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This Is How It Feels To Become A Writer

Don’t shy away from it

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

SPLASH.

My face hit the freezing cold water and the wind got knocked out of me before I knew what was happening.

I started panting trying to catch my breath.

I put every ounce of my being into keeping my head above water.

My arms and legs flopped all over the place as if they were being controlled by something outside of my body.

I was frantically trying to stay alive.

This is how I feel as I learn how to write.

The beginning

Learning any new skill can feel like this.

You get thrown into the deep end and you need to figure out how to swim. At the start, you’ll learn by doing anything.

It reminds me of when I started lifting weights. People talk about “newbie gains,” where you put on muscle in the first 6 months of lifting regardless of how you train.

When you start learning a new skill, you flop around clunkily and suck at it.

That’s what is necessary. You’re learning and making progress.

In many ways, I feel like I’m absorbing so much new information and trying to put as much of it as I can into practice.

I’m reading others’ work here on Medium, listening to podcasts, reading books, and watching documentaries.

There are several core skills involved in writing, but the one I’m trying to hone the most is my storytelling.

I love hearing someone tell a captivating story. It’s like I can’t look away. It’s a skill and a mystery.

At the start of this journey, I’m just trying to pick up as much as I can and throw things together in a meaningful way.

And with time, I try to pay attention to the feedback and results that I’m getting. And then I improve my work based on those results.

Photo by Biel Morro on Unsplash

The middle

I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten here with my writing yet.

But in other endeavors, I’ve gotten to the middle.

This is where you start to identify patterns and see things that you previously weren’t able to.

I found this in jiu jitsu.

After 9 months of getting dominated by others and choked out, I finally felt like I could understand the game that we were all playing. Things began to make sense to me. They started to click.

This part of the journey is wonderful. You pushed through the discomfort of being a beginner for long enough to see the results.

Many people give up before they make it to this point.

This is where you start to learn how to tread water. It’s still not easy and you’re picking things up as you go, but you’re able to keep your head above water and not waste all your energy.

Photo by Drew Dau on Unsplash

The end

I wouldn’t say I’ve reached the end with regard to any skill I’ve developed in this life.

But I’d imagine that this is the point where someone throws you a life jacket and you strap that thing on.

Things start to come to you. You still have to put in the effort, but you’ve gotten so good that your effort generates results that you couldn’t have dreamed of before.

Your actions have a significant impact on the world around you.

At this point, you might even climb up onto a boat and enjoy a cold beverage. You might kick your feet back and relax under the sun with a smile on your face.

Did this metaphor make any sense?

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