How Writing Can Give You The Audacity to Share Your Own Story

And grow a thicker skin.

Writing my story online made me throw up.

There have always been cobwebs on my social media. Speaking in front of an audience gave me the heebie-jeebies. I used to pray for the first day of school to be over because I loathed the thought of introducing myself to new people.

I’m clearly an introvert, but there are other elements to this introversion that kept me in my shell longer than expected. But for the sake of time, the reason why my nerves held me back from meeting other people is that I couldn’t handle getting cussed out.

I thought, “maybe if I don’t say a word, they’ll forget about being mean to me.”

Ever since I started writing, I’ve developed a tougher skin than I ever could’ve imagined. Here’s how I did it.

I don’t have a lot of followers now, but I’ll be prepared to take future backlash as my platform grows.

I am clearly not a mega-writing superstar as you can see from my page, but I’ll get there eventually.

In the meantime, I’ve had a few negative comments here and there. I don’t think I’ve had any excessive ones that other well-known writers get. No one’s ever told me to kill myself in a ditch so that’s a start.

Here’s one thing I’ve noticed throughout my writing career so far: Your articles get more and more personal the more you write.

I remember the very first articles I posted online were anime reviews. Then when I got on Medium, my first article on here was about study tips for college. The more my posts got personal, the more I didn’t care what anyone thought of them — and that’s what endeared me to my audience I have now.

Are there some personal articles that are off-limits to post?

Who knows?

I could be uncomfortable with an article I just wrote, keep it in my archives for a few months, and post it tomorrow. My point here is that writing forces you to be truthful to yourself. You’re more in tune with your mind and your feelings. The more self-aware you are, the less you care about what others think.

Writing gives you the emotional awareness therapy you need to stand in your truth, no matter what anyone thinks.

The loudest people have zero followers or even a profile picture.

All of the hate comments I get are from people with a nonexistent profile page.

Here are some dead giveaways of a nonexistent profile that might not even be run by a person:

They have a chicken scratch name (e.g. dkdikmdimk)
They have no profile picture
Their one article on their page is as long as this bullet-list point

If these people had a loyal fanbase and wrote their ass off like me, I might take their feedback seriously. Now, I cackle at the thought of them leaving a comment. It must be embarrassing to have the balls to leave a comment but not to back up your words with some sort of proof that you’re credible.

Writing has taught me that constructive criticism is crucial, but there’s a difference between constructive criticisms and being a dick.

I know my writing isn’t the best at the moment. Heck, I’ll scream that off the top of my lungs if I have to. All of the top writers on this platform have given new writers “harsh” advice.

It’s not meant to be taken that way (even though some new writers do), it’s about understanding whether or not you’re built for this or not. If you’re not, don’t get mad when writers expose you.

I never get offended by their advice because it makes me a better writer in the end.

Final Thoughts

Writing will give you the harsh advice and hatred you need to grow a thicker skin.

You can’t be insecure in this industry. Well, I mean, you can but you should write about it instead of thinking about it. This industry is about putting yourself out there and taking harsh writing advice when you need it.

So don’t cry…unless you write about it.