you can’t.
Outreach & community are everything.
As a writer, you live off your connections.
It took me a failed sales job in London to realize getting “no’s” isn’t the end of the world. Instead, it may not be the right time or person you’re talking to.
This has helped me in dating and writing.
Because suddenly I wasn’t afraid anymore.
When I sat at my parent’s dinner table, contemplating what I should do with my life after escaping Covid in London to be with my family in Germany, I sent out 30 proposals for writing gigs.
One stuck.
And that’s all I needed.
Whether for finding clients or building a community, outreach is everything. You won’t be able to make it yourself.
Have fun, make friends, learn from rejections, and get better.
But never fear reaching out.
#5: Forgetting to build a personal brand
Personal brands are all the hype.
And let’s be honest: I detested the idea for a long time.
But that was on me, not on others.
Nowadays, a personal brand is everything, especially as a solopreneur (hint: writers are solopreneurs).
But that’s a good thing.
We aren’t dependent on publishers anymore when it comes to marketing. Now, sometimes, they even come to us to get our books under their umbrella.
But for that, we have to build a powerful personal brand.
In the past, I neglected that, thinking it’s something you only want to do if you love the spotlight. Boy, I was wrong.
Because it was never about you but about others.
It’s how you can ship value, packaged in a friendly way, instead of reading it in a newspaper without any face.
A personal brand is the 21st century’s way of delivering value.
Don’t waste precious time making these 5 mistakes when wanting to become a writer. Instead:
- write daily
- ship faster
- set clear and realistic goals
- reach out on a regular basis
- build your personal brand from day one
Thank you for reading!
Applaud, comment, and if you want to read more:
The Happiest People In The World Have Realized These 3 Simple Truths
Here’s What I Learned After Publishing 100k Words On The Internet
