A writer’s diary – the journey from amateur to professional
Every reader is not a writer, so here is an honest inside perspective. Might be relatable for other writers.
We all choose to express ourselves in different ways. Writing was my way of expression. I did not dare to share it with the world. Even when I started putting my work online, I kept it anonymous. I did not want to be associated with my own work. It was only later that I realized why I wanted to keep my writing anonymous. I did not believe in my work, and I wanted to be dissociated from it, in case it was bad. I did not want to be held accountable for bad work. So, I did not leave a way for people to get to me. I took up a pen name and signed up for a new email with a fake name. Here, I am two years letter trying to write professionally.
It has been exactly two years since I made my first bold move. I started by creating a website for myself, where I could upload my articles. I had no experience with building a website and messed up quite a bit. I also paid more than I should have, but then again, I learned as well. I literally learned by paying money. After I created a platform for myself, I posted online. You see this was a little daunting, but the horror of it went away when I realized I have no audience, and nobody cares! Unfortunately, my blog did not go viral. So, I gathered the courage to send my work to some of my close friends. After receiving support from them, and realizing that my writing is not terrible, I kept going. Then after a few weeks, when my blog still had not gone viral, I asked my friends to share my blog with their contacts. The instructions were simple: i) do not send it to anyone who knows me; ii) if you do send it to someone who knows me, make sure they do not know I am behind this article. Now, this did help with reach, but there was still no engagement.
It was a few months into my blogging career when I realized this is not going anywhere. Everything I was reading online told me that blogging was a thing of the past. I was late and the wave was gone. I decided I would start an Instagram page along with my blog. Instagram would get me some reach. Although I was more confident, I decided to keep my identity on Instagram a secret as well. Over the next few months, I gained more confidence, attached my name to my work, and even gathered the courage to show my face on my Instagram page. My reach was and is still limited, but I was having fun.
A year into my writing, I decided to make money from it; to become a professional. About a year in, I began doing some research on how to go further. That is when I found medium. I saw people making thousands. I forced myself into getting words on paper and published my first article. It only earned $0.03. I was not disappointed, because it was the first one. The disappointment with lack of reach and no money came a few months later. It felt like all my writing was leading nowhere. There were no financial gains, worse yet, there was still no audience. Now, I am not a world-class author, but I also know I am not that terrible. Even on Instagram, people who were posting nonsense were reaching thousands. I tried to see what was going wrong.
The issue I discovered was consistency. All those who were doing well were posting multiple times in the week. Meanwhile, I would post every two weeks, when I was not busy. I was a full-time law student and writing was not a priority. Even when I had more time, I was in the habit of being slow. When I realized this, I decided to be more consistent. Today is a Wednesday, and I publish every Wednesday. As I sat clueless today about what I should write about today, just as I have been for the last two weeks, I thought of sharing the struggle of being consistent. I have discovered that it is about discipline. The focus must lie on the process and not the results. It has been about a month or two since I decided to be consistent and the results are imperceptible, but they exist. For the first time, I have more than one article which has generated a revenue of more than $0.07. Considering the literal defintion of professional is earning money from the activity, even with my mininal income I can dare to call myself a professional.
The results are slow, but there are results. So, I vow to be persistent with being consistent. This is article might be mediocre. Maybe no one will read this article. However, I have built discipline by posting this article. I have stopped myself from getting distracted, more than thrice. I could be watching a YouTube video, chatting with my friends, playing a game on my phone, but I am writing. I am sticking to a deadline I made for myself. Missing this deadline would have had no consequences whatsoever. Yet here I am.
If there is absolutely anyone reading this article, let me know in the comments what is a process or discipline you built for yourself?
I read it and liked it! Enjoy your work and thoughts a lot.