Summary

The author describes how daily writing has significantly improved their life, enhancing their skills, networking, and mindfulness.

Abstract

Daily writing has been transformative for the author, serving as a catalyst for personal growth and professional development. Initially apprehensive about the sustainability of daily writing, the author found that the practice became easier and more rewarding over time. It led to improved writing skills, the ability to learn from past mistakes without public scrutiny, and the discovery of a consistent source of inspiration. The discipline of writing daily has also facilitated valuable networking opportunities through social media engagement and has deepened the author's engagement with reading and the world around them, making them a more creative and mindful individual. The author expresses gratitude for the positive impact their writing has had on both themselves and their readers.

Opinions

The author believes that daily writing creates a momentum that makes the process easier and more natural.
They value the private reflection allowed by drafting articles, which helps them learn and grow without exposing every mistake to the public.
The author quotes Octavia E. Butler to emphasize the importance of persevering through initial mediocrity to achieve mastery in writing.
They see networking as a crucial component of their writing career, facilitated by sharing excerpts on social media platforms.
The author has found that writing daily has made them a better reader and a more attentive observer of life, which in turn has enriched their writing.
They express a heightened sense of gratitude for the personal transformation and the ability to positively influence others through their writing.

How Writing Every Day Changed My life

The power of consistency in creating momentum

To write every day is by far the counsel with the greatest impact I’ve received in my life.

I used to think that writing every day means draining myself of the energy to pace forward and accordingly risking the chance of not writing altogether. But then that is not the case.

I now realized that the more I write, the easier it becomes to write again.

It is like following a strange path to get to the resources I need to pick on what to write about. The more I follow that path, the less strange it becomes. Honestly, it is no longer strange to me.

Better Writing

I began writing on Medium by February, this year. And ever since then focused on writing every day. I, however, do not publish all that I wrote.

I am glad that I didn’t.

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

It is satisfying knowing that I still learn from the terrible mistakes of my previous write-ups without airing my stupidity. I look at the dusty articles of my drafts and often burst out laughing. “Who does that? What the hell is this?!”

Do I fear getting ridiculed or making mistakes? Oh, please! The two proved to be my closest friends on the way to most of my achievements.

“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it.”

— Octavia E. Butler

I wouldn’t want to be another noise in a world where everyone craves the spotlight. I don’t want to publish crap. I want to add value and until I deem what I write as valuable, I will not be pressured — not even by my mind, into publishing.

My focus is on mastering the craft by voluntarily disciplining myself. It is working. And I am eternally grateful for my decision to writing daily.

Networking

A phrase or quotation from those drafts goes straight to my LinkedIn or Twitter page. Writers appreciate a well-written piece no matter how short.

Like-minds think alike. It is that simple.

So whenever I send out a connection request on LinkedIn or follow someone on Twitter, I am almost certain that with those blurbs, I’ll always be welcome.

Connecting with other people in your profession is paramount to your career. I am a living witness. I have met a lot of writers on Medium Quora and beyond, becoming my good friends, sharing each other’s joy, and ultimately helping each other out in reaching greater heights.

I can’t imagine where I will be without them. They are as valuable to my life as they are to my writing career. And let me remind you that all these began with my deliberate decision to write daily.

Mindfulness

I’d mention how I become a better reader in the first part of this article but then realized that with books comes meanings. Meanings to things we didn’t know we need to know until the moment we set our eyes on them.

I know that to be an effective writer I have to read just as twice. Reading opens up a whole new world for me.

I read, a lot, and not just hardcover books. I read write-ups on self-help, I read memoirs, fiction, Medium articles, Twitter threads — almost anything that I came across. That made me more creative.

I became a better listener because of my thirst for knowledge that tripled. I became excessively sensitive to my community, appreciating nature more, and feeling a deeper increase in how connected I am to it.

I listen to music differently and watch movies with an open mind. Because I know that I might want to write about those later. I wrote about the interesting life lessons we can learn from Richard Hendricks just recently.

I transformed into a new person, with a clearer vision and a better focus. And for that, I am grateful to my resilience to write every day.

Final thought

It is a unique feeling knowing that I positively impacted someone’s life. Knowing that I said something to a stranger that helped them in any way or made them view something differently, thereby leading to their growth.