Journals: The Fastest Way to Grow as a Writer
By: Nick Chai
Tags: Writers On Writing, Writers Block, Journal, Writers On Medium, Writing

Journals: The Fastest Way to Grow as a Writer

Photo by Tommaso Nervegna on Unsplash

Before you hit publish, read your article or blog out loud. Have you ever felt like your article or blog is missing something? If you do feel that way, then this is for you.

I want to say that I’m not a writing coach or an expert writer. I’m simply sharing my experience of improving my writing in the past few months. Ideas flow better and I write faster nowadays. Thanks to this accidental discovery.

Should you think I’m talking nonsense, hard left. No hard feelings here. If you are interested, let’s dive deeper. Who knows this might help you as well.

Creativity is an exercise

Before I started jotting down my ideas, I had a tough time coming up with ideas for my copywriting projects. The internet has lots of ideas written with perfection through countless editing processes. It’s a challenge to write something no one has ever seen before. I would say it’s near to impossible.

Everything changed when I started journaling my ideas. Every idea I jotted down is a piece of a big puzzle. As I sit down to write my draft, I have a bank of ideas to write about just like solving a puzzle. Bits and pieces of the puzzle end up creating a masterpiece that brings in results. I totally underestimated the power of journaling.

As time goes by, ideas now flow to me like a river. I no longer pull my hair in desperation for writing ideas. They come as I put my fingers on the keyboard. Writing has become second nature to me. Not only am I able to write faster, the editing time needed has significantly reduced as well.

Every idea has a potential

Whether you write on Medium or your own blog, your idea is uniquely yours. That’s what your audience wants to read — the writer behind the screen. Jotting down your ideas may seem like a nuisance but it’s how great articles were born. It’s like taking a camera to capture a moment in time that you can never go back to forever.

These writers know that every idea has the potential to touch their readers’ lives even if it’s a light brush on the shoulder. Who knows down the road, it could change their lives for good. This is what it means when they say a pen is mightier than a sword. Words can and will change lives.

Writing how-to and listicles brings you readers but the way you write it will make them subscribe and sign up. The impact you bring as a writer lies in your ability to express your creativity and knowledge no one has ever seen before. If you want to improve as a writer, look not for grammar or storytelling tactics, but dive deeper into your unique creative expression.

Writing starts with your thoughts

In my opinion, writers struggle to write better and faster because they are not used to engaging with their thoughts often. If you think writing is a chore and it needs to be done in time, then it’s not going to be a great article. Editing is refining and correcting. It can’t and won’t fix a bad draft.

The best and fastest way to improve your writing is to start journaling. It helps you engage with your thoughts and trains your creative juices to be sharper and more refined. This exercise is important because the only way to tap into your creativity is by engaging with your thoughts. Reading gives you the idea, journaling grants you access to your ideas.

To conclude

A great article starts with your thoughts. The smoother your thoughts flow, the better your article will be. No storytelling techniques or fancy vocabulary will improve your writing until you learn how to listen and engage with your thoughts.