(7) Things I’ve Learned in a Week of Writing
This marks my first week of publishing at least 100 words every day for a year. Hopefully this accomplishment will be laughable in a year. Hopefully, I will have done this 52 times. Hopefully it will have become like brushing my teeth. Automatic. I started this journey with the intent of becoming a better writer. Why? I hope to inspire people to think and feel through my writing. But I can’t do that if I’m not good at it. I won’t get good unless I practice consistently.
In commemoration of my 7th day, here are 7 things I’ve learned so far.
1. Consistent small steps > inconsistent big ones
You know how they say every journey starts with one step? Well it’s true. Now, this is premature because, knowing me, I could give this up 2 days from now, but writing 100 words is such a laughably small goal that it doesn’t scare me. I’m fairly certain that even on my laziest day, I could hammer out 100 words. They might be crappy words. My sentence structure may be horrendous. But even if I just write “poop” 100 times, I will get it done. 100 words a day for a year equals roughly 92 pages single-spaced. This isn’t shattering records, but as long as I do the bare minimum, it’s guaranteed — which makes me excited. Before I wrote at least something every day, I had no idea what I was going to produce in a year because it was all based off of a “whenever I felt like it” mentality. It’s much harder to get excited about a vague accomplishment.
2. Doing a little motivates me to do more
I’m not even halfway down my list and I’ve written over 200 words. But I never would have gotten here if I didn’t tell myself I had to get at least 100. When I first sat down to write this I thought to stop after one paragraph, but after a few words, I figured, “Why not make a list? You’ve never made a list in a Medium post before.” So I made a list.
3. It’s not about perfection but motion
It doesn’t matter how perfect this post is or even if it’s good. It’s important that I do it. Every word, no matter how crappy, is still moving in the right direction — progress.
4. This won’t go viral and that’s great
This isn’t to say I’m going to just write a bunch of crap and say “fuck everyone if you don’t like it.” But taking off the pressure of making something “people will like/read” helps me take energy off of what everyone else thinks and back to working on my craft. My craft is vulnerable and personal. My craft is messy. The hope is eventually my mess will be so good people can’t ignore it, but I don’t care. I’m too busy getting better.
5. Learning creativity
As of right now I’m losing steam and am not sure what other gems I should write. However, I’m not afraid to make something up. I’m not afraid to innovate and try despite a little mental roadblock. Knowing I could write “poop” for the last two points and still reach my goal, gives me the freedom to take creative risks. I read somewhere that it’s a misconception that there are creative people. There are only people — some of which use their creative muscle and others don’t. I’m trying to be the former.
6. Finishing something every day feels good
It’s why I make my bed the first thing in the morning. I like to start the day off with a win. But I’m not passionate about making beds, nor does it have the ability to inspire anyone. There is no mastery in it or if there is, I think I’ve reached it. With writing I get to accomplish something and (hopefully) continuously get better.
7. Poop
Yeah, poop.
