As a fairly quiet individual, I’ve been nothing but loud online. Loud as in writing over 500 articles in a little over one year.
That’s nearly two stories a day. To come up with 500 different ideas and putting it all into words with a key takeaway isn’t easy. But once you get the ball rolling, it’s like having your own personal journal, but public.
If I hadn’t started writing on my deployment to Saudi Arabia in 2019, I would have never discovered my love for this activity.
It’s allowed me to reflect on the way I think, the way I communicate, and the way I carry myself. In this article, I’ll share some of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from this 500 article milestone.
1. You’re going to have really good days and really bad days.
When I say you’re gonna have good days, I mean that your fingertips are going to hit the keys and everything just seems to flow.
Some days, you’re going to sit in front of your keyboard with so much to say — so many quotes to share, so much valuable information to disperse.
On the other hand, some days you’re going to sit in front of a blank white screen and stress out. You’ll stress because no ideas are coming to mind. A key takeaway won’t click with you at first. You feel burnt out and may want to walk away.
2. You’re going to need to take a mini-break from writing to maintain your love of writing.
There was one point in time where I wrote as soon as I woke up and it was the last thing I did before bed.
Although this sounds really healthy and it’s good to constantly be putting your thoughts down, it’s a quick path to burnout.
Around December of 2020, I took a week-long break where I didn’t look at my writing, I didn’t miss it, and I didn’t think I wanted to continue doing it at all.
It was more than necessary. Coming up with lots of ideas and putting in the work to construct a bunch of content can be draining.
You may want to live your life and do other things if you care to maintain your interest in writing.
3. Negative feedback will happen and you can’t be phased by it.
As someone who’s posted over 500 different stories, I’ve attracted a fair share of people who disagree with some of the things I do or say.
You have to shake off the internet trolls, the haters, and anyone who doesn’t have anything nice to say. We can’t please everybody. At the end of the day, it comes down to you.
If someone is writing hurtful comments towards you, they probably have nothing better to do with their day — let alone write a new article that backs up their point.
Some people will envy any success you have and want the worst for you, but you just have to keep pushing forward. Once everyone else becomes background noise, you’re able to focus on yourself and your own thoughts, not someone else’s.
Final Thought
Writing has so many perks, especially when it comes to monetary value. I never thought I’d be in a position where it covers my rent for the month.
Without writing, I wouldn’t have an outlet to express myself, besides YouTube or Photography (but I’m not into them anymore).
500 articles later, I’m still staying the course and keeping up with it. I’ll see you at 1,000.