I Thought I Should Write What I Know
What I discovered during my first weeks on Medium was life-changing!
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I joined Medium two weeks ago.
I’d never written an article before joining Medium.
Naturally, I followed the only advice I knew about writing.
I’m sure you’ve heard it before:
“Write what you know"
This advice has been echoed, in one form or another, through generations.
From Mark Twain to Stephen King, numerous masters of literature stand by this advice.
Supposedly, writing what you know arms you with authenticity and expertise in your writing.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for taking the advice of experts.
I’ve always appreciated this quote from Sir Isaac Newton:
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."
However valuable that advice may be, in my short time here, this beautiful community taught me a new, liberating approach.
During my first days here, my article ideas were about:
- Mental Health issues
- Pizza facts
- Fantasy books
The things I knew best.
That sounds great — in theory.
But I failed when I tried writing those articles.
I was stuck. The writing didn’t flow.
Look, I’m a new writer.
There is a wide gap between the level of my expertise in those topics and the level of my writing.
I wasn’t satisfied with the results — my expectations were too high.
I was too busy to get stuck for hours on a single article.
The community of Medium taught me two things about writing that transformed my approach:
1. Readers like to read about refreshing, relatable, and real human experiences
Even a mundane day could be turned into an article that could reach into people’s hearts.
An interesting conversation left unfinished or thoughts about a strange encounter.
Whatever little piece of life inspires you can be turned into a story.
I now have a medium to write about very ordinary stuff, my experiences through my own eyes.
After all, we’re all together in this ship called life — and it feels nice to stop for a second and hear a story from a fellow traveler.
2. You don’t have to be an expert to be a great teacher.
Sometimes the greatest instructor is someone just a few steps ahead of us.
In this community of writers, your experience in writing is valuable.
I follow people a few weeks ahead of me. Study what worked for them and what didn’t.
And I implement this information in my own writing.
Now it’s my turn to write about my experience, my thought process, and my decisions.
And you know what? It feels good being helpful.
Those two approaches allowed me to write articles daily.
That’s the most important thing — a viable way to keep growing.
I write personal stories and I write about my experience on Medium.
It helped me have a daily presence here — and that’s all one needs to grow and be successful.
Thank you for reading! I hope my story resonated with you on some level.
My name is Orestis Ps. — I am a Mental Health professional from Greece — I share personal pieces about my insights from Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and write nerdy pieces about things I love.