Why You Should Be Honest In Your Writing

The Benefits will Surprise You

I try to be open and honest in my writing. Personally, I can’t stand the fake stuff that seems to increase every single day. Everywhere you look, the media exaggerates, writers stretch the truth, and your friend joins the party as well sharing fake news. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what is real and what is fake.

I do have a quick story that I want to share that happened to me recently about an article I wrote. The story was read by a user not on Medium but it helped him make a decision that could have cost him his soul.

The article wasn’t about writing or making money, articles I normally write about.

If you recall, I wrote a story about a scam I was involved in over the summer. To briefly remind you of the story without going over the entire event, people impersonated an oil company and hired me to contact investors to fund a real estate project for at least $100,000. The job offer seemed too good to be true but this was a little hard to verify like most online scams.

After I found out the people involved were scammers, I wrote an article about the event and gave as much detail as I could. I really didn’t want other people to fall prey to these criminals. Since then, I have received several responses from complete strangers who were contacted by this group.

The strangers were very appreciative that I shared this information and was sharing this online. There are so many scams out there and sometimes it’s hard to find information about the scam until it’s too late. The New York Times reported 1 in 10 people in the United States have not been involved in a scam, fraud, or identity theft. That is a lot of people who have fallen victim to scams in general.

As a writer, the greatest feeling you can receive is not the money you make. The greatest feeling you can get is actually helping your reader. Providing assistance to your reader for them to make a decision is the best feeling you can ever have. No amount of money compares to that.

If an article you wrote, helped a person save money, lose weight, improve their daily habits, that is worth more than getting a top award as a writer. The feeling is incredible when a complete stranger contacts you and thanks you for what you wrote. It’s similar to helping someone avoid getting scammed. The information you provided helped someone and prevents them from becoming a statistic like the one reported by the New York Times.

Reader approval is worth more than money

Helping others is the way we help ourselves.

Oprah Winfrey

Writing for money is great, but positive feedback from your readers and especially strangers is worth a million dollars. Your company can pay you $5,000 for your articles which is great. But if a complete stranger contacts you and thanks you for what you wrote, no amount of money can compare to that.

It’s a great feeling that means more than 100 likes, 1,000 claps, or 50 retweets. Impacting someone’s life means more than anything something on social media can give you. Those feelings are good but normally they don’t do anything for you.

You live a short time here on earth. The average person lives to about 80 years old. If you’re writing can impact someone, you have saved them from a lot of embarrassment, heartache, and pain. If you share financial tips, you can also save someone from making a big financial mistake.

Words have so much power and more than you can imagine. If you have ideas to share, or even personal stories, your article could really impact someone and change their life. People are always looking for that one idea that changes their future. That one idea is all the information people need. Many times they are so close but they can’t figure it out. Your writing could help one, 100, to 1,000s of people.

Don’t be afraid to share your ideas. People are hungry and need information that only you know. Be open and share your ideas. You never know who you can help.

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Tom Handy is a top writer on Medium, former Quora writer, and father of two kids. He retired from the Army and sits on several non-profit boards. You can find him on Twitter @tomhandy1 and his publication Life is Like a Game.