I understand why you might not like it, but you really should embrace being called a beginner.
In fact, it’s the perfect opportunity to find your place when you start as a writer.
You don’t have a massive following, there’s not a lot of pressure, and you get to have fun and improve. It’s like a free pass through the writing world.
I, initially, thought it was bad too, but honestly it’s just one of those things: the faster you embrace it the faster you grow.
Now, I know there’s a lot of insecurity connected with being a beginner and that’s alright. You’re just starting out.
Maybe you’re completely new or maybe you got a a few down.
The specifics doesn’t really matter, because you want to take advantage of this for as long as possible.
Let me try to tell you why you should enjoy being a beginner. And why it’s the best thing for your writing journey.
It all starts with a little flame
Which springs from a single thought.
Maybe it’s “I want to become a writer”, “I want to be creative” or “I need to push this story idea out there.”
But then human nature quickly takes over.
Your instict tells you that you need to be the best or else people won’t take you serious.
It’s like an evil circle: You find something you need to improve, you research a lot with the hope of getting ready, only to find something else to improve.
It’s what I call: The evil circle of expecting too much of yourself.
I understand it’s normal: You want to look good in front of people and stand with your chin held high when you tell your family and friends you’re a writer.
But here’s the truth: A novel of approximately 3-400 pages won’t write itself faster, even if you’re an expert.
The whole thing will still take time, but the whole thing will be more enjoyable.
And do you know why?
Because you’re better at the specific skills once you get to the expert level.
Being a beginner is where the cool stuff happens
It’s through the beginner phase you built your writing system. It’s through your mistakes and by going over your story again and again that you become a better writer.
Essentially, it’s in the beginner phase you learn and mould your identity as a writer.
Just like a child who shows a massive excitement for trying things, they want to go on adventures, they want to explore and have fun, because they are trying to find their identify in life.
And if you rush them to do great or force them to do great, there’s a high chance they’ll struggle later on in life (or won’t find enjoyment in the task)
Okay, I don’t have a fact or source for this, but I hope you understand where I’m going.
If you cut your beginning phase short, you won’t have had the chance to explore what you like. You won’t have had the chance to experiment with things and figure out what works for you and what doesn’t.
And as a writer that’s your number one thing: You need to develop your identify as a writer.
My personal experience
I was once a beginner with little to no knowledge too.
I struggled, so I wanted to know the secrets to writing. This meant I spend hours researching, trying to figure things out, but it got me nowhere.
It was only as I started writing and made all the mistakes that I got better. And this was when I realized everything I researched didn’t matter, because I had to find my own way.
And now after approximately 9 months of writing, I’m starting to gain important insight into my writing style, but most importantly: I have enjoyed the last 9 months of work.
And you know why?
I didn’t try to force my way to becoming an expert. I reminded myself I was just starting and I was still trying to figure out how things worked, and it worked.
Maybe not day to day, but week to week I started to see a difference.
Hell, now I’m better at writing dialogue and can easier identifying areas in my story I want/need to improve.
In fact, it’s the same with blog writing.
I wanted to build the perfect system before starting, but I decided to say fuck it and just start and discovered being a beginner is not a sign of weakness.
It’s your way of saying: “hello world, I’m ready to mess things up.”
Now I’m still a beginner with a massive B, but I’m having fun and I’m slowly seeing improvements, but I found my own identify and I’m starting to mould myself into a writer who will eventually stand out.
And that’s essentially what you want, isn’t it?
It’s time to explore and not settle
Okay, it’s time to bring back the child example.
Feels weird to say, but they are, in fact, great examples.
Because they need to chase whatever they find exciting.
They’ll go through danger, pain, and trouble, if it means they get to the other side and this is something you need to do as well.
You need to explore and chase excitement as much as a possible.
When I started on my writing journey, I was all in on Sci-Fi novels. It was the thing I wanted and I wasn’t thinking about anything else.
But after pushing a few ideas away because they weren’t Sci-Fi, I decided to pursuit them.
