Summary

The author emphasizes the importance of leveraging personal experiences from a 9–6 job and a 1-Man business as rich sources of inspiration for online writing.

Abstract

The article argues that one's professional and entrepreneurial experiences are invaluable assets to writing. The author, Aldric Chen, draws parallels between public speaking and writing, suggesting that the real power behind effective writing lies in the writer's daily interactions and emotional journeys. The piece underscores that virality should not be the primary goal of writing; instead, the focus should be on authentic storytelling. The author shares a personal anecdote about being replaced as a speaker for an event, which initially caused disappointment but ultimately became material for his writing. He also discusses the value of challenging client relationships in his consulting business, viewing them as a source of diverse writing topics. The article concludes by encouraging writers to embrace their unique highs and lows, as these experiences enrich their writing and make their stories authentic and engaging.

Opinions

The author believes that the pursuit of virality in writing can lead to envy and a loss of focus on the craft itself.
He suggests that the true fuel for writing comes from one's daily experiences, emotions, and the way life is lived.
The author values the process of writing and the personal growth it entails over the pursuit of immediate success or recognition.
He sees difficult clients as a source of inspiration and material for writing, rather than solely as a business challenge.
The author advocates for the idea that authenticity in writing stems from personal experience, which gives each writer a unique perspective to share.
He implies that setbacks and disappointments in one's professional life can be transformed into compelling narratives for online writing.
The author encourages writers to persevere and continue engaging with their work, as this commitment can lead to improved writing over time.

Your 9–6 and 1-Man Business is Your Secret Sauce to Online Writing. Never Give Them Up.

They are your jet fuel, powering you to type better and more as days pass.

There are 3 pillars of writing inspiration, in my opinion.

Our past experiences, current exposures, and the emotional roller coaster we experience from time to time. Combined, they tell a great story about us.

All of these tie in with the way we choose to live life. I see them as jet fuel for our writing. Our interaction with our immediate environment and how we feel about ourselves feeds into our writing backlog.

And our writing backlog powers our writing portfolio.

The Secret Sauce to Online Writing Has Nothing to Do with Virality

Too often, we confuse effort with results. We put the cart before the donkey.

Aiming for virality is like chasing profits for the sake of chasing profits. And when we start equating processes to goals, the following things happen.

We become envious of other writers
We become jealous of what they have achieved
We lose our Samurai Spirit and the will to enter the Writer’s Dojo

Writers, in a strange way, closely resemble speakers on stage. I know because I do both. We want thunderous claps and standing ovations.

Cricket symphony? Static readership statistics?

Nah, we have better things to do. Or, at least, that is how we comfort ourselves in deafening silence.

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.

― Henry David Thoreau

Inspiration Comes from Our Hands During Our 9–6

What are you working on? I will start.

I have been working on a speaker’s script for an upcoming corporate event. It will happen in July this year, and the company secured a 30-minute speaking slot to address the event attendees.

I pounced on that opportunity when my Managing Director said you do it. You see, delivering a TED Talk is my life goal. Standing at the red circle, quietly sharing my ideas through storytelling without PowerPoint is my kind of thing.

I thought to myself, ah, this leads to that. The path to a big stage starts with a small one.

But. Things did not go my way. Script revision version 9.1 did not receive a standing ovation from my internal audience during a walkthrough.

The feedback for my masterpiece is distilled into the following bullet points.

My Managing Director says the storytelling is good, but the topic needs to be made obvious to the audience
My Pre-Sales Director says the storytelling is brilliant, but the content flow needs minor tweaking
My Marketing Director says the storytelling is good but too academic

Nice people don’t give concrete feedback? I can only guess.

I was ready to rework my masterpiece. But my Managing Director appointed the Marketing Number 1 to take the stage.

There were no explanations given. It was a marching order.

You do it. That was all I heard. This time, the sound traveled away from me to the Marketing Director. That sucks.

You cannot imagine how disappointment can be magnified in silence. The storm in my head is more annoying than the fragile peace in the meeting room.

I forced a smile, accepting things as it is. What can I do? Secretly, I hope the Marketing Director’s rehearsal is a spectacular flop so I am back in the game.

Now, that was yesterday. What about today?

I thought, wow, what a beautiful life story. And so, I wrote it. That is why you are reading it. And thank you for doing so.

If You Have Annoying Clients in Your 1-Man Consulting Business — You Are Rich!

You become idea-rich.

That matters when you write. Perfect grammar, immaculate sentence structure, and deep pocket vocabulary bank rarely matter without inspiration.

Annoying clients provide real-life experiences we can put into words. I have one such client now. I am sure you have such clients from time to time.

This client wants more work done without paying additional fees. I get it. Clients are always trying to squeeze more juice out of their consultants.

What this client does is eye-opening. She refuses to accept the deliverable after incorporating her review points in 5 consecutive sessions.

She initiates new project tasks without any rhyme or reason
She wants me to take over her role as a project manager
I did. And she took all the credit during good days
She barks when things nosedive

This client gives me terrible headaches each time I return from her office. Now, that is the business side.

From a writing perspective? It is brilliant.

I get to write about client relationships and management, the nature of consulting business, obnoxious personalities in business, and client alignment. These are a list of topics I can blurt out without much thinking. It is fantastic.

You see, bad clients are like onions. Sure, they make us cry by burning our Profit & Loss Statement one day at a time. But they give us multiple angles for online writing when we peel it layer by layer.

1 client exposure = Multiple consulting client stories = Ideas rich

We can think about it this way. In life, so long as we work and do our best, we will never lose.

Because what we lose here can be recouped back there. We gain valuable insights in life even if the net result is neutral.

Keep moving. Never give up.

Parting Keynote

Our 9–6 and 1-Man business is our secret sauce to online writing.

Here’s why. Our daily experience accumulates. We learned to deal with good days and bad.

We need to recognize the following.

Our 9–6 and 1-Man businesses differ
Therefore, our experience and exposure differ
Therefore, our highs and lows differ

And therefore, the way we deal with our highs and lows is unique to us. Our stories, like our Curriculum Vitae, wrap our experience and exposure into words.

When we write from our experience and exposure, we tell a convincing story only we know. Authenticity can be felt.

Engaging intensively with our 9–6 and 1-Man businesses adds color to our life. And writing. If we choose to capture and transform our emotions into words.

And that is how our writing gets better. Day after day.

About the Author: 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.

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