Jun 14, 2022
What A Beginner Writer With No Experience Should Write For The First Time
There are a wide array of topics to explore and write for
First time I wrote I didn’t know what I was going to write. I don’t have anything great to offer. I never went to the most isolated island in the world nor exotic places spread across the world. There’s no value or life-changing information in my writings.
After becoming an avid reader on Medium, there is a turning point in my life where I think I should stop consuming information, but rather creating it. I want to share my perspective about this world and events that are going on globally. I decided that I will focus on writing on this platform.
With so much writing advice spread on Medium, it’s confusing to start writing from zero. Most writing advice says “just do it” or “just write it down”. To be honest, I really hate that advice. It doesn’t fully help me in my writing journey.
“Just do it” or “just write” advice is only helping me to some extent, like tricking my mind that I’m actually good and capable at writing. But that’s not enough in filling the void of newbie writers thinking of what we should’ve written. To summarize, it’s terrible advice to follow.
The best analogy to describe that is for example when you were given a compass in the middle of a jungle with no history of using the compass at all. You have a tool to direct you out from the jungle, out of the wilderness inside it, unfortunately you have zero knowledge in navigation skills.
The compass will trick your mind that you can get out, but you actually are stuck forever wondering if this is the right direction you have taken to get out from the jungle.
I know doing it better than reading or planning or wondering. The action is what all of us need to do. However, what we should write is the most crucial ingredient as a beginner. Knowing what to write gives us the opportunity to learn and prepare more about our advantages in writing certain topics.
What should my first article be like as a beginner writer? Can I just write instantly like a top writer on Medium?
My first article on Medium was about life lessons, not really a lesson, it’s more of a realization or an understanding of life. The things that I learned and significantly changed my life in my 20s. I chose this topic because I had nothing good to say at that time.
I can’t suddenly write about the best SEO or Content Marketing Strategy tips and tricks. I don’t have that much experience and never take any certification on the subject. The image that I’m going to create must be supported with real skills. Not a mere bluff.
Those top writers on Medium you see everyday on your feed, they must’ve put their writing effort into thousands or hundreds of hours. That one writer whose article spotted number one on Medium trending lists, must’ve written more than 1000 articles or more. One article that got a million views you saw the other day probably had 2000 attempts before.
They probably have produced more than 1000 articles or more. Publish one or two articles a day for 365 days without stopping. Going through trial and error with every content they write and never stop until they finally achieve success.
Last but not least, every top writer who gets thousands or hundreds of followers, has credibility over their knowledge and expertise which they have built for years. Maybe 5 years or more. That high number of followers you see now, he or she may take and enjoy the sweet victory today.
Why do I avoid writing about the knowledge I didn’t master yet?
The reason is simple. It’s because I don’t want people to call me a scammer. When you show an image that is not of who you truly are, and people find out the image you have built all this time is all fake, people won’t believe in your writing or what you say anymore.
Certain information or knowledge requires us to experience the work or to get a professional license before we decide to share it. For example when you want to create an article about health advice or legal actions, you must have had the experience and knowledge and certification since those two niches could impact other people’s lives massively.
Imagine when you wrote a health advice that turns out wrong. How if the person who read your health advice trusted and followed your formula? It can be dangerous to that person’s life. It can add more sickness to the person’s disease.
The same goes for legal advice. What if you wrote the wrong legal advice? Instead of helping people solve their legal problems, it worsens their legal situations. When they shouldn’t have taken a lawsuit, they take a lawsuit, and it costs them a lot of debt from the loss in trial.
You need to think of what you give to your audience. Believe me. If you want to write something, please consider the results it would create to others who are reading your work.
Pick a topic that is flexible in concept and action, and most important one, a topic that will not affect people’s life negatively, but has the potential to still give positive effects. A topic which has no universal standard.
What kind of topic is that if you care to elaborate Zidni?
Well, topics such as life lessons, short fiction stories, personal stories, productivity, self-improvement, opinions of modern society behaviour, and writing advice, for me have no standard to write and say. There are more that I could give, but those topics above are enough to make you start writing.
You may want to create an article about how TikTok completely changes how young men and women live their life right now. You may want to produce a work that says a lot about productivity rules that has no impact on your life. Or you may want to list some lessons to other beginner writers on what to write for the first time. There are a wide array of topics to explore and write for.
All of those topics have no set of rules to follow. Not based on strict facts. Such as productivity rules out there which tell you to use the 5 minutes rule, 2 minutes rule, 5 seconds rule, 1 second rule, time blocking, or any other productivity method to become productive.
The best productivity method to be productive is only right for you if it suits your way of work. If you think the 5 minutes rule method doesn’t match with how you work on something, then you can resort to another method like the 2 minutes rule or 1 second rule.
After all, being productive isn’t about a method, but it’s about how you achieve things through concrete acts. The method serves as a bridge or trigger on how you handle the work. So once again, the content you want to write must be flexible in concept and action, and above all, it should be based on personal experience.