The crime and romance, romance
A crime short story and a drama/romance short story.
I gotta admit, they weren’t the best, but they were exciting to pursuit, and I found parts I could use for my other works.
And even now, the majority of my work still takes place in a Sci-Fi universe, I still occasionally try to write something else.
Because I know if I only stick to Sci-Fi, I’ll never know what’s on the other side.
This doesn’t mean you should be trying to find another genre (unless you want to)
In fact, I’m not telling you to write a full novel in a genre or manner you might not like, but to just explore in some way. It’s a guarantee you’ll learn something.
In general, you shouldn’t be afraid when you start on your writing journey.
I know there’s boundaries and people often say you shouldn’t go beyond them.
The boundaires as temporary. And it’s your job as a writer to be wild and experiment, so you can bend and break them.
Important note about exploring
Even though you want to become a writer, author, or self-publishing author, here’s just a friendly reminder that there’s much more to reaching your goal than just writing.
You’ll probably have to spend a great deal of time reading as well (and studying).
I know.
Studying? Damn that’s boring, but that’s in fact what you’re doing when you are readying.
You’re consciously (and subconsioucly) studying what type of works you like and I’m sure our mind is taken notes on the type of writing you like yourself so you can use for your own stuff.
“But Jack you said not to spend too much researching?”
I did, but there’s a difference.
The emphasis here is on too much.
Reading a book, explore how to better or differ your writing style, grammar. These are all things that can help you.
That’s the key difference is you must take action: You take the research you gain, formulate a plan and take actionable steps to try them.
Therefore, try to explore every genre there’s out there. Go in depth with a biography, self-help, music, television. Whatever it is, if you make sure to keep an open mind, I can guarantee something will spark an idea.
Being a beginner is your free ticket to being unknowledgeable
Okay, maybe unknowledgeable is the wrong word, but it conveys the right message.
When you are a beginner people won’t put as much pressure on you. They don’t expect much from you.
Hell, you don’t expect a lot from yourself. (or at least shouldn’t)
And that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
When I started, I wanted to be accepted as a writer and I thought the only way you could do that was if your word was polished, clean and perfect, but if there’s anything that’ll hurt your start then it’s being polished, clean, and perfect.
You need to get your hands dirty, you need to write a shitty and unstructured draft, but most importantly. You need to go through all the mistakes that’ll make you question if writing is the right thing for you.
All of this is a ritual you need to go through before you can truly identify what you like as writer.
Sidenote: Some people call things they don’’t like mistakes, I like to call them learning points.
Writing is a living breathing thing
And keeping a positive mindset will help you stay positive, especially when it gets tough.
Because it will and it’s only when you have identified your writing personality that you can finally call yourself something else than a beginner.
And to identify your writing personality, you’ll need to draw the shape (your novels) over and over again, until your identity is formed.
And the discipline lays in not letting your mistake push you around and make you rush to the other side.
Because let me tell you something about your so-called “mistakes.”
They are some persistent sons of b’s.
They will be ready to meet and remind you that you cheated and no amount of ignoring will push them away.
So you might as well get it over with immediately and give yourself the chance to actually make mistakes.
It’s the perfect way to mould you into the writer that you are destined to become.
The art of being a beginner.
You’re a beginner.
Lift your chin up high. Breathe in and tell yourself: “I’m a beginner and I’m okay with it.”
You’re at the start of your writing journey and it’s the most exciting time of the whole journey.
It’s like the youth: There’s boundaries you need to break and to break them, you need to be a little wild.
Learn to accept the points others will identify as mistakes and let them form you into the writer that you want to become.
Let the experiments take you places where you are able to see the other side and gain insight into what you might be missing, but most importantly, explore.
Explore the world of writing and find elements that you can use to improve your own writings and are able to challenge the imaginary boundaries.
That’s what it means to be a beginner.
That’s a wrap for you today.
Until next time – Hope you have a productive and creative day.
Your writing buddy,
Jack