Of Reading and Writing
Illuminating 5 Key Evergreen Lessons I Learned Writing for 364 Days
Some gems are just right in front of us
I celebrate my 1-year long writing endeavor tomorrow.
This is a milestone for me, as I stuck around longer than I should have. Let me be honest. There are simply days I wonder why and what I am doing here.
I wrote many stories, many of them I assume are high utility pieces that turned out to be long-form blog posts. Well, at least I know how to blog without much thinking now!
That is how I see life. We don’t know what lies ahead until we try something. Each time we try, we learn something new. Each time we persevere, we are rewarded with gems for solving complex life puzzles.
I have found it helpful to think of my life as if it were a game in which each problem I face is a puzzle I need to solve. By solving the puzzle, I get a gem in the form of a principle that … continually improves my decision making, so I am able to ascend to higher and higher levels of play…
― Ray Dalio, Principles: Life and Work
I subscribe to Ray’s thinking.
Let me share the gems I have collected for the past 364 days through consistent writing.
A Comment for Starters.
You have everything against you when you are just starting out.
You have no followers, no track record, no chance of making $100.00 for your first article. Chances are, the articles you want to write have been written a gazillion times by Top Writers with 10 Top Writer badges.
Don’t give up. Start writing, and keep writing.
Unless you hold a Bachelor’s of Journalism, writing will not come naturally to you. Keep it short and simple. A 3-minute long, 450-word article is as good as a 5-minute long, 1010-word article.
So long as you write it.
Your Best Writing is in The Future. Always.
Whatever you publish today will look like crap tomorrow.
I am not insulting your writing prowess. It is a fact of life. Improvements piles on yesterday’s effort. I cringe when I read my stories written last year.
I mean it.
Humility goes a long way. Stay vested in developing a lifetime skill (such as writing). Write more, and pull the future you want towards you.
There is no doubt you will become a Top Writer tomorrow. I achieved this honor 2 months ago, even though I really cannot write like the pros.
Have faith in your effort.
Because 80% of Your Earnings Comes From 20% of Your Writings, You Have to Write More.
The Pareto Principle applies.
According to what Pareto observed, 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. After surveying a number of other countries, he found the same applied abroad. For the most part, the Pareto Principle is an observation that things in life are not always distributed evenly.
- Investopedia, Pareto Principle
As you start writing and publishing more articles, you will notice that star articles contribute the lion’s share of your monthly earnings.
The majority of your writings may take forever to accumulate $0.01.
This is the Law of Nature.
Focus on our daily commitment to write. I get 1 high-earning article out of every 15 I write. Since I write daily, that means 2 stories carry my total earnings for the entire month.
You may have a different ratio than mine. Start taking notes.
Strive to improve your writing by bringing the ratio down. My goal is to lower it to 1 high-earning story out of 10.
Study your story earnings pattern.
You will find pathways for improvement unique to you.
Your Writing Will Always Lead You Somewhere. Have Faith and Hang On.
Story earnings is a common goal for many writers.
There are many achievements out there beyond earnings. I have been invited to sit on the editorial committee for 3 publications and have gotten gigs to run one.
That is not all.
Pay attention to the young, up-and-coming writers.
Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi and Neeramitra Reddy are my sources of inspiration. They have become columnists for a Fitness & Health publication through their writing.
Your writing will lead you somewhere. Keep writing. The path ahead gets clearer day by day.
Of Publications, Rejections, and Acceptance.
Seek a healthy dose of rejection weekly.
A 100% acceptance rate breeds overconfidence. A 100% rejection crushes our self-confidence.
Any ratio in between is a good distribution.
Rejections sting. Rejections without feedback are like a slap on your face without knowing why.
I get it.
Do the following if your submission gets rejected by the publication of your choice:
- Read the publication’s Write For Us again. Be clear of their ask.
- Review their published stories to verify what they are looking for.
- READ THOSE STORIES.
- Study their structure, headlines, and conveyance of ideas.
- Try again
Some publications have very high barriers of entry because they receive truckloads of submissions daily. They can be choosy in what they want to publish.
Make a decision to compete or not to.
Focus on 1 Genre at a Time.
Focus stands for Follow One Course Until Success. Thank you, Robert Kiyosaki.
The mistake I made at the beginning is to write about everything. I learned that writing about everything meant I wrote about nothing. Food for thought, people.
I think and operate differently today.
This is what I do:
- Choose one 1 genre, say Health.
- Look for categories within Health, it can be Brain Health, Cardiovascular Health, Mental Health.
- Pick one category.
- I choose Brain Health.
- And I keep writing about Brain, Health, and Brain Health.
Liam Ireland is an expert at this. He routinely writes about relationship cheating. Those stories where he got cheated contributed 80% of his monthly earnings. The other stories where he cheated others contributed the remaining 20%.
He focuses on cheating, regardless of the angle of writing.
Summary
I don’t have an elaborate summary as this story is long enough.
Stayed focus on our writing. Appreciate the beauty that we can earn as we learn. Our best selves are in the future, so keep committing to writing better. We will meet our future selves in time to come.
Till then, let us put our heads down and get to work.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz Liam Ireland Maria Rattray Terry L. Cooper Karen Madej Carol Price Agnes Laurens Dr. Preeti Singh Josh Balerite Acol Claire Kelly Tree Langdon The Maverick Files Noorain Hassan, BMS Geetika Sethi Britni Pepper Zen Chan ILLUMINATION Esther George
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.