The 5Most Important Things I’ve Learned in 3 Months of Writing
In case you didn’t know, I’ve been writing for almost three months now. After reading Khadejah’s article on writing every day for an entire year, I became inspired to start my journey.I could do this.So, I set out on a journey.In the past three months, I’ve gone through trial and error and tried to figure out what’s sticking and what isn’t. There’s still a lot for me to learn, but I’ve already learned some valuable writing advice.
1. Headlines matter.
If there’s one thing I keep reading over and over again, it’s that you have to make your headlines count. It’s one of the first things to grab the reader’s attention, and if you want to keep it your headline better be good.Work on different variations of your headline and run it through a headline scanner, like CoHeadline, to see how well it’s coming off.One way to practice this is to write 10 headline ideas every day. It’s good to come up with ideas and to practice the art of headlines.
2. Patience and Consistency.
Amateur writers tend to get ahead of themselves and want all the results right away. They expect overnight success and think just because they’ve posted a few articles, they will take off and make them millions.When you’re first starting out, learn to be patient. It takes sustained effort to make any real progress, and that means being consistent.Keep going and practice patience. If you want results, it’s going to take time to take off. Write for the sake of writing and it won’t fail you.
3. Ideas.
Related to headlines, you want to keep your idea muscle sharp. If you’re going to be writing, you need things to be writing about, and that means you need ideas. You want to keep ideas flowing and your content going.I keep a note on my phone of ongoing ideas. You can learn how to break ideas further and further down and really get a bang for your buck.Having ideas stay alive and well is easier when you’re doing it consistently. The more you do it, the easier it is.
4. Formatting.
One of the less mentioned aspects of writing is your formatting. How you format your articles makes a big difference in readability. You don’t want your text to be too clunky or hard to read.Learn how to make use of white space and space out your paragraphs. Use pictures and line breaks to break things up.If you don’t practice your formatting, it’s giving readers a chance to click away because they don’t want to sort through the mess.
A special bonus tip.
If you’re serious about writing, consider investing in yourself. Look at some of the courses offered by top writers like Jon Morrow or Ayodeji, and think about buying one. You will make strides much quicker when you have a mentor and guide map.It speeds along the process because it gives you a tried and true format. And typically, you will have a community of people that can continue to help you grow.
There is no shortage of advice on the internet when it comes to telling you how to start writing. Everybody has their own two cents.To get your writing career going, it’s important to remember that headlines can make or break your articles. The ability to be patient and consistent will bring you a long way. Ideas are the backbone of your writing.When you decide to get serious about something, it’s worth it. Yes, it takes time and energy, and it pays off in the end.In the end, you will have incredible results to show for it.
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