Even before I discovered read.cash, I've been into various blogging platforms. Some reward content, some do not. Some platforms gave me exposure and widened my reach, some are too confined and I was the only one who reads my blogs. Nevertheless, I write. It is my passion and I'm grateful for it.
I love expressing myself through words
I desire to provide value to my readers
I want to develop myself and my writing voice
Writing for me is both a skill and a discipline. Even if you consider yourself not that good at grammar, you can still call yourself a writer, as long as you are willing to learn and develop what it takes to be one.
Even with my writing experience, I still consider myself to not have a good command of English grammar. I still rely on tools such as Grammarly. It helps, a lot!
But there are some other things that I do that help me develop a habit of writing. I consider these as my daily routine.
I think about a question I want to answer or a situation I want to improve. I often do this when I take a shower. I can think of many topics when I take a shower. Science offers an explanation why some of our brightest ideas come out in the shower. Leo Widrich on the Buffer blog explains that when we take a shower, a lot of dopamine is released in our brains.
So as soon as I can, I try to think about a topic I'd like to write for the day. I consider it as my big idea. I anchor my big idea with my writing intent: to express myself, to provide value, and to discipline myself.
If you would notice, most of my blogs are written with almost the same template: Introduction - List - Conclusion - Call to Action - Links. I'll talk about the introduction later.
I write mostly in lists because it is easy to digest the ideas when they can be broken down into chunks. The blog is also easily scannable when it is written in lists or bullets rather than multiple paragraphs with little to no subheadings. It does not look overwhelming. If you want to know the gist of the topic being discussed, you can always look at the list and you're good.
Call to action is where I ask my readers for their thoughts on what I wrote about. I solicit engagements. I ask questions. I try to engage. However, I believe I still have a lot to learn about making an effective call to action.
The links at the end of the blog are supposed to bring my readers to my other equally thought-about outputs.
Let's talk about introductions. Here, I write a relatable story with the hope of capturing the attention of my readers. Stories connect people, no matter the race, culture, age, and gender. It makes the writer sound genuine and not robotic and dull.
Personal experiences make a writer authoritative with what he is talking about. It means he knows what he is saying. We will most likely listen to someone who has gone through a lot than someone who is heavily based on theories alone.
All of these will be mere talk and ideas will remain unheard of when it is not written. So I make it a goal to dedicate a few hours before I go to sleep to write down my ideas and post them. I first write an outline of my mental list so I know how to process my ideas. Since I already thought about it during the day, it is somehow easier for me to elaborate on the topic.
When I talk about developing a habit, I condition myself to produce an output daily. When you are motivated enough, your mind and body will prompt you to write, as if a natural reaction.
Hi, I am Marts! I am a writer, and aside from my stint here in read.cash, I also have my own blog - martsvalenzuela.com. I appreciate it if you pay me a visit! I plan on growing my readership as I learn to improve my craft and journey towards my passion to write and publish books that add value to people.
Let's rock!
Ang galing... indeed sa shower or ung nagdedeposit haha
Amigo, you beat me to it! Though I still want to write my own version on this topic. ;)
Really made me laugh that you mentioned you had to read your own articles. At the beginning it's hard eh. Especially if the platform has crickets chipping.
I gotta say that this platform has really help though.
Haha! Love your own work lol. I hope this platform will stay and continue to grow!
Would love to read your version!
Ako hobby ko na talaga ang pagsusulat kasi in that way, I can say my thoughts ganun.
Stress-reliever din siya no. Di ka naman iju-judge ng computer mo as you type in your thoughts hehe. :)
I'm also doing these things especially making list on my mind. I always make an outline on my mind.
It's a big help! Kasi yung mental list mo lalo mo nae-elaborate as the days go by :)
Huh. I feel your struggle. I personally tried writing on different sites before, such as wordpress, wattpad and so on but at one point it felt like it stopped being exciting so I kind of quit. Also is really difficult to gain a comunnity there, one of the reasons why I decided to join read.cash and noise.cash. These platforms really make you feel like you can express yourself freely and that you don't need to fit into certain criterias to have success with your work, at least that's what I consider. This relaxing vibe really helps me with my writing, especially because my head is a mess pretty much 24/7.
Yup! One advantage of this site is it has little to no toxic people who ruin the blogging experience :) Glad you are enjoying the platform!
thanks for sharing this little secret and making it look easy for beginners.