Writing

How Listening to Yourself Makes You a Better Writer

Over the past year, writing has become a therapeutic activity for me. Thanks to getting more confident with my writing, I no longer stress every time I try to find the words to say. Writing, in some sense, has been the way I leave my current troubles behind me for a moment. That is unless I am writing about them.

However, my writing journey has not always been like this. For the first part of my writing career, I forced my creativity and struggled to put anything meaningful on the page.

It was not until recently that I believed that what I write can make a difference in people’s lives. And that is not because I thought the subjects I was writing on were useless. Instead, it was because I was uncomfortable with who I was.

Unfortunately, negative self-talk got the better of me. I believed I was too young to write and influence the masses. I felt insecure about how I communicated with others, and my life was stagnant.

Everything I was telling myself during that phase of my writing was keeping me back. I know we always hear things like:

• “Be kind to yourself.”
• “Self-talk is important.”

But very few of us actually pay attention to the thoughts we have about ourselves. For instance, when we do something wrong, we tend to resort to calling ourselves stupid or incompetent. But we would never treat anyone else in the same manner.

I found that once I started paying a little more attention to my thoughts, I became a better writer. I was more in touch with who I was and my emotions. So, here is why learning to listen to yourself will put you on the path to becoming a better writer.

Your Thoughts Fuel the Way You Communicate

Although you have probably heard this enough times, our thoughts govern our behaviour. If we think something is disgusting, we will try to avoid it. And if we believe someone is confident, we may hold preconceived beliefs about how they will act.

As a writer, our thoughts fuel everything for us. Our thoughts do not just affect how we see our writing, but they affect how we communicate with others.

Confident writers are less likely to follow the status quo and are willing to try something new. And although some of that may come from their experience, a lot of it comes from how they see themselves.

The way we view our writing will change our approach to it. And inevitably, this will change our results. And I do not just mean how you feel about the articles you put out every day. Of course, that is important. If you think your articles are rubbish and do not benefit anyone, then you are more likely to quit.

However, I mean how you see writing as a whole. And that starts from the very reason you are writing in the first place. Those who write as a hobby will treat their writing differently than someone who writes for a side hustle. And those who see it as a potential business to free them from their 9–5 have a completely different approach to writing.

So, it is essential to stay in tune with your goal as a writer. But it is also vital to understand what you think about your goals and current results.

When I focused on my stats, I found I began writing poorly. For me, it did not help seeing no one was reading some of my articles. It damaged the way I saw my writing, and it led me to write things I knew nothing about just in the hope of more views.

So, what you think about your writing is the first thing you should think about. How we see our writing endeavours will inevitably affect how and what we communicate to our audience.

Whether we like it or not, our audience can only see our final results, not the thinking behind them. Therefore, you must have clarity of thought so you can communicate clearly and reach your writing goals.

Our Thoughts Fuel Our Creativity

There are many thoughts we say in our minds but would never dare to say with our mouths. However, it is often these thoughts that also reveal a side to us that is secret.

Observing others and the environment around me often springs thoughts. And we can use these thoughts as writers to fuel our creative process.

I have seen the advice to carry a notepad around to capture your thoughts. Although I like this idea, I think we should aim as writers to have the notepad stored in our minds.

Being completely in tune with your thoughts allows you to develop those ideas that pop into your mind all in your head. Learning to listen to yourself allows you to create the dialogue you need to write good articles.

At the start of my writing journey, I took down every idea that came to my mind. Although it left me a lot of options when it came to writing, I was more than often overwhelmed with what to choose. Sometimes, my ideas were left dormant as I had forgotten what I was thinking at that specific point.

Now, I have learned to entertain a thought in my mind. Instead of just writing down ideas quickly, I now develop my thoughts by interlinking other thoughts in my mind. I listen to what my thoughts are telling me and allow my mind to open up and spread into a range of ideas.

That way, I am less likely to forget what I was thinking at that moment as my thoughts become much deeper than a surface level idea. And before I know it, I have a whole article in my head ready to get out on paper.

Closing Thoughts

I have found that my writing has improved because I have learned to listen to myself more. We are walking complexities that think thousands of thoughts every day. And each thought is driven by something deeper than we think.

Learning to listen to yourself is the best thing you can do as a writer. It will help you communicate better and fuel your creativity. Your readers want to hear your thoughts, and they want to listen to them loud and clear. And there is no better way to give them that than by listening to yourself.

So, learn to listen to yourself more. Give extra consideration to every thought you have and think about what it is telling you about yourself.

By learning to listen to yourself, you will better understand what you want to communicate and who you are. And it is by doing this you will become better equipped to ensure others listen to you.

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