It’s been a while since I updated this blog. I missed writing—that freestyle kind of writing where I just do it for the sake of the craft to satisfy myself. I’ve had enough of SEO, keywords, and metatags (and followers). I’ll go for sincere, transparent, and conversational posts from now on
and stop chasing the crowd; from time to time, I’ll break the rules of writing, too.
The Web is complex and trends evolve faster than I expected. My strategy today may not work tomorrow or the coming weeks. There’s too much noise online, which is exhausting, zapping my digital life and I find it hard to focus on my vision as a writer and a service provider. With all these changes—from search engine algorithms to social media strategies—I’ve learned not to easily be swept away with the ebb and flow of trends.
I’ll stick with quality content no matter what. Content is king. And I’m the queen.
More rooms for improvements
Words are powerful and if I put them on paper or web, they could break or make me (even my bank account). I also realized that good and clear writing is a commodity in today’s digital revolution.
In order to thrive in a competitive freelance writing industry, being a flexible wordsmith is non-negotiable. I must be a 50% copywriter and 50% creative/literary/web writer. But sometimes, I break this rule. I find it challenging, too, to switch between these two styles because each has a set of rules to follow. I also battle against apathy, where in most cases it has broken my momentum many times.
This usually happens when I receive praises and recommendations from clients for a job well done. And I’m careful where these praises go. Instead of letting them dwell in my head, I immediately toss them somewhere to make sure that every day, I still need to improve my writing. It’s my defense mechanism, reminding myself that there are more rooms for improvements.
What’s inside the toolbox?
Honestly, I find it hard to build my blog. First, no one notices my work or me. I struggle with that thought and it resulted to procrastination. Second, I want every piece of post to be perfect that my perfectionism has broken the momentum, too, and it took away my passion to build my blog. I started to compare myself with other writers and colleagues within my sphere. I knew I had to get rid of it before it could affect the way I think. Comoros . It’s poisonous.
And so, instead of writing publicly, I chose to hone my writing skills privately. While others invest their time on marketing conferences and networking, I took the narrow, steep and less traveled road: I kept on writing and maintaining the 500 words per day challenge in my journal surreptitiously. I kept on reading voraciously.
Just like a carpenter, inspired by Stephen King’s advice on writing in his book “On Writing,” I spent most of my time learning the tools inside the toolbox—one by one, from the nails to the screw drivers and hammer—and went back to basics, from grammar structure, style, words to punctuations and then to the advanced creative writing techniques for book writing, literary content, and mixing it up with web copywriting and B2B social media.
My 80:20 rule on writing and marketing
For the past months, I spent 80% of my time in silence, solitude, and sweat. I wrote until I bled as Ernest Hemingway advised. The remaining 20%, I spent it on learning a new language, reading, fishing out clients and exploring B2B social media marketing (and traveling)!
[Here’s my view every day from my desk]
In silence
I find the Web too noisy. Millions of people, including myself, are trying hard to voice out their platforms and agendas—writers, professionals, sales people, marketers and every job title I could think of. It’s crazy. It saps my energy when I try to consume all the information, checking this and checking out until I’m caught in a maze of all forms and sizes of information.
I kept quiet and remained anti-social for months. I worked silently, (even while handling my client’s accounts) and let the results speak for themselves. In silence, I learned to listen and eavesdrop to what the influencers and customers are saying. Instead of building my personal social media presence, I observed influencers on how they do it. No wonder that silent is an anagram of listen. It’s an art. Rarely will you find people who’d thrive in silence and combine it with the second point where I’m heading.
In solitude
It took months for me to accept the fact that as a writer, the place of solitude is where I should thrive. A part of me desires the limelight, yet I don’t like being in the crowd for too long. It’s an irony and I find it perplexing when I think about it. But when circumstances became uncontrollable and the only choice I had is to be at peace and in solitude, away from everyone, I learned that it is the best place to produce fresh ideas.
If you want to become a better writer, go to a secret place and relish every moment as you type and follow the train of thought; whatever your heart tells you to write, don’t hold back. Go in peace and write in silence and solitude. If you embrace these two, you’ll discover more of yourself and what you’re capable of doing.
You know, I just woke up one day and felt satisfied with these two. I realized that they’ve helped me operate in the realms of literary streams and changed the way I think. whois register It gave me an expanded view of the world and myself.
In sweat
Writing is hard work. I sit in front of the screen for hours and translate my thoughts in paper. I know it’s easy to outsource projects and ask other writers to do it for me and pay them, but I chose not to do it. First, because I want to become an expert in quite a number of niche or industry; second, the only way for me to improve my writing and discover my style is to keep on writing.
I have to put real work on it. I learned I should never short-circuit the writing process because it does make a difference when I take the responsibility and learn from the experience itself.
One of my favorite writers, who’s also a theologian, Henry Ward Beecher said, “To become an able and successful man in any profession, three things are necessary: nature, study, and practice.” For real writers (those who believed that this is their calling), writing is neither a duty nor a profession; it’s the way we operate. It’s our lifestyle and when one is deprived of the act itself, he cannot live that, which it may cause him to his deathbed if he doesn’t write.
Writing, in reality, is hard work, sweat, blood, and tears. It takes a lot of practice to write clearly and build a mansion of words. But you come out a different person after. http://settewriter.com/on-writing-why-i-choose-silence-solitude-and-sweat/And it’s worth it.
There are many writers out there, but there’s only one person who can write a certain topic at a certain style and aptitude, and perhaps, it might be you.
My advice: spend your time on important things to make you a better writer and balance your time for building your online presence. While the 80:20 may not work for others, you can tweak this rule to suit your personal goals.
Passing the ball to you
What have you been up to these days? How do you manage your time for writing and ‘marketing’ yourself to clients? Let me know your thoughts and comments below.
